Digital Arts – Arts Electives for 7th and 8th Graders
Arts and Bots
This course will allow students to combine craft materials with robotic components to build and animate their own robotic creations using Scratch, an already familiar visual programming language. Students will create an individual project that focuses on design, programming, and creativity.
This course is designed to allow students to visually program computer games and animations. Using Alice Animation, which was originally developed at Carnegie Mellon University, students learn the basics of programming that are transferable to all programming languages. This course also emphasizes basic computer skills essential to success in the Middle School.
Digital Design Challenge
This course is for students who have already taken a digital arts course in either 7th or 8th grade. Students will receive escalating challenges that test their programming, building, collaborating, and design skills. Projects will be based on student interest and available technologies in the digital arts lab. This course will be offered third term for students who wish to take the required prerequisites in the first or second terms.
Digital Storytelling focuses on the modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling. The class uses technology to enhance creativity and communication through a variety of digital media. Students work on creating their own stories using images, music, narrative, and animation. A variety of digital and web based tools will be used to create comics, digital presentation stories, and public service announcement videos.
This course is designed to allow students hands-on construction of robots, while using an icon-based programming language to assemble a computer program. Using Lego EV3 software and building sets, students learn the basics of programming and robotics that are transferrable to all programming languages.