Archives for September 2006
Weekly Agenda for September 25-27
Monday, September 25
Today you’ll continue to work on your Web literacy autobiographies.
Wednesday, September 27
Class is canceled for the 150th anniversary celebration.
Assignments for this Week
- Read:
- Comment on the discussion post in the course community.
- Continue to work on your Web literacy autobiographies.
Weekly Agenda for September 18-20
Monday, September 18
Today we’ll briefly discuss this week’s themes: identity and privacy in collaborative/community Web writing. Then we’ll discuss conventions for writing narratives and you’ll work on your Web literacy narratives. Finally, you’ll set up your Niagara Web space and publish a sample page.
Assignment for Next Class
- Read “When Public and Private Collide“, “Privacy Fears Shock Facebook“, “Scenes from the MySpace Backlash” by next Monday.
- Comment on the discussion post in the course community by next Monday.
- Draft your Web literacy narrative and continue working on the project.
Wednesday, September 20
Today we’ll review Web design and Web page creation basics, and then you’ll work on creating Web pages for your projects.
Assignment for Next Class
- Continue to work on Web Literacy project
- Make sure you’ve completed the reading and discussion.
Notes and Activities for September 20
Today, we’ll:
1) Review some basics about how Web pages work.
Download the sample Web pages.
2) Work on creating your Web literacy narratives.
Helpful links:
- Creating a Table-Based Layout in Dreamweaver
- Dreamweaver 8 Basic Features
- Designing with CSS
- Cascading Style Cheat Sheet
- Free CSS/HTML Template Roundup
- Web Developer’s Handbook
Notes and Activities for September 20
Today, we’ll:
1) Review some basics about how Web pages work.
Download the sample Web pages.
2) Work on creating your Web literacy narratives.
Helpful links:
- Creating a Table-Based Layout in Dreamweaver
- Dreamweaver 8 Basic Features
- Designing with CSS
- Cascading Style Cheat Sheet
- Free CSS/HTML Template Roundup
- Web Developer’s Handbook
Assignment for Next Class
- Continue to work on Web Literacy project
- Make sure you’ve completed the reading and discussion.
Weekly Agenda for September 11-13
Monday, September 11
Today we’ll discuss topics for the collaborative Web resource assignment and go over general guidelines for the project. Next, we’ll discuss the guidelines for the Web Literacy Autobiography, and discuss the types of Web writing which happen in personal contexts. Finally, you’ll start thinking about the narratives which you might want to create for your projects.
Assignment for Next Class
- Read “Logged Off: Increased Use of Internet in Life Leads to Digital Memories With Death,” “The Next Step in Digital Evolution,” and “The Future of Literacy” (given out in class).
- Make a comment on the discussion post in the course community or make a separate post about your ideas.
- E-mail the instructor with the date for the week that you want to be the discussion leader for the readings.
Wednesday, September 13
Today we’ll discuss how people categorize and shape information on the Web using various principles of information design and information architecture. Then you’ll engage in some site mapping and create asset lists to keep track of the information you’ll need for your web literacy autobiography. Finally, you’ll start collecting information for your projects.
Assignment for Next Class
- Make sure that you’ve done the reading and commented on the discussion post.
- Continue to collect information (links, pictures, sound, video, writing, resources) for your web literacy autobiography.
How do I set up a Web site using Dreamweaver?
1) Create a folder in your Z: drive called eng342.
2) Create a folder inside the eng342 folder called wln.
3) Start Dreamweaver and create a site by following the instructor’s directions.
- Click on the Sites menu and click on “New Site.”
- Enter the site name.
- Type in the “name” of your site (call it whatever you want).
- Type in the Web address for your site. This will be http://eagles.niagara.edu/yourwebusername/
- Click on the Next button.
- Click on the radio button next to “No, I do not want to use a server technology.”
- Click on the Next button.
- Click on the folder icon next to “Where on your computer do you want to store yourfiles?” and choose the “eng342″ folder in your Z:/ drive.
- Click on the Next button.
- Click on the drop down list next to “How do you connect to your remote server?” and choose FTP.
Enter in this FTP information:
What is the hostname or address of your : eagles.niagara.edu
What folder on the server do you want to store your files? yourwebusername (Substitute your Web username for the word “yourwebusername.”)
