Task 1: Career Opportunities

Students can view the definition of web design in Wikipedia

Many career fields are associated with web design and development and students could look at this article on the difference between web design and web development https://www.thoughtco.com/web-design-vs-development-3468907 has some good information on this topic

Invite students to look at the web development and design jobs currently on offer at seek.com

Good information outlining what Multimedia Specialists and Web Developers do and what qualifications are sought by employers can be found at the Australian Government 'Job Outlook' website, https://joboutlook.gov.au/occupations/multimedia-specialists-and-web-developers?occupationCode=2612

Another excellent resource designed for students to research can be found at the Careers with STEM Hub.

'The Careers with STEM hub is a student-focussed website that includes surprising STEM careers pathways, insights into the future of work'.

The link below leads to a some of the types of web design and development courses students could consider with links to other information https://careerswithstem.com.au/programming-web-development-coder-academy-bootcamps/#gsc.tab=0

Task 2: Close Video Analysis

At 1:02 Chris discusses how the work placement he undertook as part of his RMIT course led to a work opportunity. Students may not know that many professions provide on the job training after initial qualifications have been gained. Students may like to explore these opportunities at the Queensland Government site as an example. This e-magazine from Careers with STEM has good information on traineeships and apprenticeships.

Beginning at 1:14 Chris discusses the secondary school subjects he undertook and the point in which he came to a crossroads in subject selection. After seeking advice from his teachers, he chose Art over Electronics. A worthwhile focus here could be to engage students in a discussion of what factors influence them in their subject selection at VCE. Will they be influenced by the selections their peer group make? Who else or what else influences subject choices? Do they feel encouraged by Emily's 'false start'? Next to each of their own subject selections for their VCE years students could list the factors that influenced that particular choice. What factors students consider and who they consult when considering subjects and courses is an important event in a student's life. Students could consider (with the assistance of teachers) looking into 'My Career Insights' at the Career Education Association of Victoria CAEV website https://ceav.vic.edu.au/my-career-insights/ to help with subject selection and career choice.

Chris mentioned at 2:13, that Science, Maths and English were helpful subjects to undertake in his career journey. What might each of theses subjects contribute to a successful career. Which skills and learning would be transferable?

At 2:34 and later at 5:59, Chris outlines why his job is so enjoyable. Some factors he mentioned include variety of work, working flexible times that suit him, using a wide range of technology and software and working with clients and opening their minds up to possibilities. Students could rank the factors on this list or come up with other elements they would rate highly as important in a future career.

Building relationships with clients is a major determinate of Chris's livelihood. At 6:58 Chris expands on why these these 'people skills' are central to his business success. Students can research some of the skills they would need to be successful in this role. These are sometimes referred to as 'soft skills' and are highly sought after in the workplace. After some research, students can make a list and rate their current competency level (high, medium, low) next to the skills. This webpage at Deakin University might prove helpful. It is important to stress that as for intellectual growth, student competency in soft skills will grow as they mature and broaden in their own experiences.

Web design and multimedia development can be undertaken from different perspectives or roles. At 8:30 Chris points out the some students may enjoy the graphic design and art work needed for web pages others may like to code using HTML or establish the user design experience.

Further on at 11:37 according to Chris, students wanting to look at ways to begin a career in web development could experiment with software available at many school students such as the Adobe Suite. Depending on what platform schools use, Google sites is another way for students to explore design elements without coding to set up a website. Students could certainly build websites for themselves or friends.

The future trends in the industry (at 8:46) bode well for students wishing to undertake a dynamic and technologically responsive career. Convergence of technologies across platforms and devices, need for design skills for the continually evolving streaming services and the beginning of Virtual Reality experiences on the web could excite students. Students could explore https://experiments.withgoogle.com/collection/webvr as a means to generate enthusiasm.

One thing that students could explore and perhaps undertake as part of their research into careers is begin as Chris has, at 14:51 a scrapbook of ideas about their own career research ideas and insights.

Further Areas of Interest

The VTAC Guide

There are a number of courses available to students to apply through VTAC.

As well as this Holmesglen TAFE offers a number of certificate IV and diploma courses delivered in online and face to face modes https://holmesglen.edu.au/Courses/Computing-and-IT/Web-Design-and-Development/ The course structure allows progression to Bachelor level qualifications.

VET in Schools

A number of schools organise partnerships of local clusters within their neighbouring schools, and offer Vocational Educational Training (VET) certificate III courses in Creative and Digital Media as well as Information, Digital Media and Technology . VET studies allow secondary students to gain practical skills in a specific industry while contributing towards the completion of senior secondary certificates.

A flyer is available at https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vet/GetVET/resources/VETintheVCEandVCAL-Flyer.pdf

Or further information at https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/studentguides/getvet/Pages/Index.aspx

Teachers' Guide

The aims of the Teachers' guide are to:

· To identify some factors that may influence a person’s career path and see that there are a variety of means to achieve qualifications.

· To gain an understanding of how ICT and Digital Technologies are used in web and multi-media design now and likely trends for future use.

· To undertake a self assessment of some features that relate to working in web and multi-media design to help identify possible level of interest and ability in using these in future careers.

Click here to download the teachers guide

Teacher Lesson Plan

This sheet outlines ways to tackle this module it contains ideas for discussion/outline of broad options for working in web and multi-media design and the varying focus on ICT and Digital Technologies in different roles in the industry.

Click here to download the teacher lesson plan

Student Worksheet

The student worksheet invites students to delve deeper into a career in web and multi-media design

Click here to download the student worksheet

According to the Australian Government 'Job Outlook' website https://joboutlook.gov.au/occupations/multimedia-specialists-and-web-developers?occupationCode=2612 , Job growth prospects for Multimedia Specialists and Web Developers remains high. Over the next 5 years job growth predictions are for 'very strong' growth compared to other occupations.

The Australian Web Industry Association (AWIA) https://www.webindustry.org.au/ has a range of resources available to non members and plenty of potential contacts and courses for students to explore.