Making It Click
Step back, Silicon Valley wunderkinder. The latest Web design phenoms don’t hail from Stanford or Caltech. Actually, they haven’t graduated from college. Or high school. The new kids in town are, um, kids.
They’re students in the advanced technology class at McPherson Magnet School in Orange, where a half-year class devoted to Web page design is part of the standard seventh-grade curriculum, wedged into schedules along with more Luddite pursuits like math and English.
Although most public schools usually wait until high school or even college to devote a full class to Web page design, McPherson accelerated that schedule with the addition of a design class this year.
“The people who do Web design for a living now never had an opportunity to take a class like this in high school even,” teacher Jay Turner said. “We’re hoping that the earlier we expose students, the more they can run with it.”
Visiting Turner’s classroom--an austere, well-stocked computer lab--is like peering into the future.
After jockeying for seats at the sherbet-colored iMacs, preteens in cargo pants and braces click in passwords and pull up their projects--Web sites about pivotal 20th century moments and personalities, from the dawn of MTV to the Wright brothers’ first flight.
Their teacher, in baggy black corduroys and wire-rimmed glasses, circles the room, asking about projects in other classes and offering help when asked. Mostly, Turner lets the students learn from experience and one another.
What the pupils produce is much more than sites based on fill-in-the-blanks templates. Each of Turner’s students starts with a blank screen and constructs, from scratch, a site with at least seven linked pages.
Near the computer lab’s far wall, Callie Woodard’s screen lights up with a picture of the first lunar landing, juxtaposed against a pale blue, cratered backdrop. A mouse click yields biographies of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Across the room, student Kenny Best types an invitation for visitors to take a ride through his almost-complete “STAR WARS HISTORY!!!” He can be distracted from his task long enough to display his site’s table of contents, including links to pages on the movies’ characters, use of technology, vehicles and history.
For Kenny, immersed in his work, the class seems almost commonplace. Almost.
“I started a Web page once at home, but I never got around to finishing it,” he said, explaining that a lack of computer memory there hindered his attempt. “I think it’s a good opportunity for us to learn this much technology this young. I know of two high schools that aren’t even close to this [kind of class] until the last year of school.”
Officials at several other Orange County school districts said Web design is more commonly part of high school offerings. While it isn’t uncommon for middle-schoolers--or even some elementary students--to devote a week or two to the topic, an entire middle school class on Web design is a rarity, said Scott Garland, the technology specialist for the Orange County Education Department.
That could soon change.
“I’m going to guess that you’ll see a lot more of this, and at even younger ages,” Garland predicted.
The reasons for such classes are myriad: Job creation in dotcom companies is flourishing. Employers are increasingly demanding computer literacy in addition to reading, writing and math skills. And use of technology is viewed as a way to turn on kids who might otherwise be bored with regular assignments.
The state and federal governments are providing an additional enticement by pouring millions of dollars into updating technology in California classrooms, to the tune of about $215 million this year alone. However, one major program for updating technology at high schools is set to expire next year, said Nancy Sullivan, manager of the state’s Education Technology Office.
At McPherson, a technology magnet school, the class is paying dividends.
One student is already helping his father create a Web site for Dad’s business. And kids who had never thought of designing a Web page are now quite proficient at it. The pupils are also keenly aware that technology skills translate into higher salaries.
Designing her own Web site--on the Beatles--”is really fun,” said Ali Benson, 12. “And I think the people here will have more success building a financial career. . . . You can make a whole bunch of money for this. And it’s easy too.”
Added Garland: “Everyone wants a Web page now. If you can get these kids to create Web content and design by the end of high school, people will line up to hire them.”
The students’ Web sites may be viewed at https://www.orangeusd.k12.ca.us/ mcpherson/pages/ jaywebpage/pages/webpagedesign/ projects/studentwork/studentwork.htm.