What is your FTP login? yourPurplePassID@niagara.edu What is your FTP password? Your Purple Pass password - Click on the Next button.
- Click on the Next button again.
- Click on the Done button.
4) Create a new Web page within Dreamweaver by following the instructor’s directions.
- Click on the File menu and then click on New…
- Click on Basic Page and then on HTML
- Click on create.
- Click on file and choose save as…
- Save the page as test.html in the wln folder inside the eng342 folder on your Z: drive
Add some text to the Web page — at least a paragraph. You can copy and paste it from somewhere else, or you can make it up.
5) Publish the page to your NU Web space.
- Bring up the files menu if you can’t already see it.
- Click on the “connect to remote host button” next to the drop down list in the upper left hand corner of the files window.
- In the “local files list,” click on the wln folder.
- Click on the blue arrow pointing up button on the top toolbar.
- Confirm anything that Dreamweaver asks you to do.
- Verify that the wln folder and your file are now in the “Remote site” side of the files window.
6) Visit your Web page in a browser and send the Web address to the instructor in an email.
The Web address for your page should be: http://eagles.niagara.edu/yourwebusername/wln/text.html
Substitute your Web username for the word “yourwebusername.”
If this address doesn’t work, let the instructor know so that she can help you.
Notes and Activities for September 18
Today, we’ll:
1) Go over the weekly agenda.
2) Listen to a story which exemplifies some of the themes for this week.
3) Discuss conventions for writing narratives and how hypertext changes narrative conventions.
- What are the traditional narrative conventions?
- How does hypertext challenge traditional narrative conventions? How is hypertext on the Web different from print text?
What does that mean for your projects?
- The reader can “read” your narrative in a variety of ways, and they might not necessarily read every page.
- The flexibility of the Web as a medium means that you can include multiple forms of media (pictures, sound, video) and links to outside sources. Where do you want to do that in your story? Where will it be effective to help tell your story?
- As the designer, you create the possible “paths” for the reader to follow by building navigation, creating links, and creating “associative trails” for the reader to follow.
- How are you going to design your site so that readers understand your narrative? How are you going to arrange and present information so they understand your story? What navigation will you provide for them to move through your story?
- How are you going to represent this arrangement to yourself? (Site maps, asset lists, index cards, wireframes…)
4) Learn how to get set up to create and publish content on the Web using Dreamweaver.
You might want to bookmark the instructions for setting up a site using Dreamweaver so that you can easily locate them whenever you need to work on the project.
5) Work on your web literacy projects.
You might want to: start drafting your narrative, outline or map your narrative or Web site, practice creating Web pages…
Assignment for Next Class
- Read “When Public and Private Collide“, “Privacy Fears Shock Facebook“, “Scenes from the MySpace Backlash” by next Monday.
- Comment on the discussion post in the course community by next Monday.
- Draft your Web literacy narrative and continue working on the project.
Collaborative Web Resource: Final Topic Vote
The top three choices:
- A resource for our local community with the Things to do in this area. I hear a lot of people always talk that there is nothing to do around this area, but I think there is always something to do. The primary audience would be locals to the Niagara/ Buffalo Region, or just people who live here. We could create a resource site that lists ‘Things to Do in the Buffalo/ Niagara Region’” (five votes)
- A place on the schools web page where students can go to find all of the different activities, clubs, organizations in one place. there is a similar site however its never updated, it doesnt give any information. (three votes)
- A site where students and parents can go to find information of all the local places to go…restaurants, hotels, activities, driving directions, anything and everything to make the new students transition easier. this would also be helpful for visiting parents and friends. (3 votes)
Another proposal: A combination of —A resource for our local community with the Things to do in this area. I hear a lot of people always talk that there is nothing to do around this area, but I think there is always something to do. The primary audience would be locals to the Niagara/ Buffalo Region, or just people who live here. We could create a resource site that lists “Things to Do in the Buffalo/ Niagara Region” — and —A site where students and parents can go to find information of all the local places to go…restaurants, hotels, activities, driving directions, anything and everything to make the new students transition easier. this would also be helpful for visiting parents and friends. — (i think these could be combined to be the same informative website)
So what do you want to do?
Notes and Activities for September 13
Today, we’ll:
1) Discuss the parts of Web pages: navigation, content/assets, and layout/design.
