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Summer I 2009

May

T 26: Session 1: "Orientation"
Our Tasks:
• Please read the "Getting Started" page and follow the instructions.
• Please read the Web Site Project and the Web Site Proposal assignments.
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please read the PowerPoint presentation Session 1: Orientation.
• Please surf the course web site concentrating on the syllabus — Materials and Texts especially — and the calendar.
Supplemental Sources:
• If time, interest and a thirst for knowledge allow, please look at Lecture 1 - Hardware from David Malan's course at Harvard, "Understanding Computers and the Internet."
• Please review "How to Defang Scary Technology" (Phyllis Korkki, The New York Times).
• Please review "What kind of website will you choose?" (Phil M., from HTML Primer) and Web Site Categorization.
Our Goals:
• Orienting ourselves to the class website, to computers and the Internet, and understanding course mechanics and initial course assignments.

W 27: Session 2: "Setting Up"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download, read and perform the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation Session 2: Setting Up.
• Please read the Documentation Page on Virginia Tech's Filebox site. Read the section "Transferring files to an account" carefully.
• Please surf Virginia Tech's Software Skills Gateway and consider if you would like to pursue any of the tutorials.
Supplemental Sources:
• If time, interest and a thirst for knowledge allow, please look at Lecture 2 - Hardware, Continued from David Malan's course at Harvard, "Understanding Computers and the Internet."
• The web site supporting Castro's HTML, XHTML, and CSS, Sixth Edition.
• W3Schools Web Primer.
• Robert Cringely's Nerds 2.0.1.
• Matisse Enzer's Glossary of Internet Terms.
• The Webby Awards.
Our Goals:
Creating a basic web page on Filebox, getting a sense of how Filebox works, and considering references for web site design.

H 28: Session 3: "Basic (X)HTML Structure"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download, read and perform the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation Session 3: Basic (X)HTML Structure.
• Please read "XHTML Tutorial" up to, and including, "HTML Syntax" (from the W3Schools).
Supplemental Sources:
• If time, interest and a thirst for knowledge allow, please look at Lecture 10 - Website Development from David Malan's course at Harvard, "Understanding Computers and the Internet."
• Chapter 3 in Castro's HTML for the World Wide Web.
• Examples for Castro's Chapter 3.
Our Goals:
Formatting a web page using proper (X)HTML syntax.

F 29: Session 4: "Basic (X)HTML Formatting"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download, read and perform the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation Session 3: Basic (X)HTML Structure.
• Please review "HTML Text Formatting" up to, and including, "HTML Character Entities" (from the W3Schools).
Supplemental Sources:
• Chapter 4 in Castro's HTML for the World Wide Web.
• Examples for Castro's Chapter 4.
• Chapter 21 in Castro's HTML for the World Wide Web.
• Examples for Castro's Chapter 21.
Our Goals:
Extending our knowledge of (X)HTML structure and formatting.

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June

M 1: Session 5: "Links"
Our Tasks:
• Web Site Proposal due by midnight.
• Please read Exercise 1 and the Provisional Site Upload assignment.
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download, read and perform the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation Session 5: Links.
• Please review "HTML Links" (from the W3Schools).
Supplemental Sources:
• Chapter 6 in Castro's HTML for the World Wide Web.
• Examples for Castro's Chapter 6.
Our Goals:
Learning to create hyperlinks and anchors and to consider web site structure and navigation.

T 2: Session 6: "Style Sheet Building Blocks"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download, read and perform the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation Session 6: Style Sheet Building Blocks.
• Please review "CSS Tutorial" up to, and including, "CSS How To..." (from the W3Schools).
Supplemental Sources:
• Chapter 7 in Castro's HTML for the World Wide Web.
• Examples for Castro's Chapter 7.
Our Goals:
Getting a sense of CSS and how it relates the HTML.

W 3: Session 7: "Working with Style Sheet Files"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download, read and perform the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation Session 7: Working with Style Sheet Files.
• Please review "CSS Background" up to, and including, "CSS List" (from the W3Schools).
Supplemental Sources:
• Chapter 8 in Castro's HTML for the World Wide Web.
• Examples for Castro's Chapter 8.
• Basic CSS Box Model Demo
• BrainJar.com: CSS Positioning
Our Goals:
Working more with CSS to give web pages form and structure using the box model.

