Computers 8

Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies 8 is a full-year course split into modules comprising topics from Business Education, Home Economics, Information Technology, and Technology Education. Computers 8 is a one-third semester course covering the Information Technology portion.

A detailed summary of the curriculum can be found at: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/adst/8

The Big Ideas of the course are:

  • Design can be responsive to identified needs.
  • Complex tasks require the acquisition of additional skills.
  • Complex tasks may require multiple tools and technologies.

Topics

  • Digital Literacy
  • Computers and Communications Devices
  • Computational Thinking
  • Robotics
  • 3D Printing (extra to the official curriculum)

Course Assessment:

The ADST curriculum is an experiential, hands-on program of learning through design and creation, so all the topics will involve projects, including group projects. There will also be some quizzes and written assignments to develop skills for future classes. There will be no final exam.

Classroom Expectations

Students are expected to have fun trying to learn as much as they can.

Students are expected to arrive on time and be ready to learn.

No food or drink other than water are allowed in the computer lab. Students are expected to help keep the lab clean.

The Internet has many distractions. Students are not to play video games, watch videos, use Facebook or other social media, or perform any other time-wasting activity during class.

Google Classroom

Many of the courses in the school use Google Classroom as a way to communicate between the teacher and students, and to post assignments, links, materials, and so on. We are going to use it for our class, too. The niss.ca username you get will be used again in future classes as you move through high school. Your account comes with Google Drive to store your files, and other apps, too. We are going to be practicing with the various Google apps and their Microsoft equivalents as part of the course.

Typing Club

We need to spend a few minutes each day practicing our typing, at least at the beginning. There is an account set up for each student at mr-craig.typingclub.com. It is a website with typing practice and games to work through. Your username is your first name and the first letter of your last name as one word, and your password is your first name. (The only reason to have your own accounts is to track your progress, so it doesn't have to be very secure.)