Syllabus: CBTE-162
Web Page Creation
Fall 2008 | CRN:54725
Description:
This course provides a hands-on approach to designing and creating excellent web pages.
As the first step, students learn the principals of basic HTML. Next they learn to use XHTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to create basic pages, and then entire websites that conform closely to the standards established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
An important part of the course is to fully understand the techniques required to publish a working five-page web site to a location on the Internet.
Particular attention will be paid to website usability, disabled user accessibility, and understanding how standards compliant code makes it easy to display digital content on small format devices such as cell phonesor the even the iPhone or iPod Touch.
Upon successful completion of the course the student will be able to:
- Plan an attractive, usable, and accessible web site.
- Design and create web pages that include hypertext links.
- Critique web pages made by other designers and make suggestions for improvement.
- Add enhancements such as graphics, images, and site navigation.
- Use HTML, XHTML (strict) and CSS to create Web pages.
- Understand and use the basics of W3C standards for XHTML, CSS, and Accessibility.
- Use hand coding to construct web pages and web sites.
- Use templates to quickly construct web pages.
- Post finished web pages to a live www location on the Internet where it can be viewed by others using any current web browser.
Evaluation:
A student's grade will be based on multiple measures of performance and will reflect the objectives set forth above. A final grade of "C" or better indicates the student has the ability to successfully apply the theory and techniques taught in this course in subsequent courses. Distance learning students will submit their course work electronically and receive electronic feedback. Important: All work--including the final project--must be completed and submitted to the instructor via WebCT by the due date for the assessment, assignment, or project. Extensions will not be given to any date after the last day of class.
Each student will:
- Participate in graded online discussions relating to Web Design and other Internet technologies. This may involve critiquing the work of classmates or commenting on the design and technologies used on Internet sites designated by the instructor or the student.
- Take online quizzes covering each of 12 mandatory course content modules.
- Complete, and submit online, various exercises and projects relating to the course content.
- Design and produce a fully operational Web Site as his/her final project.
- Post designated web exercises and the final project on a live Internet-based website that is established and controlled by the student.
All exercises and the final project will be evaluated by the instructor, who will look for the following:
- The Application of W3C standards-compliant planning and design principles for creating Web sites and pages.
- The ability of the student to separate semantic content from style and presentation features on all web pages.
- Appropriate use of images and tables within web pages.
- The use of CSS 2.1 to control visual features and presentation on all website pages.
- The use of CSS 2.1 to control the layout and positioning of content on all pages.
- Application of W3C testing procedures to ensure XHTML and CSS is valid.
This course may be taken for grade only. The final grade will be determined using the following weighting of evaluation measures:
| Weighting: | |
|---|---|
| Online discussions: | 20 points |
| Online quizzes: | 60 points |
| Module Exercises: | 60 points |
| Final Project: | 60 points |
| Range: | |
|---|---|
| A | 180-200 points |
| B | 160-179 points |
| C | 140-159 points |
| D | 120-139 points |
| F | 0-119 points |
Method of Instruction
This class will be conducted as a distance education class using Web CT(also known as My Blackboard). There will be no on-campus or face-to-face meetings except for on-campus office-hours, if requested by the student.
Texts and Supplies Required:
Mandatory Textbook:
Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML by Elisabeth Freeman & Eric Freeman; published by O'Reilly; ISBN-10: 0-596-10197-x
This book is absolutely mandatory. I can not imagine how you could complete this course without a personal copy of the textbook. It is very inexpensive compared to most textbooks used today. (Amazon: $26.39)
Highly Recommended, but not required Textbooks:
The mandatory text is wonderful and it will take you through all the basics to get your site coded and published. But Head First follows a definite path to the final goal. They use examples and a story to do this. You may have questions that are beyond the scope of the Head First book and that's where these books can be very useful:
The CSS Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks, & Hacks by Rachel Andrew; published by Sitepoint Books: ISBN: 0-9579218-8-8 --This book is really exceptional! I use it all the time personally. (Amazon: $26.37)
The Ultimate CSS Reference (Illustrated) by Tommy Olson and Paul O'Brien; published by Sitepoint Books: ISBN: 0-980285852 --A complete and thorough and up-to-date reference guide for CSS. (Amazon $29.67)
Mandatory Online Internet Website:
Each student must arrange with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for a place on the Internet to publish the required web-based exercises and the final project website that is required by this course.
