El Camino High School's Digital Media Pathway is a series of career technical education (CTE) classes that focus on digital media arts. The program features graphic design (marketing and advertising through images that have been digitally produced and enhanced), and web design (production of online content aimed at selling or promoting products or services).

The sequence of courses forms what's called a "pathway" which, when completed, shows you how to become a freelance designer capable of starting your own business or working at a professional design agency. Either way, it has the potential to start you on a very successful and lucrative career.

Grading Policy

Each assignment has clear expectations and a defined due date. If the student does not turn in the assignment by that date, the highest possible grade that you could get on that assignment goes down 10% each business day. If a student has excused absences for days that we worked on the project in class, they have that many days to make up the assignment with no penalty.

The value of the assignment goes down each day that it's late, much like it would if you were working in an actual studio. So, it's in your best interest to keep caught up and turn in late assignments as soon as possible.

If you are missing an assignment and believe that you already completed it, it is your responsibility to contact me via email (aaron.grable@oside.us) to get that fixed.

Google classroom is a useful tool for organizing your classes, viewing your assignments, interacting with each other and the teacher and turning in your work digitally. The district gives you unlimited space on their Google Drive but that goes away after your senior year. At that time, you'll need to find a way to migrate your information to your own Google Drive if you want to keep it.

This is the process for working with Google Classroom:

  1. Make sure you're logged in to your school Google Drive.
  2. Click on the green Google Classroom to the left or click here
  3. Sign in, using your school email (your student ID plus "@oside.us")
  4. Your password, if you haven't created one yet, is your eight-digit birthdate (for example, January 1st, 2025 would be 01012025)
  5. Sign up for classes using the codes I give you in class.
  6. Use this portal to view, complete and turn in assignments

Success tip: go to your student calendar (while logged in as a student) by clicking here and you'll see all your due dates for all your Classroom classes!

Note: If you don't plan on checking your district email (yourstudentid@oside.us), you should set it up so those emails forward to your personal account.

If your password is not working and you'd like me to reset it, please click on the button to the right and fill out the form. I'll get notified and I'll reset it to a default that you can then change. If it's not reset in 24 hours, send me a reminder email.

AI Statement: We realize that artificial intelligence is a part of our daily lives and that it is commonly used in everyday life. Instead of fearing it, we embrace it but not as a replacement for human thought and creativity.

AI should be used for creating, analyzing, refining, and troubleshooting. When it comes to creative expression, you should be able to rely on your own skill to create something that is truly yours. If you're going to use AI for something, be ready to admit it and justify it, not as a punishment but simply to keep you aware.

Schedule for Graphic Design:

(year-to-date schedule here, district schedule here, bell schedule here)

Portfolio: addresses will show up here, form to submit your address here. Links to your files will be here.

To get credit for this course,
Portfolio due by midnight, 5/8!
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This week is focused on cleaning up and improving your portfolio so it looks professional and ready to present. You will work on layout, image quality, project descriptions, and overall organization. By the end of the week, your goal is to have a clean, easy-to-navigate portfolio that clearly shows your best work.


Infographic for portfolio here. Five pages, due by the first week in May. Don't wait!

Testing schedule here

Short for the week: Lion

4/13: Clean up your layout by fixing spacing, alignment, and font consistency so your portfolio looks organized and intentional. Goal: Your site looks clean and consistent.

4/14: Improve your project images by replacing any low-quality visuals and making sure everything is clear, cropped well, and consistent. Goal: All images look clear and professional.

4/15: Add a section on your home page that people could click on to go to your gallery (button? Link picture?) Add or improve descriptions for at least two projects so someone can understand what you made and what you learned. Goal: At least two projects have clear descriptions.

4/16: (Testing Day) Improve navigation and organization by making sure all pages are easy to find, clearly named, and free of unfinished work. Goal: Your site is easy to navigate. Tutorial

4/17: (Testing Day) Improve navigation and organization by making sure all pages are easy to find, clearly named, and free of unfinished work. Goal: Your site is easy to navigate.

Please note: anyone who finishes their assignment is required to continue working on something (a) productive and (b) relevant to web or graphic design. You will lose one point for every class period that you don't.

Resources:

  • Assignment folder here
  • High quality ECHS logo here
  • Portfolio address/progress reports here
  • Graphic Design syllabus and outline
  • Elements of Design and Composition here
  • Slides templates for presentation
  • Great resource from Adobe for learning here
  • Pen tool learning resource here

Schedule for Web Design:

(year-to-date schedule here, district schedule here, bell schedule here)

Portfolio: addresses will show up here, form to submit your address here. Links to your files will be here. Link to Business Contact Tracker HERE (business listing here)

To get credit for this course,
Portfolio due by midnight, 5/8!
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This week you will build a simple JavaScript game to learn how websites become interactive. You will start by setting up your files and structure, then add styling and animation, and finally use JavaScript to make your game respond to clicks and detect when you lose. By the end of the week, you will have a working game that shows how HTML, CSS, and JavaScript work together.


Testing schedule here

Short for the week: Lion

4/13: Set up your project by creating and linking your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files, then build the basic game structure with the game box, character, and block.

4/14: Style and position your game using CSS so the character is at the bottom and the block is on the right side of the game area.

4/15: Create animations by making the block move across the screen and building the jump animation for your character.

4/16: (Testing Day – Period 5 Only, 2 hours) Add JavaScript to make the character jump when clicked and begin connecting your code to your animations.

4/17: (Testing Day – Period 4 Only, 2 hours) Add JavaScript to make the character jump when clicked and begin connecting your code to your animations.

Please note: anyone who finishes their assignment is required to continue working on something (a) productive and (b) relevant to web or graphic design. You will lose one point for every class period that you don't.

Resources:

  • Weekly goals show up here and your end-of-week followup is here
  • Assignment folder here
  • Business contact tracker here
  • Portfolio address/progress reports here
  • Web Design syllabus and outline
  • Click here if you need your work from previous years
  • Link to ECHS vector here
  • Link to WordPress site here

Revise your work:

In an actual studio, your work is not final until the customer is satisfied with its quality. When I grade items, my thinking is the same: if you produce work that is below the quality that I feel you're capable of, you have a chance to revise it and resubmit. Though the resubmitted work won't be worth the full amount of the original assignment, it will increase your grade significantly.

If you received a four, this is superior work. No need for revision. You've shown you understand the concept we're practicing and have even put some extra effort into making it perfect. You should be proud to show this off.

If you received a three, this work is adequate. You completed the assignment and though you didn't put obvious, extra effort into it, the finished product is "good".

If you received a two, this work is not as good as I know you're capable of. You may have misunderstood the assignment, chosen not to complete it, or rushed through it. The finished product is not something I would feel comfortable showing to others.

If you received a one, you have the option to re-do the assignment, incorporating my suggestions, one time. Though the resubmitted work will not get a perfect score (that would be unfair to those that turned it in on time), it will be rescored and the higher score will be put in the gradebook.

If you received a zero, you either didn't hand the assignment in or it was so far off the mark that it didn't function (in the case of a website) or it makes absolutely no sense (in the case of a print design). This is a complete do-over. Return to the instructions and re-do the assignment for a better score.