Course Orientation
DGM2120 - Web Essentials
3:3:0 Fall, Spring, Summer
Prerequisite(s): DGM 1110
Designed to provide students with the fundamentals necessary to plan, design, develop, deploy, and critique a web site which includes images, sound, video, forms, and separates content from presentation. Requires students to demonstrate the fundamentals of web programming languages including XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Examines various ways to build an accessible web page. Utilizes collaborative document sharing as they work in a group to research and present on server technologies. Culminates in a final project in which students will design and deploy a working site.
DGM 2120 Web Essentials is required for all Digital Media students in all emphasis areas. DGM 1110 must be taken and passed before taking this course. This course is also the introductory class for students pursuing the Internet Technologies track in Digital Media. If you find this course fascinating then you may be interested in pursuing other Internet Technologies courses. This course is broken into multiple lessons which each take roughly a week. There is also a final project which will test the skills you learned throughout the entire semester.
Course Goals
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Analyze a variety of websites and identify the strengths and weaknesses.
- Describe the goals, identify the audience, create a page layout, and site structure for a given site.
- Practice uploading web pages using ftp protocol.
- Hand-code and validate xhtml and CSS pages.
- Demonstrate the proper use of css selectors for design and layout.
- Embed images, videos, and audio into a web page properly.
- Design a web form to collect user information.
- Validate a form using JavaScript to insure values have been inserted.
- Practice using shared documents as they build a group presentation on server technologies.
Required Materials
Textbook: Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Web Graphics
- Author: Jennifer Robbins
- Paperback: 555 Pages
- Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 4 Edition (August, 2012)
- ISBN: 978-1-449-31927-4
Note: This textbook can be purchased from Amazon or the College Bookstore.
Technology:
In order for optimum viewing of this course, use Google Chrome and Firefox web browsers.
You will need the following software if you are using a Macintosh computer.
- Download your free copy of Text Wrangler for Macintosh. It color codes your documents.
- Download your free copy of Cyberduck. It allows you to transfer the files from your local computer to the server.
You will need the following software if you are using a Windows computer.
- Download your free copy of Notepad ++ for Windows. It color codes your documents.
- Download your free copy of FileZilla Client (NOT SERVER) . It allows you to transfer the files from your local computer to the server.
How This Course Works
This course incorporates several teaching approaches to help you accomplish the course goals. The course instruction seeks to utilize the best practices currently available in instructional technology to ensure that you become independent solvers who find the information gained in this course useful and relevant several years down the road.
This course incorporates real world problems when providing instruction as well as framing all assignments in a real world context. Almost all the lecture content is de levered through videos that can be controlled, paused, and re-watched entirely at a students discretion. Using video provides another mode of learning for students who prefer visual or aural instruction. Many of the classes you take are based on reading a textbook and regurgitating what you learned on a test. This course is geared more towards hands-on student based, real world instruction. For each assignment there is an example of completed assignment provided, similar to the one that you are asked to build. These not only help you understand the detailed checklist which is the assignment description, but sets a standard for you to beat. Yes, you should seek to do better than the example.
This course is organized so that it is easy for you to acquire and use your new knowledge in new situations. Each lesson is broken down with an introduction page which includes the lesson objectives, overview, and activities. That is followed by the lecture videos or readings, which precedes the reflection assignment. Research has shown that this last step helps you retain the knowledge longer and assists you in using that knowledge in new situations. This is followed by an example of the assignment and the assignment itself. The last part of each lesson is a quiz with questions taken from the readings and the video lectures.
This course uses self-directed learning. Since these videos are available anytime they provide the optimal opportunity for you to control when and where you study. You can also pause the video while you get a snack or try to make your code function like the example. Have you ever been able to do that during a philosophy or history lecture?! This course also uses self-assessment. It is important to provide an example of what is being taught and therefore each assignment has its own example. You can compare your work and self-assess your own performance. Please DO NOT copy these examples, not only will you fail the course but you will rob yourself of the very thing you are paying to have taught to you. No one in their right mind would pay for a new car and then say they preferred to have a bicycle and leave the car at the dealership. When you skimp on learning opportunities that's exactly what you're doing with your tuition money.
Let's talk about the importance of learning how to learn, or becoming a life-long learner. If you were studying History or English, life would be easy. Seriously, when was the last time the dictionary was rewritten or something that happened in 1776 was changed? You have chosen to take a course, and possibly a major, that changes constantly. With the release of new devices and software, we have to constantly change what we teach. Those who enter the digital media field have to be life-long learners because if they don't keep up with everything new that is coming out they will lose their jobs and their viability in this field. What you learn here will probably change within the next year or two and if you are graduated and working you will need to be able to quickly teach yourself how to use new technology. Commit now to be a life-long learner and know how you learn best.
