Projects+NOT+for+MYP5

Here are some sample projects that appear in moderation samples on occassion, which are NOT successful, along with the reasons why they are not successful. This list will be controvercial, and I welcome feedback, leave a note here or post it in the ning for better discussion!

1. Logo projects: These projects fall down at the create stage, they are not technically challenging enough to be considered an appropraite use of technology for MYP5. Although students can create beautiful logos, and very well thought out, these become beter suited for art projects, not technology, where the goal is to show the appropriate use of tools to solve a problem.

2. Cookbooks: Is a really nice idea, certainly great links to community and service or environments, sharing the cultural diversity of the school, however they tend to encourage group work (the whole class makes one book) which is not permitted in MYP5, or they fall apart at create, again because although using publisher or inDesign are appropriate tools for the task at hand, they do not allow the students to demonstrate skill levels appropriate to 5 years of study of the MYP technology program. They are simply too easy.

3. Anything with templates: You can use complicated software and get professional looking results with templates, for example using FrontPage or Dreamweaver preformatted websites, however these too will have problems in moderation. The students again have not shown enough skills, in the case of websites, its better to have lower quality, but self produced websites. The same goes for those create your own computer game online, where the student picks out the features of thier characters, hair colour, clothes, tools to carry, background etc. and walks them trhough a story or game of sorts, again, interesting project, but not showing high level skill on the side of the student.

4. Power point presentations: A presentation to go along with a speech as a project, is also a no go. This is an appropriate use of technology too, we all need visual aids for presentations, however, this is an ICT skill, not a demonstration of the creative use of a computer to solve a problem.

5. Models that are not actually built, or simulations that are not testable: This is hard to explain, but they do turn up sometimes, an example is best, like "How to build an island" and students research things for the biome they want to create, and then they develop the island either using a SIMS like software or images. This falls apart at testing and evaluation. Who is the end user? It is theoretical problem, so it is very difficult to evaluate realistically. What is the impact? The IBO requires that the problems are real world, and practical to the students.

Discuss on[|Ning]