Friday, April 10, 2009

Internet & Web Design Unit

Today was *almost* the last day and I realized something: instead of reviewing students' work I could have had them e-mail me their code!

I compiled resources from all over the web, special thanks to Dave Site for providing great tutorials about the Internet's origins, beginner's HTML (have to accept ads for free stuff!).

Sequence (all resources are available at my class website):
  1. History of the Internet: timeline of events, how the Internet is connected, various Internet communications
  2. Search engines & Web directories: searching for information, using booleans, most common search engines & web directories, history of Internet search, techniques for effective searches
  3. Evaluating search engine results: systems to evaluate validity of information obtained, practice evaluating hoax sites for validity
  4. Research tools: to confirm information obtained, as a starting point for school projects
  5. History of social networking: provides relevance to students' lives today
    Focus question: what internet technology can you envision for your generation in the future.
  6. Beginning web design & HTML: Dave Site Chapters 1-16 except
    Ch. 10: FTP section, Copyright section is relevant, should prompt discussion on plagiarism.
    Ch. 14: Frames are still used but new standard is to use CSS for page design
    Ch. 17: I consider forms and mailto forms as intermediate
The class site also features links to make students' pages more colorful and interesting.

Some online code sites so students can view their code without being on a host:
  • Dave Site: the "Try it Yourself!" allows students to code and view their pages immediately
  • W3Schools: has great editors that show code and page side-by-side, except codes in the header do not show