This website remains a work in progress but attempts to describe in practical terms the course scope, sequence and assessment program for the running of Digital Solutions at St. Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace in Brisbane.
The author (Subject Coordinator) Peter Whitehouse is as new to this subject as anyone. I do not claim any authority nor do I mean to suggest this is the only approach to this complex subject. I remain indepted to the growing community of teachers who are also working to learn how to actually implement this course in a real school, given timetable and term pressures we all face.
The contained TLAPs are an approach, based initially on a single technology context (Web), initially chosen because of existing resources and experience. Real time constraints make multiple contexts really challenging, particularly if you intend to do the course material and objectives justice in my opinion. Discussion of multiple technology contexts is rich and valuable and implicit, but actually non-trivial engagement in multiple contexts is to me currently inconceivable.
I chose public WEB as the platform for my course resources for many reasons. I believe this course, like any field of study this century, needs to be REACTIVE - our subject changes so dynamically and when I find new tools I want the flexibility of integrating them immediately. I also believe that SHARING is really important - by hosting this web publically, others see my approach warts and all. I am hoping it will foster a culture of exchange (as opposed to the "taking" usual in most media consumers).
I chose PHP/MySQL and Web frameworks primarily because we teach Python extensively in year 8/9/10 Digital technologies and I wanted students to feel like there was a new challenge. Boys imagine they know everything about a well visited skill and I think the different programming paradigm best provides a context for this course, allowing me to cover most everything using this platform.
I have also consciously surfaced the plethora of documentation supplied by the QCAA because I think if students (and parents) are to come to terms with the new curriculum, they need to see the rich context provided as a definition of this curriculum, and to be familiar with the terminology and convention of such documents - they, in the end, are the tru measures of mastry of this course. I have no idea if this is ok by the QCAA, and I am not sure that I care. Published = public in my opinion.
Suggestions and comments are welcome. Mail me.
This site is written using Bootstrap - I mean to use what I am teaching also (do as I do, not as I say I do), and potentially will also contain live content instead of merely static pages. I have tried to make ir RESPONSIVE and ACCESSIBLE - if this is not the case, i am also happy to take feedback. I have tested it satisfactorily on PC, Mac, tablet and mobile - all seems to be behaving itself given the amount of text however READING is necessary (until the audiobook, interactive infographic and short film are completed :P).
Hope it helps... we shall see. Should be an interesting ride nonetheless.