Advanced
Web
Communications
What
you will learn
What's
SunSITE? We were the first web server in North America.
And
the concept? The concept was content. From the beginning,
compelling content and freedom of expression has
driven the collection. The collection has driven
the technology. The year was 1992, so the issue
was politics, so we cooperated with all the campaigns
to bring voters information on the US presidential
race. The Clintonistas were the big Internet users—sending
out all their press releases to mailing lists and
archiving them on Sunsite. They were also the big
winners in the election. I'm not claiming that there's
a straight-up connection, but the man probably owes
me one.
Jonathan
Maggert
Ibiblio.org
This course is an immersion into the craft of web
site design, construction and maintenance. It is the
second course in the School of Journalism and Mass
Communication's web "sequence" and the prerequisite
for the web practicum course. The course prerequisites
include
Intermediate
Web Communications (with at least a B)
My permission
It
is my hope that we will cover e-newsletters, splash
pages and Flash. That's a lot of ground to cover.
A lot.
But
this class, however it has been advertised in the
past, is NOT about software, learning software, or
focusing our energies on mastering software. It is
about communication.
And,
service.
The
communication part will be familiar to you. Reading.
Writing. Imaging. Designing. Forceful communication
free of errors. Do not think you will be graded solely
on your ability to build a pretty web site. It's what
is IN the site that matters.
Now,
having covered that, let's admit that the service
part may be more of a mystery to you. You will work,
as a team, with an entity nearby. This entity needs
your help. Your task will be to work with the entity
to identify its needs in new media, then work as a
team with the entity to fill those needs. We'll talk
about community service and community culture in class,
but let me state clearly that the motivations in my
using this learning model include:
1.
A desire to democratize the web and new media
2.
A strong desire to destroy the oligarchy that has
grow up around new media
3.
An even stronger desire to fulfill our mission as
a land grant university
4.
A hope that you will learn through the values of community
service to respect new ideas, work with people very
different from you, and be part of the effort of an
entity helping itself.
With
regards to software, we will introduce you to some
powerful programs; the mastery of any one of these
would be beyond the scope of a single course.
Dreamweaver:
there's more to this than what you've learned.
Fireworks:
built for the web.
Flash:
Maybe
CSS:
Yes, I'm breaking down and will spend a few sessions
on building basic style sheets.
I
believe the best way to provide us with the opportunity
to expand our understanding of these programs is to
provide some basics on each, then allow each of you
to explore at greater detail what each can accomplish.
Having
said that, let me add that you will also dig deeper
into Dreamweaver and Fireworks, and will, I'm sure,
be even more accomplished web managers by the end
of this semester than you are now. You will also learn
about how to build a good web site, use javascripting,
and properly install rollovers, pop up browsers, etc.
Materials
to help you learn
Your
time, patience and energy. Oh, yea, imagination would
be good as well.
We
will be reading from the following two texts in a
seminar format:
Nicholas
Negroponte, Being Digital, New York: Vintage, 1995.
Andrew
L. Shapiro, The Control Revolution, New York: Public
Affairs, 1999.
You
will be expected to lead discussions on assigned Mondays.
Check the schedule for
your date with destiny.
There
will be infrequent quizzes on the readings.
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How
you will demonstrate what you learn
You
will have different ways to demonstrate what you learn
in this course.
One,
I expect students to take active participation in
class discussions. As described in the
schedule (day 1), you are
expected to lead the discussion on a few chapters.
(20%)
I also urge you to come to class with questions
and opinions about web sites you visit, or are curious
about.
Two,
you will be able to demonstrate your ability to apply
the principles you learn in this course to a problem
by working in a cooperative and competitive learning
experience to develop an online information center.
(Rural Oasis: http://www.ruraloasis.org)
(30%)
Early
in the course, you will begin to work on research.
Near the end of the course, we'll take a look at
what you've done . . . yes, this is a little vague,
but let's talk about this before we nail things
down. There will be days set aside for out-of-class
research (like a visit from the e-publisher, John
Cyr of Beloit, KS).
Three,
you will complete and perfect your personal sites.
They will be beautiful, well-crafted, incredible expressions
of modern imagination mixed with clear and persuasive
communication. 5%
That's
clear enough, right?
Four:
You'll have a mid-term essay on the readings. 15%
Five:
You'll have a final essay on the readings. 15%
Six:
Infrequent Quizzes (15%)
Seven:
The final will include a reflection of the project
and suggestions for the future (just required).
And,
those are clear enough, right?
Class
attendance and participation
I
believe learning is enhanced by active involvement
in class discussion and activities. That's why I will
ask questions to elicit your opinions and knowledge
of the reading material. It's also worth 10% of your
course grade. It is impossible to participate in class
without attending class (as proved by Einstein). I
would add only that attendance and final grades have
been found to be highly correlated.
Don't
be late.
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Determinants
of your course grade:
e-zine
site: 30 percent
This
will be broken down into two areas:
Areas
you personally research and build
Your
participation on the team (as graded by your peers
and me)
Your
personal (perfected) site: 5 percent
Infrequenbt
Quizzes: 15%
Mid-term:
15 percent
Final:
15 percent
Class
discussions: 20 percent
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