Navigation (See another example)
- Whole site navigation
- Sub-section navigation
- Page navigation
- Site maps
- Search boxes
Content/Assets (Information)
- Writing
- Pictures
- Sound
- Video
- Flash animation
- Dynamic content (rss feeds, scripts)
- Links to other sites
- Placement of navigation
- Placement and organization of content
- Color scheme
- Fonts
- Graphics/logos/branding/identity
- Labels
2) Discuss Web writing as a process.
We can see Web writing/creating Web pages as a process, just like all writing is a process:
- Brainstorming ideas
- Collecting and creating content and assets
- Organizing and categorizing content/assets into related groups of pages; developing labels which group related information and allow the user to know what to expect. This forms the basis for site navigation.
- Generate visual or written representations which show whole-site navigation and organization, sub-section navigation and organization, and in-page navigation and organization. (Site maps, wireframe drawings, etc.)
- Create a layout for the site which places navigation and content on the reader’s screen.
- Make design choices about colors, fonts, branding, graphics/logos
- Build the site by creating pages which contain content and navigation and which use the layout and design you created.
Right now, you’re working on the first three stages: brainstorming ideas, collecting and creating content and assets, and organizing and categorizing assets.
3) Talk about information architecture.
A big part of writing for the Web or creating Web pages is being able to acquire, organize, and categorize information and determine how to organize it on the Web site and the Web page level. Doing this kind of work is called information design or information architecture. You use the categories that you create to help build navigation and also to think about the layout and design of the site.
The big secret of Web writing/Web designing: Writing for the Web requires the classification, arrangement, and presentation of information on multiple levels.
The classification, arrangement, and presentation of information is also called information architecture. (On a larger and slightly different scale, it’s also called rhetoric.)
Information architects decide how the content for a site will be arranged at the macro and micro-levels.
- They divide information into categories, sections, and pages.
- They label categories and sections of information so that users can identify them.
- They decide how parts of a Web site will be linked to each other and connected to other sites on the Web.
- They design navigation aids (such as navigation bars, link lists, headers, and footers) and search capacities for sites so that users can find the information they need.
Information architecture for a site works at multiple levels on larger sites:
- Design and navigation of the whole site (Niagara University Web site)
- Design and navigation of sections of the site (Niagara University English department)
- Design and navigation of individual pages within sections (Course description page for the English department)
For example, the Niagara Web design staff had already created an information architecture for the entire Niagara site. They’d also created page templates that contained navigation for the entire site and a place for navigation of each section of the site (such as the English department).
However, the content for the English Web site still needed to be classified, labelled, and arranged for presentation on the Web in a way that fit into that template. There were multiple ways of arranging and presenting this content to the user. As the Web content creator, I needed to know how to best organize and present the content.
How do information architects decide how to classify, label, and arrange information for presentation? There are many ways, some of which we’ll practice in class, such as:
- Site maps
- Wireframes
- Analysis of usage patterns from exisiting sites
- Asking for feedback from users and groups
- User testing and focus groups
- Card sorts
To help you understand how information architects learn from their users and how content can be classified and organized, I’m going to ask you to do an information architecture exercise.
4) Play the role of users in the card sort exercise and then discuss the results.
First, you’ll divide into groups of four. Each group will receive a pack of index cards — some labelled cards and some blank cards. The possible content for the Niagara English Web site is available on the labelled index cards.
Second, your group should try and sort the cards into groups that make sense to you. Don’t try to design a navigation scheme and don’t look at the English department Web site for the actual scheme. Just sort the cards into groups that make sense to you as a group.
Third, once your sorted groups are established, please give each group a name that makes sense to you. Write the name on a blank card and put it on top of the pile. You are allowed to make sub-groups if you feel that’s appropriate; label those the same way. If you feel something is missing, you can use a blank index card to add it. Additionally, if you think a label is unclear, feel free to write a better label on the card. Finally, if you think something doesn’t belong, you can make a miscellaneous pile.
Finally, your group should present your organization of content (the labels you gave to each group, the content you put in each group, and why you put it there) to the class.
How did your arrangements compare with the actual information architecture for the site? Why do you think they are different?
What can differences in how users arrange information tell us? Areas of difference tell us about:
- “content that participants haven’t understood well
- content that could belong to more than one area
- alternative paths to content (for example, a list of all “how-to” articles could be created)
- how different types of participants see information” (Wodtke)
5) Discuss how asset lists can be used to help track, categorize, and identify information needs for a Web site.
- What does your audience need to know?
- What does your audience need to see?
- What does your audience need to hear?
- What does your audience need to interact with?
Download Sample Assets List
Download Blank Assets List
6) Work to list, collect, or create content for your Web Literacy Autobiography.
Assignment for Next Class
- Make sure that you’ve done the reading and commented on the discussion post.
- Continue to collect information (links, pictures, sound, video, writing, resources) for your web literacy autobiography.
Notes and Activities for September 11
Today, we’ll:
1) Go over the weekly agenda.
2) Set up your NU Web space (if you haven’t already).
3) Discuss possible topics for the Collaborative Web Resource project.
The current list:
- Harry Potter fans
- Sororties/ Fraternities
- NU athletes
- English Majors
- Writing Minors
- A facebook/myspace for Niagara University
- A site for NYS drivers
- A wiki that mirrors Wikipedia in that it has encyclopedic content, but instead of being comprehensive in terms of all human knowledge, make it specifically about Niagara University. We could build it on articles about each building, NU’s history, administrators, events, organizations, campus life, valuable information (like when the book store closes), etc.
- Improving the quality of things we have for the price we pay for this school.
- Getting better and healthier food here
- Getting more parking
- An information (similar to MySpace/Facebook) site for strictly NU students
- Niagara’s 150th Anniversary: The site would include history , prestent and future information about the campus and its residents. This would benefit alumni, present students, and even prospective students and high school students.
- Relationships
- Where does our tuition money go?
- A resource for our local community with the Things to do in this area. I hear a lot of people always talk that there is nothing to do around this area, but I think there is always something to do. The primary audience would be locals to the Niagara/ Buffalo Region, or just people who live here. We could create a resource site that lists “Things to Do in the Buffalo/ Niagara Region”
- A place on the schools web page where students can go to find all of the different activities, clubs, organizations in one place. there is a similar site however its never updated, it doesnt give any information.
- A site where students and parents can go to find information of all the local places to go…restaurants, hotels, activities, driving directions, anything and everything to make the new students transition easier. this would also be helpful for visiting parents and friends.
Please email the instructor your top two choices for a topic.
4) Go over the guidelines for the Web Literacy Autobiography.
5) Discuss personal contexts for Web writing in collaborative and community settings.
Personal contexts:
- Support (illness, loss, trauma)
- Information/education (health, personal life)
- Self-expression (all forms)
- Connection with others/social-networking/communities
- Exploring interests/hobbies
- Self-promotion (online portfolios, job networking sites)
What sites do you know of (or could locate) that allow people to do those things?
6) Write and think about personal contexts that they have written in or are writing in and how you might incorporate those into your Web Literacy Autobiography.
Assignment for Next Class
- Read “Logged Off: Increased Use of Internet in Life Leads to Digital Memories With Death“, “The Next Step in Digital Evolution,” and “The Future of Literacy” (given out in class).
- Make a comment on the discussion post in the course community or make a separate post about your ideas.
- E-mail the instructor with the date for the week that you want to be the discussion leader for the readings.
Notes and Activities for September 6
Today, we’ll:
1) Review the online community posting guidelines.
2) Discuss terms for talking about the contexts for community/collaborative Web writing.
Please choose a community or collaborative Web site which you use or have used and use that to answer the questions throughout the discussion.
3) Analyze the writing contexts of some collaborative/community Web resources.
Download the context analysis activity.
Please choose one of these sites for the context analysis activity.
4) Brainstorm possible topics for the collaborative Web resource project.
Let’s think of possible:
- Audiences (Who would we want to reach with our resource?)
- Purposes (Why might we create a resource?)
- Content/messages (What should we cover in our resource?)
Assignment for Next Class
Submit suggestions for Collaborative Web resource to the instructor via email.
Make sure you’ve contributed comments to the online community.
Collaborative Web Resource: Initial Guidelines
Note: These guidelines will become more specific after you choose a topic and a platform as a class, so that you can have appropriate goals and tasks to be graded on.
