Welcome

Introduction

Welcome to Quarter 1 ECS PD! During this session, we will focus on ECS Unit 3: Web Design.

As you engage in the activities included with this PD as well as future sessions, it is important to remember that ECS is grounded in three interweaving strands, Equity, Inquiry, and CS Concepts:

Activities are constructed so as to build understanding of the connections among these strands and reinforce strategies that can be used in the classroom.

Activity 1: Listen

Hear about our goals for Week One of Q1 PD by listening to this brief welcome message from Gail Chapman, ECS Curriculum co-author.

Activity 2: Watch

Watch this brief video tutorial on how to navigate and participate in this session.

ECS Quarterly PD Welcome from ECS Online on Vimeo. (transcript)

Next, watch this video tutorial on how to update your profile. Ensuring that you are represented properly in name and image in the online course environment is critical for creating a dynamic learning community.

Update Your Profile from ECS Online on Vimeo. (transcript)

Activity 3: Review Schedule of Activities and Session Details

Quarter 1 ECS PD runs from Monday, October 2 through Sunday, October 15. The session is divided into two weeks. Here are the recommended dates (end of day) by which to complete activities for each week:

Note: Every effort should be made to complete each activity by the date indicated as doing so will provide a richer experience; however, it is understood that everyone is juggling a variety of personal and professional activities that may make it necessary to deviate from this schedule. If for some reason you will be unable to complete the entire session by the scheduled end date of October 15, please inform your facilitator in advance.

Now that you have reviewed our schedule of activities, click on the link for Session Details (located under the title banner on the homepage of our course) to review the goals, structure, and completion requirements for this session.

Plan

Activity 1: Sign Up for a Synchronous Session

Action Item: Visit this Form and Sign Up for One of the Available Synchronous Sessions. If you are unable to attend any of the available sessions, post a message to the Group Meeting Space discussion forum on the homepage of our course letting others know you need to find a partner to collaborate with on a lesson.

On the day before your scheduled synchronous session, your facilitator will send you details on how to login and participate.

Following are instructions for the activity:

• Attend a synchronous session scheduled by your course facilitator.
• During the synchronous session, we’ll explore the structure of Unit 3: Web Design and form a small group that will be given a lesson from the unit to explore.
• Make a plan with your group for how you will collaborate on a lesson plan for your assigned lesson that you all feel good about teaching.
• Before Tuesday, October 10, your small group will finalize your lesson and one person from your group will post your agreed-upon lesson to the Lesson Plan Sharing Forum. Before Thursday, October 12, review lessons posted in the Lesson Plan Sharing Forum, noting comments, feedback and/or questions that can be used to seed our discussion in the Debrief Discussion Forum.

Activity 2: Review the Unit 3 Curriculum

Download and save ECS Unit 3: Web Design for use throughout this session. Review the Daily Overview Chart to understand the flow of Daily Lesson Plans and then make sure to familiarize yourself with the lesson plans for Days 1-7.

Journal

Complete the Social Media Site poll and the Social Media Time poll located on the homepage of our session. Notice the aggregate response to the poll questions and consider the impact these tools are having on our collective lives. In the Journal Forum, respond to the following questions:

1. How have these web applications influenced your life?
2. What prompts might you use when leading a discussion with students around use of social networking applications that can expand on the conversations you had in Unit 1 and transition into the design of their own websites?

Make sure to review your colleagues’ responses and reply to at least two of them.

Go to the Journal Forum (Section 1)
Go to the Journal Forum (Section 2)

Learn

Activity 1: Create a Storyboard/Wireframe

Day 2 of Unit 3 focuses on understanding the purpose of a website storyboard (or wireframe) and providing students with the opportunity to create and share their own storyboards. To strengthen your content knowledge of the storyboard/wireframe process, review the following resources:

READ: Website Storyboarding: Examples, How To, and Site Map, WHDP Web Design and Development Blog

Using either pen and paper, or an application like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Powerpoint, create a simple storyboard/wireframe for a website. If you used a digital application, save your file to your desktop. If you used pen and paper, take a picture of your design and save the file to your desktop.

Watch this tutorial on how to use our Padlet Idea Board and then visit the Storyboard Padlet for your section on the homepage of this Q1 PD. Post your storyboard/wireframe file to the board and take a virtual “Gallery Walk” by viewing the files posted by your colleagues. Notice that Padlet allows you to make comments on the shared files; feel free to comment on each other’s work if you have specific questions or want to highlight something someone has done well.

Activity 2: Create and View a Basic HTML File

Days 3-4 of Unit 3 focus on understanding and using basic html. To strengthen your content knowledge, review the following resources:

READ: History of HTML, w3resource

READ: HTML Introduction, w3schools.com
Note that w3schools is a very rich web development site with tutorials and references on web development languages covering most aspects of web programming. The site focuses on simplicity but while tutorials start at a basic level, they move all the way up to professional references. As time allows, feel free to review different aspects of the site.

TRY: Write HTML Using Notepad or TextEdit, w3schools.com
Follow the instructions on this page to create, save and view a simple html page. Note: If you will be using a Mac, make sure to follow the instructions in this document before you begin your work: Creating HTML Files on a Mac.