Grade Level and Subject:
Secondary Students Graphic Arts: Design/Animation/Portfolio/ Math: Cartesian Coordinate System/Geometrical Shapes/Number Sense Technology: Research/ Science: White light/Particles/components Business: Spreadsheets/Business Plan/Accounting
Abstract:
It's an international collaboration between Minnesota's Mahtomedi Middle School's elective class "Movie Making .... in Animation" and the John F. Kennedy Scholl's computer science class in Berlin, Germany. Both schools have divided their classes into three teams. Each team is assigned to create, as their business, a graphic art's company to be home based on the World Wide Web (WWW). Along with being entrepreneurs in the graphic world, all teams are potential clients to the other cooperative school's teams. They will approach their problems creatively and in an interdisciplinary scope using a variety sources from mentors, facilitators to the library and Internet for resource.
Learner Description/Environment:
Mahtomedi is a small lake community on the NE side of St. Paul/Minneapolis metro area. The greater portion of students is from upper middle class. Twenty-one eighth grade computer graphics students are divided into 3 collaborative teams (companies). The team will be heterogeneous and they will have opportunities interact in other grouping according to their specialty in their original team. The students are responsible for defining their learning needs, setting their goals and developing a project flow sheet to manage their time. The room is set up with the traditional 2 d and 3 d imaging/animation stations (one for use in graphics stills and cel animation and the other for model and clay animation) and nine graphic computer stations capable of creating 2 d and 3 d images/animations. The supportive technology allows for single frame images to be brought into the computer via digital imaging equipment (e.g. digital video, camera, scanning and CDs) and offers digital/video-mixing capabilities. Students have access to a variety of resources: Internet, library, subject facilitators and mentors.
Time Frame:
Student will meet for 43 minutes periods each class day for 12 weeks (approximately 52 class days). They will be expected to put in an average of one half hour per class period of outside work.
Rationale:
The Web Graphic Inc. project will integrate the stated disciplines in a natural setting allowing students real-life experiences in starting and running a business in computer graphics. They will come to understand that knowledge and creative problem solving is not isolated by subject area but intertwined as multiple disciplines in a web of solutions, and the greater the diversity of knowledge (subject area) the greater the options for problem solving. An Internet connection offers global perspective in viewing their problems via an international peer group and professional mentors. Computer technology will be the format in which they do business from professional and international communication and collaboration ...to research, production and presentation.
Learner Outcomes:
Alignment with State Standards:
Structure of the Learning:
Content: The content incorporates the starting and running of a business; the creation of images and animations as well as home pages and html pages with addresses for resources used. Process: The process involves student directed research and development of content areas Product: Students will have created a digital portfolio showing all stages of the following: business development including business plan, record keeping and time sheets; client/mentor/peer collaborative communications; graphics/animation development; informational research; and presentation.
Assessment:
Students will have created a digital portfolio showing all stages of business development, record keeping and time sheets, client/mentor communication, html pages, graphic development and informational research and presentations.
Project/Unit Evaluation:
TThe assessment will be ongoing and performance based. The team will capture and organized their experience in a portfolio where each element will have rubric criteria and point system.