Schedule
This schedule is complete. All significant changes to finished weeks have been highlighted and published on the course weblog. I’ve moved past weeks to the bottom of this page, and will keep doing that as we move forward.
Week 1 (Aug 24–28): Introduction
Preparation:
- Read syllabus.
- Read O’Reilly, What is Web 2.0?
- Create weblog account.
- Ensure you have ECOM account access. Enable web page publishing through GUAVA.
- Create Google account if needed. Ensure access to Google Reader, Google Docs, and Gmail.
- Download and install software as needed: Firefox, WinSCP or Fugu, Web Developer Toolbar.
Activities:
- Discuss syllabus, course objectives, assignments, and expectations.
- Begin using weblog.
- Begin using Google Reader.
- Familiarize yourself with software as needed.
- Discuss O’Reilly.
Week 2 (Aug 31–Sep 4): Standards
Preparation:
- Read HTML Dog, Introduction and Ch. 1.
- Read the Web Standards Project (WASP) Standards FAQ.
- Familiarize yourself with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Validator.
- Read my how-to posts, Making web pages: the network, Making web pages: local files.
Activities:
- Ensure you’ve got all the software named in week 1, and begin to use it as needed to get classwork done. In particular, you should be using Google Reader to keep up with the weblog, and you should begin learning how to use WinSCP or Fugu to upload web pages.
- Discuss the HTML Dog selections, focusing on the concepts presented:
- standards-compliance; content/presentation split; structural markup
- browser compatability; browser hacks
- HTML: elements, tags, attributes
- CSS: rules, selectors, properties
- document structure: required elements
- learn basic syntax of HTML and CSS; learn frequently used code; learn how to borrow code from web sites
- Discuss standardization: who administers standards? how is it achieved? why is it a good idea? what issues does it present? what benefits can it deliver?
- Use the W3C validator to test a few sites. Begin to learn how to parse the output.
- Create some very simple web pages (HTML only). Upload them to your account on the WIU server. Work out any kinks using the weblog and other means.
- QC class is online only this week.
Week 3 (Sep 7–11): Code
Preparation:
- Read HTML Dog chapters 2-4, 6, and 8. You don’t need to memorize this content; however, you need to learn what tags are available to you, and familarize yourself with the book so you can find details quickly. And check out the HTML Dog web site: there are lots of great examples (cut and paste!) and tutorials which can help if you’re having trouble.
- Read Andreas Ramos, “FAQ: SSI (Server Side Includes).” Skip the “.htaccess File” section. And watch for a weblog post from me about this reading.
- Read my how-to post, Andreas SSI article.
- Read semester project assignment.
Activities:
- Discuss semester project assignment.
- Discuss SSI FAQ, and go over an example together.
- Create and upload a web page which uses all types of code presented this week: formatted text, links, images, lists, and tables.
- Macomb class does not meet Mon Sep 7.
Week 4 (Sep 14–18): Style
Preparation:
- Read HTML Dog chapter 5, focusing on: box model, positioning, floats. CSS can be arcane; you aren’t going to learn it all now. Just get the basics. Check out the HTML Dog CSS tutorial if you need to.
- Look at CSS Zen Garden. Pick a few different designs and see how the content/presentation boundary works.
- Look at Intensivstation templates and Free CSS templates. It is often easier to use a template than make your own.
- Read my how-to post, Making web pages: Adding CSS.
Activities:
- Use CSS to style the page you created last week.
- Grab a template off one of the template sites, and get it working on your own site with your own (fake) content.
- QC class is online only this week.
Week 5 (Sep 21–25): Intellectual property (IP)
Preparation:
To facilitate discussion, print as much of the following as possible.
- Read my weblog post, "YouTube: make money fast, cbdilger!".
- Read the YouTube blog entry I refer to in that post, "I now pronounce you monetized: a YouTube video case study". (Watch the video, too, if you haven't already. It's funny.)
- Use Michael Brewer's Digital Copyright Slider to get an idea of the complexity of copyright term law.
- Read about Creative Commons: the introduction, Sharing Creative Works, and the licenses.
- Read the UMinn introductions to copyright: Copyright Basics; Fair Use.
- Read Joe Nocera's A Tight Grip Can Choke Creativity.
Activities:
- Discuss all the readings. This will be a different week than the first four; we're shifting from nuts and bolts to discussion of big picture issues related to those nuts and bolts.
- We'll devote a small amount of class time to studio work on projects and anyone still working on master of HTML and CSS.
Week 6 (Sep 28–Oct 2): Usability
Preparation:
- Read Krug, Don’t Make Me Think, frontmatter and Ch. 1–5.
- Read Quesenbery, “What Does Usability Mean”
- Read Bauerlein, “Online Literacy Is a Lesser Kind”
Activities:
- Discuss Krug’s book in class. Talk through some examples. Focus on these specifics:
- Does Krug think we are a bunch of stupid, impulsive, impatient morons?
- Differentiate scanning, satisficing, muddling through, reading, billboard design, and other large concepts.
- How does Krug suggest we write? What specifics apply?
- Apply Quesenbery to your project: what does usability look like for your users?
- Does Bauerlein's position have implications for Krug? Or vice-versa?
- Due: project prospectus, Fri Oct 2.
- QC class is online only this week.
Week 7 (Oct 5–9): Metadata
Preparation:
- Read Krug, Don’t Make Me Think, Ch. 6–7.
- Read Shirky, “Ontology is Overrated”.
- Check out the old and new English & Journalism pages with Krug's principles in mind.