A "personal web site" is offered for free by many ISP's such as Cox and Time Warner. However, these sites have limits. They will be good enough for this introductory class, but if you are serious about becoming good at web design, I recommended that you establish an actual website with a dedicated domain name. In addition to using it for this class, this sort of web site can serve as an "online portfolio" as you develop your web skills.
My personal site is at http://www.craftwebproject.com
The ISP that you choose must transmit your pages to the Internet just as you code them. Many "free" (or even some reduced price) website hosting companies add extra code to all the webpages they host. This extra code contains advertisements and other info that will make it impossible for you to validate your code via the W3C Validator at the XHTML stict level. Therefore, these websites may not be used to meet the requirements of this course. There is help in the folder called "Web Hosting Providers" that is located on the WebCT course homepage. Info in this folder and instructions in Unit 1 will help you understand the way to get your web site online properly with a reliable provider.
Computer Skills Advisory:
To take this course you should be comfortable with your computer. You don't need to know a thing about web design since we will be starting at the basic level.
However, if you have already taken other courses in web design, this course will still be very useful for you. We are going to be covering the very latest in web coding including XHTML (strict) and Cascading Style Sheets CSS 2.1.
If you have taken a class in Dreamweaver or Front Page, this class will help you understand why those programs sometimes "get confused" when they are used to create web pages automatically.
If you have basic familiarity with computer terms and know how to use basic programs you should be OK. If you are a tech genius, so much the better. It can't hurt.
Attendance Requirements:
District Policy 3110 discusses class attendance. This class is 2 units. If you were taking this 8 week class on campus, there would be 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of lab and about 3 hours of homework every week. Since you are taking this class online, you will actually be doing all this outside of a campus classroom. However, I do require you to log on to the course at least twice per week. You will need to go online to read the unit lessons, participate in discussions, do the quizes, and submit assignments.
If you have not logged on for a period of two weeks, I may drop you from the course. However, if you have a valid reason to miss your weekly log on's, contact me in advance to make arrangements. I will work with you.
IMPORTANT: do not expect me to drop you "automatically" for any reason. I may do so if you stop attending, but if I don't do that, what happens is up to you. If you personally want to drop or withdraw from this class it is your responsibility to contact the admissions office and make all the proper arrangements before the deadline date.
I am sorry to be so blunt about this issue, but sometimes things get confused if the rules aren't spelled out clearly.
This is not the sort of course you can let go for weeks at a time and then expect to catch up. However, if you work at a steady pace you will succeed.
Instructor Response Time:
One of the things that make online classes useful is that you can work on the class when it fits into your schedule. I plan to log on every day, most likely more than once per day, but I am not sure exactly when. The only exception to this norm will be Oct 1st - Oct 6th. During that period I will be on travel and may not be able to respond quickly.
Except for Oct 1st - Oct 6th, I will make every attempt to answer any email you send me within 24 hours--that includes weekends.
Students with Disabilities
If you think you may need academic accommodations to complete this course, please contact me by email and tell me what accommodations you request during the first two weeks of class. The sooner the better, since we will have to coordinate all accommodations with DSPS.
Disruptive Students
You must treat your classmates in a respectful manner. Even though we are online and we are using the Internet, we all still have a right to privacy and a right to a non-threatening and non-hostile environment.
Remember that when you write something in an email or discussion, the people reading it can not see your expression or hear your tone of voice. Go out of your way to be polite when you interact on line.
Students who are disruptive are subject to disciplinary action and will be removed from class in accordance with SDCCD Policy 3100.
Incomplete Work:
I will not accept any work for this class after the end date for the semester as listed in the college calendar unless a grade of Incomplete ("I") has been assigned for the semester grade.
In rare cases a grade of "I" may be assigned instead of a regular grade at the end of the semester; however, this is only done in cases of true emergency. Statistically, most "I" grades are never completed and the grade turns in to an F, so this option is never a good one to undertake.
Schedule:
The course will progress according to the schedule established on the home page of the course in WebCT. Each learning module has the due dates for discussions, quizzes, and assignments listed. Although I don't expect to do so, I reserve the right to change the schedule with prior notice.
...WPC