H 4: Session 8: "The Word and the Web"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download and read the PowerPoint presentation Session 8: The Word and the Web.
• Please read Jacob Nielson's "How Users Read on the Web," "How Little Do Users Read?" and "Differences Between Print Design and Web Design."
• Please review "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web" by Mark Bernstein at A List Apart.
Supplemental Sources:
• Writing for the Web: The blog of Writing for the Web 3.0
• Chapters 1 and 5 of Price and Price's Hot Text.
• Christine A. Quinn's "Elements of Style for Web Design".
• "Print Design vs. Web Page Design."
Our Goals:
Developing ideas of how readers read on the web and how to write web content accordingly.

F 5: Session 9: "Text as Object"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download and read the PowerPoint presentation Session 9: Text as Object.
• Please review "Information Pollution" and "Be Succinct! (Writing for the Web)" (From Nielsen's useit.com website).
Supplemental Sources:
• Chapters 6 and 7 of Price and Price's Hot Text.
• Nielson's Writing for the Web.
Our Goals:
Understanding web writing as a visual, hyperlinked object and formulating strategies for revising academic prose for the web.

M 8: Session 10: "Web Paragraphs"
Our Tasks:
• Exercise 1 due by midnight to the appropriate forum on the wiki.
• Provisional Site Upload 1 due by midnight.
• Please read the Non-Fiction Revision assignment.
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download and read the PowerPoint presentation Session 10: Web Paragraphs.
• Please read "Blah-Blah Text: Keep, Cut, or Kill?" and "F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content." (from Nielsen's useit.com website).
• Please read "Web paragraphs are different" (from Gerry McGovern.)
Supplemental Sources:
• Chapter 8 of Price and Price's Hot Text.
• Nielson's Writing for the Web.
Our Goals:
Examining strategies for writing short, coherent paragraphs for the web.

T 9: Session 11: "Editing Official Style Prose"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download and read the PowerPoint presentation Session 11: Editing Official Style Prose.
• Please read "Politics And The English Language" by George Orwell.
• Please review "The Science of Scientific Writing." (PDF file) (Gopen and Swan)
• Please review "What's wrong with the " Official Style?" (please follow the links and read the associated pages). and consult "Making an Essay More "Academic."
Our Goals:
Analyzing the elements of "official style" prose and examining revision strategies.

W 10: Session 12: "Writing Genres, Blogging and Reporting"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download and read the PowerPoint presentation Session 12: Writing Genres, Blogging and Reporting.
• Please review "Amateur Hour: Journalism without journalists (Nicholas Lemann).
Additional References
• Chapters 11 and 14 of Price and Price's Hot Text.
Our Goals:
Examining the constraints and benefits of writing in established genres on the web.

H 11: Session 13: "CSS Positioning"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download, read and perform the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation Session 13: CSS Positioning.
• Please review "CSS Positioning" (from the W3Schools).
Supplemental Sources:
• Chapter 9 in Castro's HTML for the World Wide Web.
• Examples for Castro's Chapter 9.
Our Goals:
Learning and working with the CSS code for placing elements on web pages.

F 12: Session 14: "On JavaScript"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download, read and perform the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation Session 14: On Javascript.
• Please review the "JavaScript Tutorial" up to, and including, "JavaScript Where To ..."
Supplemental Sources:
• Dynamic Drive: Menu and Navigation Scripts.
• Chapter 20 in Castro's HTML for the World Wide Web.
Our Goals:
Finding, integrating and manipulating JavaScripts to add interactivity to our web sites.

M 15: Session 15: "CSS and Images"
Our Tasks:
• Part I of the Non-Fiction Revision due by midnight.
• Provisional Site Upload 2 due by midnight.
• Please read Exercise 2.
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download, read and perform the instructions in the PowerPoint presentation Session 15: CSS and Images.
• Please review "CSS Image Gallery" up to, and including "You Have Learned CSS, Now What?" (from the W3Schools).
Our Goals:
Modifying images and becoming familiar with class selectors in CSS.

T 16: Session 16: "Creating and Manipulating Images, Part I"
Our Tasks:
• Please consider viewing and following one or more of the You Suck At Photoshop tutorials in order to develop an image or images for your web site.
• Please review "Beginner's Guide to Photoshop," "Creating a Watermark," and "Fonts and Text"
Additional References
• "Graphic Resources"
• "Adobe Photoshop CS Tutorials"
• "Beginner's guide to Photoshop, part 1"
• Photoshop Basics - Tutorials for Photoshop Beginners
Our Goals:
Investigating Photoshop techniques for creating and altering images.

W: 17: Session 17: "Creating and Manipulating Images, Part II"
Our Tasks:
• Please consider viewing and following one or more of the You Suck At Photoshop tutorials in order to develop an image or images for your web site.
• Please review "Photoshop Tutorials for Intermediate Users"
Additional References
• "Photoshop Tutorials"
Our Goals:
Investigating Photoshop techniques for creating and altering images.