Communication, Submission, and Grading Procedures
Communication
Mail — the best way to contact your instructor is through email. Your instructor will reply within one business day; excluding weekends. Please limit your email correspondence to personal circumstances or grades and be sure to include the specific assignment you need help with.
Questions/Comments for Instructor — If you have a question about assignments that would be of interest to the class, check the discussion topic "Questions/Comments for Instructor" to see if your question has already been addressed. If not, post your question with a short descriptive title and your instructor will answer your question for the benefit of the entire class.
Attendance — Since this is an on-line course you are on your own to manage your time so that you can complete the assignments in time. We will prepare you for the real world by requiring materials to be turned in on-time and not accepting any excuses for late work. Remember it's not how hard you tried but what you were able to actually deliver that counts in the real world.
Submission
All assignments must be submitted by Monday nights at 11:59pm. Late work will not be accepted. You will have one reflection, one assignment, and one quiz that will be dropped, the lowest scoring grade in each. Therefore, I reiterate, no late work will be accepted. The following "sob story" excuses were sent to me by UVU students. While these statements might be true, they still represent a choice made by the student. It must be you not your circumstances that control your life. "It's choice — not chance — that determines your destiny." —Jean Nidetch.
- "I was really busy this weekend with other important stuff and didn't get the assignment done."
- "My spouse had to work and I was tending the kids."
- "I am taking lots of credits this semester and I had an assignment due in another class."
If you have learned to make excuses for decisions that result in poor performance or not pacing yourself to complete the assignments on-time, "You must unlearn what you have learned." —Yoda.
Grading Procedures
Assignments will be graded within one week of submission and will be graded based on the criteria asked for in the assignment description.
| Grade | Percent |
|---|---|
| A | 94%-100% |
| A- | 90%-93% |
| B+ | 87%-89% |
| B | 84%-86% |
| B- | 80%-83% |
| C+ | 77%-79% |
| C | 74%-76% |
| C- | 70%-73% |
| D+ | 67%-69% |
| D | 64%-66% |
| D- | 60%-63% |
| E | <60% |
Table of Assignments and Assessments
| Activities | Points | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Reflections (12 @ 6 points each) | 72 | 15 |
| Assignments (12 @ 15 points each) | 180 | 40 |
| Quizzes (12, 2 @ 20 points each, 10 @ 25 points each) |
290 | 20 |
| Final Project | 40 | 10 |
| Final Exam | 100 | 15 |
| Total | 682 | 100 |
Your final grade will be based on the weight of percentage that each category is given, check your Canvas grade book to see official grades that have been weighted. Your lowest reflection grade, assignment grade, and quiz grade will be dropped.
Description of Assignments and Assessments
Readings
For each lesson you will have a reading assignment. These reading assignments will be from the textbook or a link to an internet page. Many of the quiz questions are taken from the reading material.
Tutorial Videos
Most of the lessons will have video tutorials that show you how to complete an activity that is similar to the one you will work on.
Reflections
Research has shows that when adult learners take time to reflect on what they have done, they can better apply their current knowledge to future problems. You will be responding to several questions for each lesson that will help you as you reflect on what you just learned. While some of these do have a correct answer, many do not have right and wrong answers. You will be graded on accurate, complete, and thoughtful responses to each set of questions.
Assignments
Of course no lesson is complete without providing you an opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned. These carefully designed assignments will require you to demonstrate what you have learned from the instructional videos as well as your textbook reading. You will be asked to do things that are only covered in the textbook to make sure you can apply what you have read to an assignment. You will NOT be allowed to copy code from any other source when completing the unit assignments. You get to hand code each assignment without the assistance of a WYSIWYG program like Dreamweaver.
Quizzes
Each lesson will have a quiz with questions taken from the textbook and the instructional videos. These are taken on-line at your convenience. Each one has a closing time and you are responsible to make arrangements to take them BEFORE they close. If you procrastinate and something prevents you from taking the quiz, please don't ask for an extension. You will have only one chance to take a quiz (except the course orientation quiz). You should thoroughly read the textbook prior to taking the quiz; however, you are free to use the book or your notes to help you get a better score.
Final Project
As your final project you will build an entirely new multi-page website to promote vacation destinations of your choice. This project will contain several beautifully designed pages and have a consistent design.
Final Exam
The final exam will consist of 100 questions taken from all of the quizzes that you have taken over the course of the semester. It is due by midnight the last day of finals.