Project: Fall/Spring 2015-16 Web Development/Business

Step Description Expected Student Results
1 Exchange Letters of Introduction

Task: Caleb and Mentor introduce themselves and correspond as needed for clarification of overall project and project components which Caleb has already identified.

Student Role: Caleb will share his interests in and out of school, goals for his project including how/why he chose it, and his initial ideas for components of the project.

Mentor Role: Mentor will introduce him/herself to Caleb and ask questions about the project he has chosen. The goal is to draw Caleb to consider more about the components he has already identified:

Are there components to add, delete, modify?

What is the order of priority?

Mentor shares eagerness to work with Caleb as well as the best days for posting and reading messages.

 Portfolio Entry #1

(Create a file to keep portfolio entries)

Document email exchange

2 Prioritize Project Components

Task: Caleb and Mentor exchange emails in which they discuss and prioritize the project components in relation to the overall project.

Mentor Role: Mentor will aid Caleb in organizing and prioritizing project components. Mentor will research the components of Caleb’s plan and send him related links and information with guiding questions. Mentor will advise Caleb about realistic tasks and time frames for each component of the project, including which must be carried out consecutively or whether any can be conducted simultaneously.

Student Role: Caleb will generate a prioritized list of project components, considering resources and comments sent by Mentor. Armed with new information, Caleb will examine initial components, adjust if needed and prioritize.

 Portfolio Entry #2

Document the following, in order of component priority, after conferring with Mentor:

1. Component name
2. Brief explanation of component
3. Why is this component important to the overall project?
4. What is a reasonable time frame to plan on for completing this step of the project?
3 Define 2015-16 Project Plan

Task: Create a realistic project plan to begin December 1, 2015 and completed by April 30, 2016

Mentor Role: Mentor will help Caleb design a doable project plan (outline with dates) based on above research, Mentor expertise, and Caleb’s interests. This may be, for example, fully completing one or more individual components, completing a small-scale version of the big project, piloting a portion of the project, etc.

Student Role: Caleb will create a description of his project for 2015-16, including an explanation of how this fits into the bigger picture of his long-term project. He will share it with the Mentor and Teacher.

Teacher Role: Add details to ITM project schedule (Steps after #7) 		Portfolio Entry #3

Describe 2015-16 project (may be presented via text, visuals, and/or auditory media).
4 Find Experts

Task: Caleb and Mentor will match each project component with one or more professional fields, and identify at least one “top professional” and “two every day” professionals (preferably local) who are working in the component areas.

Mentor Role: Mentor will guide Caleb in research to find businesses utilizing leading edge technology related to each component. The “best” experts are often found at the leading edge. Mentor will help Caleb identify and compile a list of both “top professionals” and “every day” professionals running/working in successful businesses in the fields of his project components.

Student Role: Based on feedback from Mentor, Caleb will leverage internet resources to research businesses and professionals who are considered to be doing work at the leading edge of each field associated with a project component.

 Portfolio Entry #4

Document the following:

1. Component
2. Field related to this component
3. Name of at least one successful Business in the field, with web link
4. Name at least one “top professional” in the field, including contact information
5. Name two local “everyday professionals”, including contact information
6. Tell about any other information that relates to this component which you found interesting
5 Prepare for Interview Letters

Task: Caleb and Mentor will collaborate to create a document that contains biographical and contact information on each of the component-area experts, using the web and/or other resources.

Student Role: Caleb will create a list of interview questions about the component areas he is researching and share them with Mentor. Interview questions should be specifically formulated to send to individuals working in successful businesses relating to the component areas.

Mentor Role: Mentor will assist Caleb in finding biographical information and developing relevant interview questions.

 Portfolio Entry #5

Summarize key information about each expert in the following format:

Professional’s Name
Business Name
Contact Information
Field of work (and related project component in parenthesis)
Approximately 8-10 bullet points about the professional (examples below; delete, modify or add as needed for each individual)
• Birth date
• Early life, brief interesting or important points
• Education, interests, etc. leading to choice of career
• Interesting/important facts about the person
• Interesting/important facts about the business
List 3-5 questions to ask the expert, related to their career field and/or business, that would be helpful to you for your project.
1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
6 Write and Send Interview Letters

Task: Individual letters will be written and sent to identified experts.

Mentor Task: Mentor will help develop a template for the letter (business format) that can be customized using the interview questions above.

Student Task: Caleb will use the template to write and send individual letters to each professional.

 Portfolio Entry #6

File copies of the letters.
Create a database with the following information, and add anything else that may be relevant/helpful:

Professional Name
Relevant links
Date letter sent
Date return letter received
Further follow-up? Y/N
Other notes
7 Project Implementation

Task: Complete project designed in Step 3

Mentor Role: TBD by Teacher according to Step 3 Project Plan

Student Role: TBD by Teacher according to Step 3 Project Plan

Teacher Role: To specify Tasks, Mentor and Student Roles, and Portfolio entries

 Portfolio Entries

TBD by teacher after completion of Step 3
8 Final Presentation

Task: Create an audio-visual summary of this project with a focus on the final product

Mentor Role: Provide input and feedback to Caleb as he puts together his final presentation. Create a simple evaluation form Caleb can give to his audience.

Student Role: Caleb will showcase his final product through a multi-media presentation, perhaps with a demonstration and/or hands-on component. This will include a brief summary of the steps he has taken to plan and create the product (If Caleb chooses, it may be in a separate format from the rest – ex, poster, handout), but focus mainly on the purpose and elements of the product. If applicable to the product, a marketing style presentation may be taken, highlighting the product features and benefits. Audience for presentation TBD. Caleb to record evaluation results. 		Portfolio Entry

Provide file of multi-media presentation and any supporting documents.
If applicable, include photos of the presentation, especially if there is a demonstration piece.
Graph or chart audience evaluation results.