DEMAREST, N.J.—Students who attend either Northern Valley Regional District high school—in Demarest and Old Tappan—can now train for a future career as an interactive digital designer in diverse fields such as web-based communications, advertising and entertainment.
A new partnership between Bergen County Technical Schools and the district was announced in late October which creates an Institute for Interactive Design Technology.
The new collaboration “offers students a cutting edge career track that will prepare them for the emerging field of UX (user experience) design,” said a district statement.
The first UX course will be offered in September 2020.
‘Simple, manageable, fun’
“Today, interactive designers work to make the user experience with programs simple, manageable and fun. Because of this we are able to shop, watch our favorite shows, travel, get our news, and manage our lives, even communicate with one another using interactive web-based platforms that are designed to be seamlessly intertwined in our daily lives,” said Tim Casperson, a supervisor at Bergen County Technical Schools District, in an online video describing the new high-tech course.
According to Dave Janosz, Northern Valley District supervisor of technology education, the new comprehensive program provides “coursework that blends graphic design, business, and technology to better prepare them for a career or college program in user experience UX/UI design. Current eighth graders who are interested in learning more about the program can visit the Bergen County Technical Schools website for more information,” he said.
The BCTS website is: https://bcts.bergen.org.
‘Exciting field’ of UX/UI
He said the new Career and Technical Education (CTE) program “introduces students to the exciting field of UX/UI Design. UX refers to User Experience Design, while UI refers to User Interface Design,” Janosz said.
“This evolving multidisciplinary field underlies many of today’s fastest growing industries, including web-based communications, advertising, and entertainment. UX/UI design is driven by the imperative to design something that meets a user’s needs, and inspires consumers to want to engage with a digital product.”
‘Enhance the value…’
According to Bergen County Technical Schools District Superintendent Dr. Howard Lerner, “today’s designers must be entrepreneurs observing market trends, exploiting innovation, creating intellectual property, and applying aesthetic solutions to enhance the value of a product, service or experience,” he said.
“Students will witness UX design at work and evaluate its effectiveness through movies and television, video games, mobile technology, hardware, museum exhibits and of course, the web. Throughout, students will also be introduced to a variety of technology hardware and software, including virtual reality, app design, and 3D modeling software, to name a few,” he added.
The unique high-technology coursework path should open new doors for students’ future college and career opportunities, said Northern Valley District Superintendent James Santana.
BCTS will be hiring a technical staff member, said Andrea Sheridan, assistant BCTS superintendent, to help implement the course.
40 students in Sept. 2020
A total of 40 students, 20 at each high school, will be able to take the course, said Sheridan. Northern Valley staff will teach the new courses in both schools, she added. Sheridan said BCTS will be working with corporate sponsors and New Jersey Institute of Technology as part of the new partnership.
Santana said students enrolled will take a sequence of four courses over four years in the UX/UI design program.
He said the district was exploring options for future course funding and one prerequisite is “a demonstrated interest” in online user-experience design.
“The program is as advanced as individual students want it to be,” Santana said via email to Northern Valley Press.
UX/UI ‘fastest growing’
“Through the forward-looking program content and the groundbreaking partnership, we are working to increase access to a CTE program for one of the fastest-growing industries in the world in a comprehensive high school setting,” Santana said.
“Students from around the county will benefit from having access to a variety of elective courses, extra-curricular, and co-curricular activities designed to meet the needs and interests of all learners,” added Santana..
The Northern Valley Regional District in northeast Bergen County serves students of all abilities from ages 3-21.
