High school students can use Web design skills to create online portfolios.
High school students rely on the computer for both educational and entertainment purposes. It plays an important role in their lives as they conduct research for school projects, chat with friends, surf the Web and share music and photographs. With the wide variety of sites students visit on a daily basis, it's important to give them a behind-the-scenes look at how they are created. An ideal way to do this is by creating Web design projects that allow high school students to explore design tools and techniques.
Start a School Blog
Instruct students to select a blogging platform like Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad or Wordpress to create a blog for the school. Ask them to design a header for the blog that includes the schools' colors, motto, mascot and emblem. Students should create an "about us" page which details information about the school and the topics the blog will cover. Blog topics might include school fashions, activities and events, sports team coverage or daily interviews with seniors who give tips about surviving high school.
Create an Online Portfolio and Resume
It's becoming increasingly important for job seekers to create an online presence to market themselves to potential employers. College admissions offices also use online portfolios and resumes to evaluate students applying to their schools. Have students put together a list of their skills, work and volunteer experiences. Ask them to identify summer jobs or internships they'd like to apply for that fit their knowledge, skills and abilities. Let students create a website that features their resume in several formats, including as a word-processed document and a portable document format. Students can scan writing samples, photography and design work to include in their online portfolios.
Help Promote a Local Small Business
Local businesses often don't have the budgets to create websites to promote their products and services. In teams of two, have students select a local small business to create a website for. Students should visit the business owner to get background information on the business and to get an idea of what types of information the owner wants to include on the website. At minimum each website should include the company's name and logo and the following sections: about us, services and contact us.
Design a Fan Page
Ask students to pick a model, actress, musician, entrepreneur or other influential figure they can create a fan page for. The fan page should include a bio about the person, their accomplishments, at least five photographs and a page with popular quotes the person has said in movies, interviews or during speaking engagements. Students should give the page a unique title and create a graphic header.
Tags: online portfolios, school students, Students should, create online, create website