User:Vtaylor/CIS89A Learning Web Design/1. Summary

Getting Started 1-3. 19 . basics

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Great first week of class. It is always a bit overwhelming. It will get better! For some people, everything is new. That is a lot to take in. The format for each module is the same - reading, research and discussion, coding.

It was nice to meet everyone. We have a good range of experience and related CIS courses. In addition to asking questions, please answer questions if you can.

Here are some of the questions, and the answers.

Is there a textbook? . . Yes. The textbook is Learning Web Design (LWD), Fifth Edition : A Beginner's Guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Web Graphics - Jennifer Robbins. O'Reilly, 2018. All the topics are covered in considerable depth. There are plenty of examples and illustrations to go with the detailed descriptions. The 5th Edition is updated and published in 2018. There is an emphasis on combining CSS and HTML throughout the book. This is also a great reference if you are considering professional web development.

There are references to web resources for each topic we cover listed in the Media section of the Assignment pages. The textbook is great today. However the web development environment changes to keep up with user and developer needs. You need to use these resources and new ones that will come along. Get used to finding online resources as well as using the textbook references throughout the course.

Although there are online resources to address most of the content in the textbook, it is really important to have a good primary resource to use for the course. The course follows the sequence laid out in the book. You will find all you need in this one resource. Be sure to look at other online resources as well. Finding information to answer your own questions is a critical wed developer skill.

Do I have to use Glitch for the coding assignments? . . You can use other code edit tools for the coding assignments. You need to submit the web address of your coding project as a publicly-viewable web page so you will have to upload your code to a public access directory on an internet server. You can use DeAnza Voyager or other web hosts.

What is the difference between HTML and CSS? . . HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is used to create the actual content of the page, such as written text, and CSS (Cascade Styling Sheets) is responsible for the design or style of the website, including the layout, visual effects and background color. Look online or in the textbook (LWD p.27-33) for a more detailed explanation of the difference between HTML and CSS. You need both as they work together. Also see this infographic https://www.codingdojo.com/blog/html-vs-css-inforgraphic

Are we also going to cover new features that comes with CSS 3? . . Yes!

Are we going to learn some CSS libraries/frameworks (such as Bootstrap or Semantic UI)? . . We talk about some professional web development tools later in the course. The course follows the Learning Web Design book. You can see the topics covered in the online table of contents and the course modules - left navigation menu in Canvas.

Suggestions for navigating through the course in Canvas? . . To navigate in Canvas, the Modules menu is the most helpful. Within a module there are numerous activities. There is a link to each from the module display. Next / Previous are relative to the module list. When in doubt, click on the Modules link in the left navigation menu and scroll down to the current module - Module 1. All the links to assignments quizzes, surveys and discussions for the module are there.

Is the course self-paced? . . You can work ahead on anything in the course. There are deadlines. So long as you have completed the work on or before the deadline, you can work at your own pace.

What if there is a broken or missing link? Please ask. With the new textbook there have been massive changes to the course material. There may still be some bits that need revising. I appreciate your help in finding these. Links to other web sites can change as well. Most of the links are verified before the start of the class, but other web sites can and do change too.

In module 2. HTML Basics, we will start at the beginning and work our way through the main part of a web page and introduce the d web development process.

Enjoy!

19su
Summary 1. Getting Started

Welcome everyone!

Great start to the class. Thanks to all for your introductions. Nice to meet you and to learn about your interest in this course.

The first week of the semester is always exciting and interesting as we get started. Many of you are new to online learning and to the Canvas course management system. For those who have used Canvas in the past, we may be using some some of the features in a new way. The Canvas Orientation provides a good introduction and refresher of the many features available in Canvas.

Communication and collaboration are important in this course. Everyone in the class is a contributor. With 20+ contributors highlighting news and information on a broad range of topics, we are able to have a great view of progress and the impact on society it general. Personal experiences add relevance.

We learn through sharing as well as doing. There is a lot to cover, so let's get started.

Canvas - Some helpful features include your Dashboard, Messages / Mailbox, and lists of all the graded and ungraded Discussions and Assignments. Most of the discussions are graded so these are considered as assignments too.

Calendar - