This course will combine a variety of lecture topics, in-class technical exercises, creative projects and online research in achieving the stated outcomes.

Note: Content is subject to change. Check the Schedule for your class section for up-to-date info.

Lectures

1. The Internet: History, Technology & Design
2. Web Development Stages 1 & 2: Discovery & Design
3. Web Development Stage 3: Develop
4. User Experience Design & Accessibility
5. WordPress: Free, Open Source Content Management System
6. Web Development Stage 4: Deploy — Hosting, Site Migration, Testing, SEO and Analytics

Technical Exercises

1. Ex00: A Simple Web Page
2. Ex01: Intro HTML and CSS
3. Ex02: Building a Site with HTML5 and CSS3
4. Ex03: CSS Flex and Grid
5. Ex04: Installing WordPress and Creating a Child Theme
6. Ex05: CSS Animation

Projects

Project 1: Personal Website (Static)
Project 2: Non-Profit Website Makeover (Dynamic/WordPress)

Readings & Participation

Read assigned readings and respond in the appropriate Discord thread. The instructor will create a thread for each reading. Post a brief (one or two paragraphs) reply to the thread indicating what you found most interesting and relevant. Rather than summarizing the article, your response should be a personal reflection on the ideas that you could relate to. (Please do not use ChatGPT or other AI tool to generate your response for you.)

You are welcome to respond to other posts within the thread, and to include links to other relevant articles you might wish to share.

Grading: To receive an A for this course component you must respond to all assigned readings with at least one post per thread.

Initial comments in each reading thread must be posted by the due date. Any initial response posted later than one week (fall/spring semesters) or two days (summer session) past the due date counted as half credit.

Discord (communication platform)

Discord is an application widely used by teams of collaborators (and gamers.) It provides the best of email and text messaging, voice and video chat, allowing for organized discussion threads and file sharing. We will be using it for communication between the instructor and students, collaboration, reading responses and general discussion outside of class.

You can use Discord through a web browser, or preferably download the Mac, iOS, Android or Windows application and install it on your device.

Zoom

Although this class meets in-person, Zoom will be used during class sessions to facilitate screen viewing and sharing, and recordings will be posted. Zoom may also be used for individual consultations and for office hours, by appointment.

It is expected that students will follow video conferencing etiquette during any online sessions:

• Find a quiet place free from distracting noise and movement.
• Refrain from engaging in outside conversations during class.
• Wear headphones to block noise and help you focus on class content.
• Be close to your mic. Earbuds with mics work well.
• Please have your webcam/video turned on — this goes a long way in facilitating interactions during class, allowing the instructor to connect with you by putting a face to a name, communicating things like interest and confusion non-verbally (helpful to the instructor during lectures,) and generally building community among students.
• Mute your mic until you wish to speak. (Zoom provides a shortcut—press the spacebar to speak.)
• Refrain from walking around or eating while on camera. (We’ll take several breaks.)

Zoom class lectures and demos will be recorded for private access by students who either missed the class or wish to review content at a later time. Please be mindful, as I am, that recorded audio and video raises potential issues around privacy, intellectual property rights, and information misuse. Please do not share the information with unintended parties for whom the content was not intended.

Much of what we will be doing is building code, which involves making and learning from our mistakes. The lectures and demos I conduct are for our own use and are not meant to be considered finalized professional content appropriate for public sharing.