As we’ve discussed in class, there are many reasons why people build collaborative Web resources. As a class, you will design and build one of your own.
To complete the assignment, you (and the entire class) will:
- Decide on a topic for a Web resource site. You will suggest and vote on topics, and the instructor will choose the topic that gets the most votes.
- Write a proposal which describes the context, the proposed content and design for the site. Each member of the class will write a different part of the proposal, and you’ll edit it collectively.
- Build a Web resource site using a content management system that allows for collaborative writing and editing such as a Wiki. You will help to:
- develop an information architecture.
- create an overall design for the site.
- research, develop and edit content.
- generate guidelines for site management and community participation.
- create the site using content management software.
- Reflect individually in an email to the instructor about what this experience taught you about collaborative writing on the Web.
The assignment will be graded on:
- Your group proposal and how well it describes your site. (50 points)
- The site development process and final product, including:
- How well you develop a usable and accessible design for the site, including navigation and categorization.
- How well you research, develop, edit, and format content for the needs of your audience.
- How well you create a site which takes advantage of the features of collaborative Web writing software and media and which demonstrates an understanding of how collaborative Web writing works.
- How well you develop ways to collaborate and create guidelines for site management and participation.
- How well you contribute equitably to the project (based on instructor observation and group member evaluations).
- How well you pay attention to conventions for Web writing and standard English usage. (250 points)
- How well you describe and reflect upon your contributions to the project at the end of the course. (50 points)
You can earn a maximum of 350 points for this assignment.
Web Literacy Autobiography: Guidelines
Your generation has been called “digital natives” or “Generation Net” — computers and the Internet have been a much more ubiquitous part of your lives from the very beginning. How do you collaborate and build communities on the Web? How have you done so in the past? How will you do so in the future? What aspects of your identity are available online? Did you make a Web page when you were in middle school? How has the Web, and participation on online communities like Facebook, LiveJournal, or MySpace, shaped your life so far? How have you grown up (or not grown up) using the Internet?
This assignment asks you to assess your literate practices online and to present them on a Web page. It’s designed to help you think critically about how Web writing works, but also to help you explore and understand how to create Web writing.
Components
To complete the assignment and receive credit, you must:
- Assemble a collection of information related to your online life – pictures, links, media clips, and any other forms of media and writing you’d like.
- Write a narrative which explains and discusses your experiences using the Web and online communities from the first time you can remember to today.
- Combine the narrative with the collection of information and create a small Web site of at least three pages where you present your literacy narrative in a way that takes advantage of the Web as a medium. You’ll use technologies like Dreamweaver and Photoshop to create and publish your hypertext.
- Publish the site on your Niagara Web space and send the instructor a link.
You’ll have time to work on this assignment in class, but you’ll also have to spend some time out of class gathering information, writing, and composing.
Grading Criteria
The assignment will be graded on:
- How well you create a narrative which presents your experiences using the Web and participating in online communities. (50 points)
- How well you incorporate different types of media and links to outside sources into your narrative. (25 points)
- How creative you are in presenting your material in ways which take advantage of the Web as a medium and how well you create a small Web site which is usable and accessible to your readers. (50 points)
- How well you pay attention to conventions for Web writing and standard English usage. (25 points)
You’ll receive a grading rubric which explains how well you scored in each area. You can earn a maximum of 150 points for this assignment.
Due Dates
“Draft” of narrative due: September 20th
Project Link Due: End of Class on October 2nd
Notes and Activities for September 6
Today, we’ll:
1) Review the online community posting guidelines.
2) Discuss terms for talking about the contexts for community/collaborative Web writing.
Please choose a community or collaborative Web site which you use or have used and use that to answer the questions throughout the discussion.
3) Analyze the writing contexts of some collaborative/community Web resources.
Download the context analysis activity.
Please choose one of these sites for the context analysis activity.
4) Brainstorm possible topics for the collaborative Web resource project.
Let’s think of possible:
- Audiences (Who would we want to reach with our resource?)
- Purposes (Why might we create a resource?)
- Content/messages (What should we cover in our resource?)
Assignment for Next Class
Submit suggestions for Collaborative Web resource to the instructor via email.
Make sure you’ve http://community.livejournal.com/aswemaythink/2622.html?mode=replycontributed comments to the online community.