Web Design Course Syllabus

BlueSky Charter School’s Vision Statement
BlueSky is defining education for the 21st century by creating an individualized, dynamic education for all students. We are committed to empowering our community by facilitating relevant learning, skills, hopes and relationships.

Meeting Times: Fall 2009
Regularly scheduled synchronous learning times using ClassLive (Elluminate) will be on Wednesdays from 10 AM - 12 PM or by appointment.

Teacher and Contact Information
Instructors: Joshua Ashton and Gabra Lokken
Office Hours: 10:00 - 2:00
Virtual Hours: By appointment
Meet Josh and Gabra

I. Rational
This beginning Web design course is a bottom-up approach in creating a personal Web page using the language of Web page development (Hyper Text Markup Language - HTML). The course examines three stages of web page development: design, construction and publishing. Rather than paying for plug-and-chug Web design software like Frontpage or Dreamweaver, save your money, learn HTML and explore how to use the tools on the computer to create a personal Website. Check out the video.

II. Course Objectives
By the end of this course, students will cover the following objectives as established by the Minnesota Educational Media Organization (MEMO):

Understand the format and language of Hypertext Markup Language
Learn the basic structure of the Internet and conceptually understand browsing languages
Understand the importance of visual design when constructing web pages
Develop web pages using text editors and HTML
Create web pages utilizing structural elements (i.e., tables, images, links)
Publish created web pages online using a free hosting service
Revise websites working both online and with hard drive files
Embed multimedia in a website
Clearly demonstrate through a personal website the tenents of visual design in web page development

III. Minnesota Information and Technology Literacy Standards Covered
Participants in this class will gain experience that will help them meet the following Minnesota Information and Technology Literacy Standards:

Technology Use
A. Standard: The student will select and use appropriate technology for educational and personal goals.

Reading and Media Literacy
C. Standard: The student will critically evaluate films, recordings, and other multimedia formats.
D. Standard: The student will create video and multimedia productions.

Responsible Use of Information and Technology
A. Standard: The student will understand ethical and safety issues related to information use including plagiarism and citing sources, copyright, intellectual freedom, acceptable use of school technologies, privacy, and evaluation of information.
B. Standard: The student will use resources responsibly.
C. Standard: The student will use resources and learn independently and in collaboration with others.

IV. Formats and Procedures
This course will use several formats to assist students in their ability to learn and demonstrate understanding of the material.

Lessons will contain a variety of formats primarily including reading and writing and video formats. This will allow students to read about online tools and watch step-by-step videos illustrating how to use many features of online tools. Reading will provide a reference to students as they answer questions and formulate thoughts about a subject matter. Answers will need to be given in a variety of ways such as short answer, essay, true/false, multiple choice, etc. Questions will apply to the topic being explored each week.
Students will be asked to respond and follow step-by-step directions of information provided in video formats. This will allow for students to hear and see information in addition to reading about it. Answers will need to be given in a variety of ways such as discussion board threads, short answer, essay, true/false, multiple choice, and, most importantly, project-creation.
A variety of other projects will be required throughout the course such as presentations to enhance or demonstrate understanding of the material.

V. My Assumptions
Web page development requires users to have a text editor like Microsoft Notepad or Mac Simple Text to write Hypertext Markup Language. In addition, students will need to navigate between hard copies of files as well as online versions operating multiple windows simultaneously. The content of student web pages centers around hobbies, interests and lifestyle and emphasizes how the structure of a web page can improve communication and presentation. Students with experience in graphic design, image editing or programming tend to find more success with web page design.

VI. Course Requirements

Class attendance and participation policy: You will be expected to act responsibly and to fulfill the following duties/roles as a student and participant in this class:

Log in to eClassroom on a daily basis to see what assignments you have due and when. Do not wait until the day an assignment is due to begin working on it. Project-oriented assignments take time and cannot be completed in one day. Plan your days accordingly, as it will be very difficult to catch up if you fall behind.
You can expect to have at least 1 large project each week in this class and up to 2 shorter assignments to equal a total of five hours of work per week.
Read all instructions CAREFULLY before beginning any assignment. Even if they seem to be the same instructions you received for an earlier assignment, small details may be different and could affect your scores significantly.
Look at your returned assignments! After you turn work in, I will make comments/suggestions on the front page and within the assignment as I grade it.
Check your BlueSky email and return messages EVERY DAY. This is a responsibility of all BlueSky students, as it is the most efficient way for me to reach you. You go to school online, so there is no reason not to read your emails every day. You will miss critical information if you don’t.
You must ask questions when you have them! Without face-to-face contact, it is difficult to know if a student is struggling or confused unless you let me know. Always ask for help RIGHT AWAY.
Read all school and class announcements on eClassroom. Important messages are posted here so it’s important that you read them every day.
Please talk to me about re-doing any assignments. Work will be graded a second time when designated in the gradebook. In certain situations you will need to do an alternative assignment. It is important to realize that online tools are often in their beta stage and can malfunction. Consequently, students may have to return to use a tool during times of less Internet traffic.

