I. SCOPE OF THE COURSE
This course will provide the student with theoretical and practical principles related
to Internet and Intranet design, development, and maintenance. The course will use a
hands-on approach to teaching with an emphasis on building sites in a real world
environment.
II. PURPOSE OF THE COURSE
This course will provide opportunities for students to extend their knowledge, and
provide hands-on experience in creating various types of Internet-based (or Intranet
based) information resources. The course will also provide a chance for students to design
and implement WWW pages that will be made accessible via Internet-based servers using a
variety of Web authoring and graphic manipulation tools.
III. OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
Upon completion of the course the student will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the technical background of the Internet and World Wide
Web including its history and its uses to date and potential uses.
- Demonstrate an ability to utilize Internet tools, both authoring and graphical, to build
Internet pages and Internet ready graphics.
- Demonstrate an understanding of file types and transfer protocols.
- Demonstrate an understanding of basic Web site structure and interface design.
- Demonstrate a firm understanding of HTML including forms and special media tags.
IV. PROCEDURES
Teaching strategies will include readings, lectures, student participation,
demonstrations, laboratory experiences, assignments, and projects—with specific
emphasis given to hands-on experience.
V. STUDENT ACTIVITIES
- Each student will participate in class exercises, lectures, and individual and group
projects.
- Each student will be responsible for a final Web project consisting of a full working
site. This assignment will constitute 75% of your final grade and include a presentation
of the site to the class.
- Homework exercises and group mini-projects and presentations will comprise another 25%
of your grade.
VI. COURSE OUTLINE
Class 1--The History of the Web and How to Search
- What is the Web and its History
- Differences between Internet, World Wide Web, Gopher and FTP
- Browsers what they do and how to use them
- Search Engines, how they work and how to use them to find information
Class 2-- HTML, the Basics
- What is HTML and how does it work
- The Tags, syntax and conventions
- Creating a simple page using the Windows Note Pad
- How to copy from the best
Class 3-- Using an HTML WYSIWYG Editor
- What tools are available for creating HTML
- Introduction to MS Front Page
- Building a site in Front Page
Class 4--Tables, Frames and Image Maps
- Tables a publishers dream/nightmare
- The "F" word (frames that is)
- Using Templates and stock graphical elements from FrontPage
- Creating image maps in FrontPage
Class 5-- Web Graphics
- How to produce graphics
- Where to find ready made graphics and how to modify them
- Graphical file formats—how to use them
- Optimization of graphics—Palettes, color depth, breaking up graphics
- Scanning and inputting/creating your own graphics
Class 6-- Good Site Design
- What makes a good site
- Elements of a site
- Creating an outline of your site
Class 7-- Collecting Information from Your Users
- What is a form and how to create one
- How to collect information from the form
- Producing and uploading a form
- How to read the collected data and import it into database and spreadsheet programs
Class 8-- Improving and Optimizing
- Spicing your site up with animation and Java Script the easy way
- Putting your site together
- Testing your site
- Optimizing your site for quick downloads
FINAL PROJECT REQUIREMENTS
Your final project will be a complete, working Web site. The subject of your Web site
can be anything you choose, within reason. It might be on yourself, a favorite musical
group, a recent trip you took, an artist, a historical figure, a companies Web site (real
or fictional), anything is possible. However, please choose something that you are
interested in as a building a good Web site takes time and you will be spending
considerable time outside of class on this project--do something you are passionate about!
What is required
In order to pass this course you will need to demonstrate that you can execute the
following things:
- Tables--your site must make good use of tables throughout. It is impossible to have a
good design without using tables.
- A user submitted form produced by you which collects data for you automatically and
writes that data to a Web page.
- An image map of some type--this is a graphical hotspots or areas where users can click.
- A JavaScript Mouseover--at least one example using JavaScript to create a mouseover
effect.
