Reply #3 - September 26, 2009, 07:05:24 AM
I assume it's something done outside of school so it really needs to be something fun for the kids. Otherwise you'll have a hard time getting them in the door. And the more fun the students think it is, the more friends they'll tell about it. I'm thinking as little time as possible lecturing / reading and as much time as possible actively using cameras, computers, paint brushes, or whatever else you plan on using. Depending on the age you can come up with some fairly vague assignments and let the kids decide what to do. The more they're able to determine the path they take, or at least the more it seems they're picking the path, the more enjoyable it will be. At that point you're acting more as a facilitator than teacher.
Obviously you still need to teach them the basics; but, especially with older kids, often you can cover the basics as part of a larger process and they won't realize what all they're learning.
Ideally you want to make sure you have activities that they can do away from class as well. It would be great to teach them CS4 on an 8 core Mac, but if they don't have access at home you'll have a tougher battle to get kids hooked. Introduce options like Gimp that they can take home and use, assuming they have a computer. There's tons of websites that you can use - search for "teaching with web 2.0" and a bunch will come up. Same thing with cameras. Likely they won't have the latest and greatest at home so try to work it so most of what y'all do can be done with a cheaper point and shoot whenever possible.
Oh, and another thought. If you can find someway to publish their work, with parental permission, it's a good way to get a buzz going to other students. Kids love to show off what they've done. Maybe as simple as a one page brochure with small images of half a dozen or so projects or maybe something online. Parents also love to see their kid's work in print or online.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2009, 07:09:55 AM by Ryan Nutt »
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