Activities:
- In class work: 20 minutes or so to finish usability principles assignment. (Macomb: Monday; QC: start of class Thursday).
- Discuss Krug 6-7:
- What methodological implications are raised by this chapter for home page/template design?
- Discuss the following concepts: Ch 6: Navigation examples 51-3, Browsing v searching 54, Navigation problems 57, Navigation purpose 59, Navigation conventions 60-2, Home return 66, Breadcrumbs 76-84, Trunk test 85, Problems 90-3. Ch 7: Home page 95, Constraints 98, Tagline 103, Home unique 107, Pulldowns 110, Tests 114-21
- Discuss Shirky (Friday in Macomb, after break in QC):
- What is metadata? How is it relevant for us? How does Shirky argue we manage it?
- Why do we need data about data?
- Why "tagging" as opposed to other forms of organization such as hierarchies?
- Consider both automated and human-generated metadata creators and interfaces.
Week 8 (Oct 12–16): Usability testing
Preparation:
- Read Krug, Don’t Make Me Think, Ch. 8–10.
Activities:
- Everyone needs to do some usability testing so you understand the basic theories. We will be going back to this methodology over and over again!
- Macomb:
- Monday: discuss Krug, all chapters.
- Wednesday: perform some basic testing in class. See this weblog post for details.
- Friday: studio work (309).
- QC class is online only this week; I'll have an assignment for you Tuesday. (See this weblog post.)
Week 9 (Oct 19–23): Accessibility
Preparation:
- Read the WebAIM Introduction to Web Accessibility.
- Read Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act (IITAA) Web Guidelines, which apply to most Illinois government web sites.
- Read Krug, Chapter 11.
- Familiarize yourself with the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool.
Activities:
- What are the foundational principles of accessibility? Who does it target?
- Read and discuss my weblog post, "Accessibility: why and how".
- Accessibility 101: Discuss Krug, working through his main arguments.
- Discuss IITAA. In Macomb, on Friday, complete in-class work on the standards.
- Due: project milestone #1, Fri Oct 23.
Week 10 (Oct 26–30): The social
Preparation:
- Read Porter, Intro & Ch. 1–2.
- Imagine the following concepts as applied to our weblog: usage cycle (ix), hurdle (xii).
- What properties of social behavior does Porter focus on? Why?
- What are the different kinds of conversations (13-17)? Where do you see them?
- What is the AOF method (23 and forward)? How does it mesh with usability testing?
- What specific directions and best practices does Porter provide in these chapters? Which are the most important?
Activities:
- Discuss Porter, considering applications to your project work as applicable.
- Discuss web sites provide strong examples of Porter’s concepts in action.
- Group (Macomb) or individual work (Quad Cities) regarding Porter’s AOF framework and WordPress.
- QC class is online only this week.
Week 11 (Nov 2–6): Design
Preparation:
- Read Porter, Ch. 3–5.
- What is authentic conversation? How is the “dell hell” example opposite to it? Why, specifically, are apologies so important for social media? (Ch 3)
- Is sign-up necessary for social media? How can we do it? Can we engage concepts like social proof, authority, and reciprocity without it? (Ch 4)
- Consider the motivations of social capital (97): how does identity enable them to flourish? (Ch 5)
- How do the examples and best practices presented in these three chapters apply to non-commerical sites—which unlike Porter’s examples, are not selling things or providing customer service?
Activities:
- As in Week 11, discuss Porter with application in mind, and consider sites which provide strong examples of his ideas in action.
Week 12 (Nov 9–13): The network
Preparation:
- Finish Porter, Ch. 6–8.
- What are aggregation, collective intelligence, and feedback? How do they work in Web 2.0? (Ch 6)
- For Porter, what is sharing and how does it fit into social media? What types of things are shared? With whom? Why? How? (Ch 7)
- The funnel test obviously brings it all together. How? What echoes of Krug do you see in it? (Ch 8)
- What concepts play forward from earlier chapters into this part of the book?
Activities:
- As in Week 11 and 12, discuss Porter with application in mind, and consider sites which provide strong examples of his ideas in action.
- Group (Macomb) or individual work (Quad Cities): Socializing course search.
- QC class is online only this week.
Week 13 (Nov 16–20): Studio work
No readings this week. Class time is devoted to working on projects, testing with the help of other students, asking questions, etc. We will select the readings to review in weeks 14 and 15.
Due: project milestone #2, Thu Nov 19 at 5:00pm Friday, Nov 20.
Thanksgiving Break (Nov 23–27)
No readings or assignments. Watch your email for my comments on your latest project draft. I’ll post a note to the weblog when I’m done reviewing everything.
Week 14 (Nov 30–Dec 4): Review & studio
Preparation:
- Read my comments on your project.
- Read Porter, frontmatter and chapter two.
Activities:
- Mon: discuss issues related to projects.
- Wed: discuss Porter.
- Fri: studio time.
QC folks do the same stuff, just all on one day.
Week 15 (Dec 7–11): Review & studio
Preparation:
- Read Krug, chapter nine.
Activities:
- Mon: discuss Krug.
- Wed and Fri: studio time.
- Submit class participation and weblog evaluation #2, by Fri Dec 11.
QC class is online only this week.
Week 16 (Dec 14–18): Examinations
Our essay examination will be in our regular classrooms. You will be permitted to use the computers to complete the exam:
Macomb: Mon Dec 14, 10:00–11:50am.
Quad Cities: Thu Dec 17, 12:00–2:30pm.
No readings this week. Due: all remaining coursework, Thu Dec 17, 5:00pm.