JTC 372 - Course Introduction

  • Please put away phones.
  • Will address phone policy shortly.
  • Basic policy is that if I see your phone you will be asked to leave and your grade will be severely penalized.

Instructor:

Ben O’Connor

Background:

  • Born in central Pennsylvania
  • High school in Gallup, New Mexico
  • BS Electrical Engineering, New Mexico State University, 1989
  • Power Option, worked for power companies, etc. for 7 years
  • Tech Writing Program, CSU
  • Ag Startup for a couple years
  • Early version of collegian.com
  • Contract for utility clients, air quality organizations, etc.
  • Currently instructor - JTC372 - Web Design and Management
  • 3 sections per semester, sometimes summer section
  • Example sites
  • jtc372.net
  • hibeams.com
  • midwinterbluegrass.com
  • skylarklounge.com
  • Current interest in responsive design (show examples)
  • Professional Musician (100+ dates/year)

This class:

  • Have been teaching for 15+ years
  • Web is very dynamic medium—Constantly revising the course.
  • Rebuilt from scratch this summer
  • Splitting into intro/advanced course
  • Using code editor - Brackets
  • More difficult—challenging but fun
  • Will get a lot more specific than we have done previously
  • Style sheets- powerful and flexible
  • Will do relatively modern CSS layout
  • Not as concerned about browser differences as we have been
  • See Google article
  • Will address responsive design, HTML5

What is the course about?

Goals:

Varying backgrounds/goals make class interesting

  • Minimum: give you an understanding of how web sites are created and maintained in the real world. Prepares for group/management role?
  • Or: Basic skills to create informational web sites.
  • Or: give you the basics that you can build on if you want to be a professional web developer.
  • Other goals?

Higher expectations for those with broader backgrounds

Repect for effort

Strengths/weaknesses - broad subject matter means most everyone will be asked to do things they're not good at.

What it's not:

  • Can't make you a developer in 15 weeks, 4 hours/week
  • No Word Press or other CMS
  • No frameworks - create and documents from scratch.

Course topics

Topics covered in the course include:

  • HTML Review
  • Photoshop review
  • Image preparation and formats
  • Dreamweaver settings and tools
  • Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
  • CSS Layout techniques and troubleshooting
  • Web typography
  • Content creation
  • Search engine optimization
  • Web analytics
  • Load time
  • Usability
  • Accessibility
  • Multimedia
  • HTML5
  • Responsive Design
  • Advanced topics as time permits

Data sheets and introduction

Course syllabus

How the class will work:

Course web site - (working on https)

Development of class project

  • Topic chosen by you in consultation with me
  • Original design
  • Hand-coded by you
  • Must have right to use content
  • Show examples on Y: drive

Exercises:

  • Meant to develop techniques for your own site
  • Use my existing graphics
  • Show them to me for credit

Readings

  • One or more for most classes in first half of session
  • Readings are important
  • Refer to them in final report
  • Keep up with what’s going on
  • Won’t cover all in lecture

Attendance and policies

  • Every semester-almost perfect correlation between attendance and grade
  • Expectation is that you will attend every class.
  • Will be a component of your grade-miss more than two classes (one in summer) and will be reflected in your grade
  • Most of lab stuff won’t come from readings
  • Lateness—disruptive, inconsiderate

`Phone Policy

  • No visible cell phone
  • Large grade consequences
  • Classroom management issues, basic respect issues
  • I have altered how I teach the course to reduce dead time
  • First infraction: Loss of participation credit for one week
  • Second infraction: Loss of one letter in course grade (e.g, B becomes C)
  • Third infraction: Student fails course

Extra lab time available when necessary-I will be here

Grading

  • Weighting for grading purposes is on syllabus
  • Won’t return what you hand in—need it for records
  • Will make an effort to discuss grades individually on every assignment
  • Course may be challenging
  • Typical 30% A, rest B and C
  • Nobody who gives an honest effort will fail
  • Late assignments will be heavily penalized (20% per class period). If you get behind, you’re sunk.

Reference Page

  • Readings
  • Examples
  • Tools

Questions, comments welcome

Office location, hours (By appointment)

Texts - No Text

Assignmentsafternoon:

  • Web site ideas
  • Must have legal right to use content
  • Must create from scratch - no CMS, templates, frameworks
  • Why not? - Example of Electrical Engineering degree
  • Existing organizations make good subjects.
  • Can be new site or possible redesign of existing site.
  • Types of sites:
  • Business - Family business, place where you work. Possibly startup
  • Student/Community organizations - CSU Clubs, Fraternal organizations,
  • Interest - examples - Townie Bikes, Trail running. Show Kelly Poto site.

Questions, Comments?