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Computing

Computer Systems: For NJ Schools

An 18-week New Jersey high-school technology course that modernizes a 2015 district Computer Systems guide without preserving obsolete software as the curriculum. Students create and evaluate digital media, websites, presentations, spreadsheets, databases, research, systems models, networks, defensive-security decisions, and introductory programs, then assemble the evidence into an accessible digital portfolio.

Length
18 weeks
Audience
Grades 9-12
Entries
24

Week 01

  1. overviewWeek 1: Build the Digital Portfolio FoundationThis week starts with the first requirement in the district Computer Systems curriculum: create a website that can function as a digital portfolio and learn how to improve photographs for that site. You will also begin…
  2. Lesson 1Lesson 1: Build the Portfolio SkeletonA digital portfolio is a website with a job to do. It has to help another person find your work, understand what the work is, and move between sections without guessing.
  3. Lesson 2Lesson 2: Make Navigation WorkYesterday you built the first version of a portfolio. Today we test whether the visitor can actually move through it.
  4. Lesson 3Lesson 3: Enhance an Image With PurposeThe district curriculum does not just ask you to place an image on a page. It asks you to enhance photographs. That means you need to make deliberate edits and explain why they improve the image for its intended use.
  5. Lesson 4Lesson 4: Publish Media ResponsiblyYesterday you improved an image. Today you make it part of the portfolio without creating a new problem.
  6. Lesson 5Lesson 5: Start the Presentation StoryThe district curriculum also requires slide-show presentation projects. We begin that strand today, but the presentation is not finished this week. It continues through Weeks 2 and 3.
  7. reflectionWeek 1 Reflection: What Does Your Evidence Prove?Use the portfolio, navigation test, image-editing evidence, media record, and presentation draft you created this week.
  8. quizWeek 1 Quiz: Portfolio, Images, and Presentation Basics

Week 02

  1. overviewWeek 2: Navigation, Presentation, and Data Recordsgave you a first portfolio page and the first pieces of media evidence. Week 2 asks a harder question:
  2. Lesson 1Lesson 1: Audit Navigation Like a VisitorYour portfolio is not finished just because the Home page exists.
  3. Lesson 2Lesson 2: Make the Portfolio Easier to UseYesterday you tested whether a visitor could move around your portfolio. Today you improve how the portfolio reads, how files are organized, and how media is described.
  4. Lesson 3Lesson 3: Build a Short Presentation With EvidenceThe district curriculum expects presentation work, but a presentation is not just a prettier document.
  5. Lesson 4Lesson 4: Start Spreadsheet RecordsA spreadsheet is not only a grid.
  6. Lesson 5Lesson 5: Turn Data Into a Chart ClaimA chart is not automatically evidence.
  7. reflectionWeek 2 Reflection: What Did You Improve?This week was about making your work easier for someone else to inspect.
  8. quizWeek 2 Quiz: Navigation, Slides, and SpreadsheetsUse the Week 2 lessons and your own evidence to answer these questions.

Week 03

  1. overviewWeek 3: Portfolio Release, Presentation Revision, and Relational Datacloses the first portfolio and presentation cycle.
  2. Lesson 1Lesson 1: Prepare the Portfolio for ReviewA portfolio release is not the same thing as publishing your entire semester project.
  3. Lesson 2Lesson 2: Revise the Presentation After DeliveryA presentation draft gets better when you test it with an audience.
  4. Lesson 3Lesson 3: Audit Spreadsheet EvidenceA spreadsheet can look correct and still answer the wrong question.
  5. Lesson 4Lesson 4: Start Thinking Like a DatabaseA spreadsheet stores rows and columns. A database can store related tables and connect them with rules.
  6. Lesson 5Lesson 5: Package the Week 3 EvidenceYou now have three weeks of connected work:
  7. reflectionWeek 3 Reflection: Is Your Evidence Ready for Review?is a checkpoint. You are not finished with the course, but your first portfolio section should now be organized enough for review.
  8. quizWeek 3 Quiz: Portfolio Release, Presentations, Spreadsheets, and Data TablesUse the Week 3 lessons and your own evidence to answer these questions.