H 18: Session 18: "Perception, Thought and Usability"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download and read the PowerPoint presentation Session 18: Perception, Thought and Usability.
• Please read "Usability 101: Introduction to Usability" from Jakob Nielson.
Supplemental Sources:
• Introduction and Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of Krug's Don't Make Me Think.
• Usability.gov
• Usable Web
Our Goals:
Examining how we make meaning from visual images in examining concepts of usability.

F 19: Session 19: "From Here to There"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download and read the PowerPoint presentation Session 19: From Here to There.
• Please read "Is Navigation Useful?," "Breadcrumb Navigation Increasingly Useful" and Reviving Advanced Hypertext from Jakob Nielson.
Supplemental Sources:
• Chapter 6 of Krug's Don't Make Me Think.
Our Goals:
Analyzing principles of web site navigation.

M 22: Session 20: "This Must Be the Place"
Our Tasks:
• Exercise 2 due by midnight to the appropriate forum on the wiki.
• Provisional Site Upload 3 due by midnight
• Please read the Usability Test Report assignment.
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download and read the PowerPoint presentation Session 20: This Must Be the Place.
• Please review Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility.
• Please review "Top Ten Guidelines for Homepage Usability," "Evolution of the Home Page Design" from Jakob Nielson.
• Please review "The Ten Most Violated Homepage Design Guidelines" from Jakob Nielson.
Supplemental Sources:
• Chapters 7 and 9 of Krug's Don't Make Me Think.
Our Goals:
Examining research and norms governing home page usability

T 23: Session 21: "How to Perform Usability Tests"
Our Tasks:
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download and read the PowerPoint presentation Session 21: How to Perform Usability Tests.
• Please review "First Rule of Usability? Don't Listen to Users," "Recruiting Test Participants for Usability Studies," "Why You Only Need to Test With 5 Users"
Supplemental Sources:
• Chapters 10 and 11 of Krug's Don't Make Me Think.
• Usability.gov
• Usable Web
Our Goals:
Developing strategies for conducting usability tests on our web sites.

W 24: Session 22: "Performing Usability Tests, Part I"
Our Tasks:
• Please have your web site at a stage of completion so that members of your design group, and members of your intended audience, can conduct usability tests.
Our Goals:
• Setting up, conducting and completing meaningful usability tests on our web sites.

H 25: Session 23: "Performing Usability Tests, Part II"
Our Tasks:
• Please have your web site at a stage of completion so that members of your design group, and members of your intended audience, can conduct usability tests.
Our Goals:
• Setting up, conducting and completing meaningful usability tests on our web sites.

F 26: Session 24: "Performing Usability Tests, Part III"
Our Tasks:
• Please have your web site at a stage of completion so that members of your design group, and members of your intended audience, can conduct usability tests.
Our Goals:
• Setting up, conducting and completing meaningful usability tests on our web sites.

M 29: Session 25: "Test Results, Revision and Reflection, Part I"
Our Tasks:
• Usability Test Report due by midnight.
• Provisional Site Upload 4 due by midnight.
• Please read the Designer Manifesto assignment and Part II of the Non-Fiction Revision.
• Please take this time to revise your web site based on the usability test, draft your Designer Manifesto and complete Part II of the Non-Fiction Revision.
Our Goals:
• Considering and developing a critical account of web writing and web design and, consequently, implementing changes to our web sites.

T 30: Session 26: "Test Results, Revision and Reflection, Part II"
Our Tasks:
• Please take this time to revise your web site based on the usability test, draft your Designer Manifesto and complete Part II of the Non-Fiction Revision.
Our Goals:
• Considering and developing a critical account of web writing and web design and, consequently, implementing changes to our web sites.

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July

W 1: Session 26: "Test Results, Revision and Reflection, Part III"
Our Tasks:
• Please take this time to revise your web site based on the usability test, draft your Designer Manifesto and complete Part II of the Non-Fiction Revision.
Our Goals:
• Considering and developing a critical account of web writing and web design and, consequently, implementing changes to our web sites.

H 2: Session 27: "At the End of the Day"
Our Tasks:
• Designer Manifesto due by midnight.
• Please login to Blackboard and go to the Course Documents page. Please download and read the PowerPoint presentation Session 27: At the End of the Day.
Our Goals:
• Reflecting on course learning goals.

M 6: Final
• Your final web site for the course, and Part II of the Non-Fiction Revision, is due by noon.
For reference, the exam schedule.

Well Done!