Assignments and Quiz

If there is no assignment specified for a given class date, please take advantage of that time to practice skills we learned most recently, or ones you feel you need to review. Code is POWER!

Assignments are for YOU so you can build your skills gradually rather than stress and scramble for the mid-term and final projects! Thus the will be graded as check + (great job!), check (yep, you tried), or check-minus (you failed to bother).

Lest any date changes occur from what is listed on this page, also pay attention for assignment dates in class, and see the "announcements" box on the home page of this site. Always feel free to ask if you are not sure about an assignment date (or anything else from class).


Assignments due August 22:
1) To jump start discussions on Wednesday, please read intro to “Interaction: Artistic Practice in the Network”, Ed. Amy Scholder (just 3.5 pages, <access the PDF here> .)
2) Come to class Aug 22 prepared to share one or two of your favorite web sites, and talk about why you like them.


August 29: XHTML QUIZ!!!!
Here are your <XHTML Tags to Know>. Practice information for your quiz is below the tags. GOOD LUCK! :)


Assignment Due September 10:
Create a simple 5 page website in Dreamweaver.
You should have an “index” page, and two folders (named as you wish) with 2 pages each (named as you wish).
Each page should have an image.
The index page should have a roll-over image.
Images should be in a folder called “images”.
Each page should link to each other page, using an unordered list as a menu (or a more sophisticated method if you know one); thus each page will have 4 links.
Change default link colors and text color (and background color if you want) for practice.


(10-minute) Assignment due no later than September 19:
(--because you have your first use for this when your "real" September 19 assignment is due.)
In Dreamweaver, please build a personal portal page to, or index for, all of your assignments.

It can be as simple as a page with a pleasing solid color, one image that expresses you, your name, the title “Web Production Workshop Fall 2012” (use H1 tag!), and a text menu with the following words that describe your assignments for the first half of the semester:

CSS sample 1 (date)
CSS sample 2 (same date)
CSS sample 3 (same date)
CSS sample 4 (same date)
CSS sample 5 (same date)
CSS Box Model Exercise (date)
CSS Menu Example (date)
Home page mockup .jpg (date)
Mid-term home page assignment (date)

None of these menu items will be linked yet because there is nothing to link them to. As you finish each assignment, you will link it to this page. This is where file structure and organization REALLY starts to matter!

You will add other assignment titles as you go on in the second half of the semester.


Assignment due September 19:
Practice/experiment with the basic commands we learn in class.
Just apply the CSS code to the body of a Dreamweaver page.
Pick 5 from the class <Common CSS Commands sheet>, and change at least 3 values in each.
Each of the 5 should be labeled telling what they are.
Each of the 5 should be in it’s own web page.
Link each page to your index page.
Preview in a couple of browsers before turning them in, to make sure they do what you want them to do.


Assignment due September 24:
Prepare a box model that looks like the w3schools example: http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_boxmodel.asp
Use the ‘Try it yourself” button to get started: http://www.w3schools.com/css/tryit.asp?filename=trycss_boxmodel_width
You may choose any color you wish for the border.
Put your code in the body of a web page via Dreamweaver and link it to your personal homepage.

Also look at “Interactive CSS Box Model Demo”: http://www.redmelon.net/tstme/box_model/


Assignment ONE OF TWO due October 1:
(which we will start in class):

PLEASE NOTE: You should have this at least MOSTLY finished for September 26 so we can, as a group, discuss any problems you have. HOWEVER, you are not required to turn it in until October 1 in case you DO have any problems with it.

Find a menu on CSS Play (http://www.cssplay.co.uk/menus/) that is open for your use. (Some are free for nonprofit use, and some request a donation to access the code.)
With or without using Dreamweaver (your choice) create a div for a menu and a div for content.
Put a menu in the menu div.
(This might be a left or right nav column for a vertical menu, or a horizontal box for a horizontal menu.)
Change the colors of the menu.
Put in menu items that are meaningful to you.
Please provide me with a link to the original menu so I can see that you edited the CSS. Thanks!
DON’T FORGET TO LINK THIS EXERICISE TO YOUR “INDEX” PAGE!


(easy!) Assignment TWO OF TWO due October 1:
For October 1, gather images and pieces needed to build your Photoshop mockup design (which will become a web page design). These might be scanned images, images from the web, digital photos, or cropped portions of any of these items.


Assignment due October 3:
Link a 72dpi .jpg of your mockup to your portal page.
First, of course, finish it if you did not finish it in class.


Cumulative Skills MID-TERM due October 10? (I need to verify this date with department)

Oct 3: In-class exercise:
Build your mid-term homepage from your Photoshop mockup.
Use whatever tools are available to you—our code resource sheets from class, on-line examples that you alter, Dreamweaver starter pages that you alter…in the “real world”, all resources are keys to problem solving. Credit where copyright credit is requested.

Note: you should indeed link your menu items, but for now, just link to a page with a title of the menu item so we know the links work.
(If you have ambitiously chosen a 3-tier flyout menu, come talk to me about a minimum number of pages to link so you don’t have to do 20+!)
Populate your content area with text that is meaningful to you—a poem, a journalism blurb, a short story, etc.

Oct 8: In class exercise:
We’ll look at how to pull out the CSS from your mid-term homepage and apply it to all of your pages (as defined by your menu items).
As with the CSS menus lesson, this is an applied exercise in making and linking external style sheets.
However, this time you will want to have multiple style sheets: one for the menu, one for positioning and styling of text, background image if applicable, etc.

TO TURN IN FOR THE MID-TERM:
Finish what you did not finish in class!
If enough of you want it, we can set up a study group for problem solving.
THE ONLY PAGE THAT NEEDS TO BE FULLY DEVELOPED WITH CONTENT IS YOUR MID-TERM HOMEPAGE.
Linked pages will just be quick skeleton pages to show you can link them all to external CSS pages.
The number of linked pages you have depends on the menu style you chose.


Assignment due October 29:
1) Javascript assignment, to be determined (TBD). Link it to your portal page, please.
2) Go try a Google calendar on your own, experimenting with how far you can customize the calendar.
There is nothing to turn for the calendar in; it's easy, I trust you can do it!


Assignment STRICTLY DUE October 31:

FOR OUR GROUP GOOGLE FUSION PROJECT:
Each student will create the data spread for just 10 houses, including GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude).
We all will use the same template with the same form fields, but all work to input data from different houses.
Then in the following class we will combine the data in Google docs, and have a respectable data set to work with, without anyone getting too bug-eyed from data entry!

PLEASE BE SURE TO REMEMBER YOUR WORK—YOUR CLASSMATES ARE COUNTING ON YOU! Team effort. Thanks!


Starting November 7: Start thinking about final project and how to approach it based on class discussion.


Assignment for November 12:
1) Watch video (41-minutes) with Brad Neuberg of Google’s Developers’ Program on where the web has come from, where it is going, and the role of HTML5 video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siOHh0uzcuY

2) You should start sketching out final projects.


Assignment for November 14-28:
Work on final projects, in class and as homework, incorporating accessibility guidelines.

Requirments will be discussed in class, approximately November 7. (By then I should have a sense of how you are coming along as a group, and what interests you.)

Remember, final projects should include ONE element that we did NOT cover in class, something you taught yourself (a javascript command, a widget, a social media element, an RSS feed, etc.)


Peer Learning Presentations: December 3 and 5!

Presentations on your final project in progress, 10 minutes each.


FINAL PROJECTS DUE, FINAL CRITIQUES:
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 7:30 am - 10:30 am


HAVE A FUN AND RESTORATIVE WINTER BREAK!