Course readings: (a) No Required text.
(b) Some readings will be provided in a variety of file formats from images to document files. Contact the instructor if you are unable to access a reading.
Grading: Grades will be determined by the percentage of points you EARN out of points POSSIBLE. For example, if an essay is worth 50 points and you earned 45 points, your grade would be 90% (45/50), which is an A-. Your quarter grade will be based on the points for the whole quarter, so if there are 500 points for the quarter and you want at least a B- (80%), you would need to earn at least 400 points total (400/500 = .80).
Grading Scale
A: 94-100%
A-: 90-93%
B+: 88-89%
B: 84-87%
B-: 80-83%
C+: 78-79%
C: 74-77%
C-: 70-73%
D+: 68-69%
D: 64-67%
D-: 60-63%
F: 0-59%

IV. Academic Integrity
BlueSky students are responsible for doing their own work & maintaining academic integrity. All students must always submit work that represents his or her original work, words, or ideas. If any words or ideas are used that do not represent origination from an individual student, the student must cite all relevant sources. The student should also document the extent to which such sources were used. Words or ideas that require citation include, but are not limited to, all hardcopies or electronic publications, whether copyrighted or not, and all verbal or visual communication when the content of such communication clearly originates from an identifiable source. In the online course, all submissions to any public meeting or private mailbox fall within the scope of words and ideas that require citations if used by someone other than the original author. Cheating includes:

Copying from another student or allowing another to copy your work.
Unauthorized collaborating on an assignment or examination.
Taking an examination for another student or allowing another student to take an examination for you.
Allowing others to research and complete assigned papers or projects.
Using information from another source without proper citation.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is to use information or text unknown to you before reading it in an outside source and failing to accurately use citations or failing to accurately list the source information in a Works Cited. Plagiarize: to steal and use (the ideas or writings of another) as one’s own.

Your research paper is a collaboration between you and your sources. To be fair and ethical, you must acknowledge your debt to the writers of these sources. If you don’t you are guilty of plagiarism a serious academic offense.
Three different acts are considered plagiarism: 1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, 2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and 3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words.
You must, of course, document all direct quotations. You must also cite any ideas borrowed from a source: paraphrases of sentences, summaries of paragraphs or chapters, statistics and little-known facts, and tables, graphs, or diagrams.

Please be sure that you understand what plagiarism is and how you can avoid plagiarizing. It is acceptable to be able to research and navigate information on the internet, but you want to make sure that if you take information from any source, you give the author credit.
Look at the following resources to learn more: What is Plagiarism? The Fraud of Plagiarism Plagiarism Effects
To correctly cite information and images, use the citation machine..

Click MLA
Click the type of source where your information or images came from. For example, if you are using an image from the internet, click Web Page.
Fill in the form using information from your Web Page
Click submit
Copy the citation that appears in the grey box and paste in your document.
Tips:
The author's name on a webpage is usually found in small print at the bottom of the page.
If an organization is responsible for the website and an individual is not credited with creating the web page, use the organization's name for the Authors First Name.
The Page Title and the Title of Article may be the same if only one title appears on the webpage.
The Organization may be the same as the author's name if an individual is not credited with creating the web page.
The Date Accessed is today's date and it is automatically filled in for you.
The URL is the web address for the web page. Citation Machine

All interactions while attending BlueSky Online Charter School will follow the basic principles for netiquette, online etiquette.

THE CORE RULES OF NETIQUETTE The Core Rules of Netiquette are excerpted from the book Netiquette by Virginia Shea. Click on each rule for elaboration.

Introduction
Rule 1: Remember the Human
Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life
Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace
Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth
Rule 5: Make yourself look good online
Rule 6: Share expert knowledge
Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control
Rule 8: Respect other people's privacy
Rule 9: Don't abuse your power
Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes

http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

VIII. Tentative Course Schedule

The main topics are as follows:

Quarters 1 & 3
Week 1

Introductions
Course Structure
Icebreakers
Defining the Internet

Week 2

Getting to Know Each Other
Online Safety and Security
Computer Safety

Week 3

Elements of Design
Student Created Sites

Week 4

Personal Page
XHTML
Basics of HTML

Week 5

Examine Lists
Create a List of Tags
Construct First Page

Week 6

Review HTML Tags
View Source Code
Copy and Create

Week 7

Font Tags
Font Usage
Create a Page with Fonts

Week 8

Editing Images
Website Design Tips
Construct a Page with Colors

Week 9

Quarter Review
Quarter Exam

Quarters 2 & 4
Week 1

Review Tags, Colors and Fonts>
Learn about Tables
Construct a Page with Tables