comm306f11-syllabus

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Web DesignCOMM 306, Section 61 Fall 2011

Thursday, 6:159 PM

Ryan Eanes, Adjunct Instructor Manhattan [email protected] Department of Communication

Course Description & ObjectivesMuch like a living organism, the Internet grows and changes every day. The medium of the web maybe the single most important advancement in how we communicate since the invention of theprinting press. Because of the Internets pervasiveness and its near-ubiquitous role in our day-to-dayexistence, it is critical for future media practitioners, regardless of their specialty, to have afundamental grasp of the basics of the Internet and to be conversant in web technologies andtechniques.

Over the course of the semester, COMM 306 will cover the following topics: The history of the Internet and its precursors HTML, the primary language of the World Wide Web, and CSS, its stylistic companion Basic web page design Website usability, usability testing and the web development processAdditionally, neurological and communication researchers have discovered in recent years that theInternet may actually be modifying the way we think, behave and interact with each other andinformation as a whole. We will make a brief detour during the semester to experience thisphenomenon first-hand, and to thoughtfully consider what these changes mean for us as a culture ofinformation consumers.

TextbooksThe following three textbooks are required for this course:

Krug, Steve. Dont Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. 2nd ed.Berkeley: New Riders, 2005.

Boehm, Anne. Murachs HTML, XHTML and CSS. Fresno: Mike Murach & Associates, 2010.

Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains . New York: W.W.Norton, 2011. (Paperback or e-book version suggested.)

Suggested, but not required, for this course are the following two books:

McNeil, Patrick. The Web Designers Idea Book. Cincinnati: HOW, 2008.

As you will be expected to design your own web pages over the duration of this course, youmay wish you use McNeils book as a starting point for your own ideas if you find yourselfat a loss creatively.

McFarland, David. CSS: The Missing Manual. 2nd ed. Sebastopol: OReilly Media, 2009.Cascading style sheets, or CSS, are employed as the primary means of styling web pages inthis course. They can be a bit unwieldy, and this book may prove useful as a ready referencein taming your style sheets.


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Attendance and ParticipationBecause our class only meets once weekly, I must adhere to a strict attendance policy. You may missone and only one class session without penalty. For each unexcused absence beyond that, yourfinal grade will be docked by a full letter. As this could very easily mean the difference betweenpassing and failing, I strongly encourage you to make every effort to attend every class session.

Attendance is self-managed; after the first class, I will not call roll. Instead, you will be expected to

sign in when you arrive to class. It goes without saying thatyou may not sign in for fellowclassmates. This is a direct violation of the college honor code and will not be toleratedso dont tryit.

Your active participation in class is also essential. Class sessions oftentimes require student input,and your contributions will also provide me with a good gauge of your grasp of the material. Yourcontributions will also make the course more enjoyable and productive for your fellow classmates.

Grading Breakdown

Usability Test ........................................................ ..................................10%Assignment I: Notepad HTML........... ....................................................10%Assignment II: Personal Website...........................................................20%Floating Assignment: Disconnecting......................................................20%Final Project............................... ....................................................... ......40%

Grading ExceptionsBecause this course is designed to help prepare you for the kinds of expectations placed on real-worldpractitioners of web design, there are two additionalbut extremely importantcourse requirementsthat may (but hopefully will not) impact your grade. Please read them carefully.

Any work containing more than threegrammatical, functional or typographical errors willreceive an automatic grade of F.

Any assignments completed using pre-made web templates (i.e., those included with iWeb orsimilar software) are unacceptable, and will receive an automatic grade of F. This does notinclude bare-bones CSS templates (those are OK). The difference between the two types oftemplates is significant and will be elaborated on more fully in class.

Because you are being made aware of these rules up front, there will be absolutely no exceptions.

Check your own work carefully! If you have any doubts whatsoever, ask a classmate to check yourwork for youand return the favor. Failing that, ask me, and Ill be happy to provide an answer.

Finally, as a student of Manhattan College, you are, of course, expected to abide by the schoolsStatement of Academic Integrity, which is available from the Department of Communication if you

wish to obtain a copy.


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Course Assignments

Usability Test (10%)It is my sincere belief that understanding web usabilityhow people use the Internetis the key todesigning effective web sites that work. Therefore, at an unannounced point during the semester,you will be tested on your knowledge of web usability. Think of this as a quiz of your reading.It is a timed test taken online via Blackboard, and consists of multiple choice, true/false and heat

map questions.

Assignment I: Notepad HTML (10%)Because we will be learning HTML from the ground up, I want you to gain an intimate familiaritywith the way a HTML document should be structured, so your first assignment will be to constructa single web page using Notepad (or TextEdit or some other basic no-frills text editor). I will bescrutinizing this assignment, so be absolutely certain that its as perfect as you can make it!

Assignment II: Personal Website (20%)Your first actual web construction assignment emphasizes basicfunctionalityover style oraesthetic concernsthat is, everything must work and be functional. The site must include text,images and valid links to other pages (both your own and other sites on the Internet).

Design is a secondary consideration for this assignment. While I want you to at least giveaesthetics some thought while constructing your site, your grade will not be dependent upon it. Iwill largely be considering usability above anything else when evaluating your site. A relativelyunattractive site that is highly usable will score much higher than a heavily ornamented site thathas an indecipherable navigation structure, for example.

Floating Assignment: Disconnecting (20%)See next page for full details on this assignment.

Final Project (40%)For your final assignment (in lieu of a written final examination), you will work in small groupsto design and construct a website for a hypothetical entity (e.g., law firm, restaurant, library,doctors office, etc.). You will each be held equally responsible for the end result and will shareone single final grade. How you divide your responsibilities, however, are entirely up to you.

