Sunday, March 24, 2019

Technology TEKS 1.A - Graphic, Video, and Audio Files

March 24, 2019
Did you know that Texas has a set of TEKS for Technology Applications for grades 6-8?

 Formerly titled Computer Literacy, these standards are based on the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•S) and Performance Indicators for Students developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE): creativity and innovation; communication and collaboration; research and information fluency; critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making; digital citizenship; and technology operations and concepts.
Through the study of technology applications, students will be able to make informed decisions by understanding current and emerging technologies, including technology systems, appropriate digital tools, and personal learning networks. As competent researchers and responsible digital citizens, students will be able to use creative and computational thinking to solve problems while developing career and college readiness skills.

 Source: The provisions of this §126.16 adopted to be effective September 26, 2011, 36 TexReg 6263.

This week, we will take a look at the Technology Applications TEK 1.A
(1)  Creativity and innovation. The student uses creative thinking and innovative processes to construct knowledge, generate new ideas, and create products. The student is expected to:

(A)  identify, create, and use files in various formats, such as/including text, raster and vector graphics, video, and audio files;

Students should be able to identify these major file formats:


Students also need to understand that the images shown above are raster images, which are created based on pixels. When a small images is scaled up, it will drastically lose image quality. If students are using images in their presentations, they should use larger images as these images do not lose as much quality when they are scaled down. See the image below on how to search by image size.  Also, make sure your students have the right to use the image. You can filter images by license type by clicking on 'Usage Rights' in the toolbar. For more info on finding images that have usage rights, please check out this previous blog post: Free and Safe Image Searches


 Opposite of raster images are vector images, which are the best for scaling up and down as they are not based on pixels. They can be scaled without losing any image quality. These files are usually in the format .ai, .svg, and .eps. Most programs will not recognize these files so students will seldom use these. They are typically used in graphics design courses.


Students have many apps and sites at their disposal to create and utilize these file types. Below are a list of apps and sites that are great for students.