Overview Of Technology

A major emphasis for the technology curriculum is to integrate their work with class assignments that have meaning, relevance, and purpose and provide a basis for creating real and meaningful content. Project based technology education provides for exposure to many technology skills and does it through meaningful engagement in projects that integrate subject knowledge with technical knowledge. A major goal is to maintain student work through their years at Young Achievers culminating in an Eighth Grade portfolio in digital CD Rom or DVD format.

The technology curriculum is designed to allow and encourage students to achieve high level competencies at all grade levels. They are encourages to take their technology learning as far as they need to and are capable of. We are striving to build a foundation for technical knowledge and skills that will be expanded as students carry their knowledge with them to the next grade. Thus, students in grade 6 could achieve high level competencies that eight graders might be achieving. Students can build on their existing technical knowledge and advance accordingly.

We set up our development technology environment to be like what you would find in a high tech company. For example, working with a creating web pages means that students will need to understand web servers, uploading and downloading files, and how networks and the Internet work. When students first create web pages, they create them on their computers that they work on in class. They are then taught about uploading their web files to a development web server that acts as the preview web server. On this development-preview web server students can view their web pages and test the functioning similar to the way a professional web developer would test their site before it was put on a “live” web site. Also part of the process is the use of MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel Documents that are used in conjunction with their web site. For a brief description of the Web Development environment/process, please see below web pages:

Understanding Web Servers and the Web Development Process: http://www.youngachieversschool.org/rlamothe/server_info.cfm

Understanding FTP - File Transfer Protocol: http://www.youngachieversschool.org/rlamothe/understanding_ftp.cfm

Technology Plan

Tech Training and Info Page

Tech Boot Camp