The trick to this assignment:Keep it simple. Ambition is certainly admirable, but dont set a goalthat is so high that you cannot reach it. Designing a website for a small family-owned restaurant,for example, would be far easier and more doable than redesigning the Food Networks website.

The ultimate purpose of this assignment is for you to display, through your teamwork and yourcraftsmanship, the information that you have learned (and taught yourself) over the duration ofthis course. You are expected to approach this assignment with the same sort of diligence that you

would a real-world application. This is intended to be a practical and realistic learningexperience that reflects some of the same obstacles you would encounter in the workplace.

Final projects will be presented during the final exam period on December 15. The exam period isfrom 6:30 pm to 8:30 pmplease make a note of this different meeting time. We will meet in ourregular classroom.


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Floating Assignment: DisconnectingIn recent years, neuroscientists, communication scholars and computer science researchers (not tomention the researchers at web giants like Google) have begun to notice a fundamental shift in theway that human beings think and behave as a result of our increasingly extended use of the Internetin day-to-day life. It would seem that actual patterns of neural activity in our brains have begun toshift simply because of our dependence on the Internet. Are we losing something as a result of thisshift? Are most people even aware of these changes?

Your assignment is to follow these steps:

1. Read the book. At some point during the semester, you are to read The Shallows: What theInternet is Doing To Our Brains by Nicholas Carr. (I highly suggest purchasing either thepaperback edition or the e-book version, if you have access to an e-book reader or iPad.) Read itcover-to-cover and consider it carefully; take notes, if youd like, or highlight passages that strikeyou as interesting.

2. Disconnect. After reading the book, select a 48-hour period of your choosingthis can be aweekend, or any two sequential daysin which you will take a technology sabbatical. Thismeans no computer use, no mobile phones, no televisionin short, anything with a screen is off-limits for the full 48 hours (barring an emergency, that isbut needing to watch True Blood does

notcount as an emergency). Make a deliberate effort to stick to this, and keep a journal of yourthoughts, feelings and behaviors, if you so choose.

3. Respond and react. Once your 48-hour technology fast has concluded, write a reaction paperon the entire experience. This reaction paper should attempt to conflate your own personalexperience with what you gleaned from Carrs book. Did you discover anything about yourself,your personal habits or your usage of technology? Draw a conclusion based on your ownpersonal experiencethis is, after all, a reaction paper; it should be personal in nature, andtherefore reflective. 3-page minimum (please do not exceed 10 pages) 1-inch margins, double spaced 10- or 12-point type in a legible, standard typeface (Times, Garamond, Courier) Email a Word document (.doc, .docx) or PDF to me at [email protected]

There is no question that this is an unusual assignmentperhaps one of the odder assignments youllreceive during your entire college experience. That is by design. The idea is to expose yourself toconditions that are unfamiliar and confront the resulting emotions, thoughts and impulses.

There is no specific due date for this assignment. Because of the time requirement, this assignmentis self-managed. I expect you to be able to manage your own time wisely, to calendar yourtechnology fast, and to allot sufficient time afterwards to thoughtfully complete your reaction paper.

You may submit it at any time after completing all three steps. The final cut-off date for papers to bereceived is Thursday, December 1, 2011. NO PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS DATENO EXCEPTIONS. I stronglyencourage you to finish all phases of this assignment well before

12/1/11. The quality of your assignment will suffer significantly if you do it in a rush.

Finally do not attempt to write your paper without reading the book and completing the technologyfast. Your writing will betray you if you skip one or both of these stepsand I will gradeaccordingly. Grades will be based on the thoughtfulness of your analysis and the quality of yourreflection on your experience.

Feel free to email me at any time if you have questions about the specifics of the assignment.


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Course CalendarThe course calendar is tentative and subject to change.

Week 1 Thursday, September 1IntroductionIntro to the course, history of theInternet, basic terms, mechanics

of the web

Week 2 Thursday, September 8BrainlessnessUnderstanding how people usethe web, conventions, averageusers, learning from otherpeoples mistakes

Week 3 Thursday, September 15HTMLStarting with HTML from scratch

Week 4 Thursday, September 22More HTMLMore nitty-gritty details of HTML

Week 5 Thursday, September 29Images and OptimizationTypes of images, imageoptimization using Photoshop,backgroundsASSIGNMENT I DUE

Week 6 Thursday, October 6More Images and Optimization

More Photoshop techniques,manipulating photos, more

Week 7 Thursday, October 13Introduction to CSSDifferences between HTML &CSS, using CSS

Week 8 Thursday, October 20More CSSLayouts, positioning, templates,floating

Week 9 Thursday, October 27DreamweaverSetting up and getting startedwith Adobe Dreamweaver

Week 10 Thursday, November 3More DreamweaverShortcuts, setups and templatesASSIGNMENT II DUEIn-class presentations

Week 11 Thursday, November 10Students ChoiceTell me what you want to knowand well figure it out togetherTime provided to work in class

Week 12 Thursday, November 17More Students Choice

Tell me what you want to knowand well figure it out togetherTime provided to work in class

Thursday, November 24Thanksgiving BreakNO CLASS

Week 13 Thursday, December 1The Internet and Our BrainsWhat the Internet is doing to the

way we think, and moreTime provided to work in class

Week 14 Thursday, December 8Professional WorkflowsA look at how workflows occurin the real worldTime provided to work in class

Exam Period Thursday, December 15FINAL DUEIn-class presentations (6:30-8:30p)

Documents

comm306f11-syllabus