Course Outline

This course examines communications systems and design and production processes in the areas of electronic, live, recorded and graphic communications. Students create, manage and distribute complex electronic, graphic, recorded or audio-visual projects independently and in project teams.

Students also study industry standards and regulations, and health and safety issues, as well as explores careers, the importance of lifelong learning and the impact of communications technology on society and the environment.

This course profile provides a framework for extending and deepening the skills and knowledge students have developed in Grade 11 Communications Technology. Students are required to design and create products using audio/visual, graphic and interactive technologies. There are four units of study emphasizing the theory and applications of live, recorded, electronic and graphic communication processes. Units are organized to provide practical contexts for the application of advanced skills and knowledge. Activities within each unit provide opportunities for students to acquire and demonstrate understanding of the practices and underlying principles of complex technological processes. Students are expected to build upon their existing skills and knowledge, especially with regard to their ability to design, plan and carry out self-initiated projects.

In this Course Profile, each unit of study focuses predominantly on a curricular strand. Unit 1 is concerned with the impact and consequences of the use and development of communication technologies. Units 2 and 4 focus on the application of skills and processes. Unit 3 deals with the technological design process and knowledge of graphic communication processes. This method of organization stems from a consideration of how to generate meaningful learning activities from logical clusters of expectations within relevant projects that are largely student-initiated. The course consists of coherent units of study based on projects and applications that can be realistically undertaken in a high school. Expectations have been grouped and sequenced to promote efficient and practical assessment of significant learning activities. In Unit 1, for example, expectations relating to safety, impacts and education/training have been gathered into a coherent exploration of the social and economic context of the technologies and practices they will use in the course.

Full Course Profile available here