Tech Directions - January 2009 - (Page 26) selors, administrators, and teachers to gather content. Kim assigns two students to serve as writers for each of three types of profiles: staff, students, and athletes. He asks teachers and coaches to nominate students and athletes who embody the spirit of Garden Grove High School, then students interview them, conduct photo sessions, and upload one profile per week. The school secretary gives input for the Parent News section, the president of the alumni association manages the Alumni News section, and a coach manages Athletic News. Members of the web team work on quick links for upcoming events. Kim and his students use Google Docs to share ideas and brainstorm content for the site. A team of photographers attends events to take photos for site photo galleries, and the web team also solicits work from students in the school’s art department for inclusion in the photo galleries. The Garden Grove site also features sections that teachers can use to maintain their own calendars and daily assignments through their own Google Docs/Gmail accounts. Students work with the school’s assistant principal to update the master calendar on the site. Students update the site often, aiming to average four new articles per week, a new photo gallery every other day, and a new profile every day. Kim says that he uses Google Docs to communicate about problems he sees on the site or content that needs updating. Since each student has his or her section of the site to maintain, Kim and his students hold regular team meetings to discuss and critique each other’s sections. “Also, instead of offering all the answers, I ask the students to research for answers on forums and Joomla sites. We also dissect other great sites and try to reverse engineer how they created that design,” he adds. In terms of his own background, Kim says he uses web design books and looks for information on the Web, via forums and tutorials. Since he also runs a web design business outside of school that focuses on educational sites, he’s doubly motivated to study and keep up with industry trends and best practices. Benefits Kim notes that working on the Garden Grove web site gives his students real-world experience. “We run the class more like a business than a traditional class. Everyone has their job description and task, and they are solely responsible for their section. They know that if they don’t do their assignment, it’s not a matter of a grade—it’s 1,000 people seeing their mistake on a daily basis all over the world,” Kim says. His students gain experience with the latest industry-standard software and practices to create content that rivals professional work. Students learn to work in teams to solve problems, learn how to conduct interviews and photo shoots, and have contact with every department on campus. Kim welcomes feedback on his school’s site, as well as questions related to its design, construction, and maintenance at joonkim@gmail.com. 26 techdirections ◆ JANUARY 2009 http://www.elexp.com http://www.chiefarchitect.com/freetrial http://www.chiefarchitect.com/freetrial http://www.elexp.com
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