syllabus - PDF

							                  TECH UNLIMITED COURSE OVERVIEW
 Mr. Thompson                                                                       King’s High
 mhthompson@crista.net or 206-546-7241                                               2010-2011

Course Overview:
Tech Unlimited is a wonderful opportunity for you to explore a career in technology, prepare yourself
for college, or just experience online learning.
You will be taking a technology centric course of your choice through Giant Campus which is an
accredited online school staffed by certified teachers. There are no additional tuition costs for
Washington State residents. You will receive normal King’s High School credit applying toward the
technology graduation requirement, and will also receive an official transcript from Giant Campus.
The curriculum is provided by Giant Campus and each course is taught by certified teacher who is a
subject matter expert. Mr. Thompson will serve as an in-class facilitator, guide and tutor. Mr.
Thompson has deep experience in many of the subject areas offered and will be able to assist with
any problems or questions for any of the offered courses.
In addition to course lessons and projects, you will interact with your online instructor and classmates
through online class forums and optional interactive class chat sessions.

Grading/Assessment:
        80% Course grade received from Giant Campus
        10% Class participation and behavior
        10% Collaboration and helpfulness
Course Objectives:
You will:
   1. Become better prepared for the real-world work place by:
           Gaining exposure to and developing beginning proficiency in one key area of
            technology of your choice.
           Improving your ability to work collaboratively.
    2. Become better prepared for college by:
           Experiencing online learning.
           Improving your ability to work independently.
           Improving your ability to follow detailed multi-step instructions.
           Improving your ability to manage your own time and schedule requirements.

Technology courses available:
For detailed descriptions, go to http://www.giantcampuswa.com/our-courses#Fall%202010.
Courses available for our Tech Unlimited class are:
    3D Art 1 – Modeling (uses Blender)
    C++ Programming (uses Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Express)
    Computer Literacy (uses OpenOffice.org software)
    Computer-aided Design (CAD) (uses CadStd)
    Flash Animation (uses Adobe Flash CS4 or CS5)
    Game Design 1 (uses Multimedia Fusion 2)
    Online Game Design (uses Adobe Flash CS4 or CS5)
    Web Design (uses KompoZer and GIMP)
    Digital Arts I (uses Inkscape)
    Image Design and Editing (uses GIMP)
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                TECH UNLIMITED COURSE OVERVIEW
 Mr. Thompson                                                              King’s High
 mhthompson@crista.net or 206-546-7241                                      2010-2011

Limitations to course offerings:
      Any Giant Campus course that directly overlaps with offered King’s High School
       courses are not available to Tech Unlimited students. For example, students that
       desire to learn digital art and design will need to take the King’s High School
       Digital Art course.
      The following two courses require Adobe Flash. The school has five Flash
       licenses, thus only five students may sign up for the following courses:
           o Online Game Design
           o Flash Animation
      The following course requires Multimedia Fusion 2. The school has five Fusion
       licenses, thus only five students may sign up for the following course:
           o Game Design

Requirements:
You must be able to:
    Use email (you will be given a private gmail email account to use for the course)
    Use a Web browser.
    Follow multi-step instructions.
    Follow a lesson schedule and complete course work on time.
    Have a King’s High School network account (requires Computer Use Agreement)

Web Resources:
      The Giant Campus site: http://www.giantcampuswa.com
      The King’s class site: http://www.mhthompson.com and visit Tech Unlimited.

At home requirements:
      If you remain focused and use in-class time well, you should be able to complete
       all course requirements at school, and have no need to work at home.
      However, since this is an online course, you are able to work at home if you desire:
         o You will need internet access at home.
         o The software required for the course will need to be installed at home.
         o With two exceptions, all required software is available for free download.
                  Two courses require Adobe Flash which must be purchased:
                          Online Game Design
                          Flash Animation
                  One course requires Multimedia Fusion 2 which must be purchased:
                          Game Design




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                TECH UNLIMITED COURSE OVERVIEW
 Mr. Thompson                                                               King’s High
 mhthompson@crista.net or 206-546-7241                                       2010-2011

Dear Parents and students,

Please review, sign and return this to me by Friday, January 28th.

I believe an important key to your student’s success is that the three critical members of this
learning team are on the same page. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Up-to-
date contact information is always available on my website http://www.mhthompson.com.
Thank you for your support and I look forward to a fun and successful year in our Tech
Unlimited course.



Printed Student name: _____________________________________________________

We have reviewed and understand the class overview, and requirements.


Parent: ________________________________________________               Date: ________


Student: ________________________________________________ Date: ________


Teacher: ________________________________________________ Date: ________




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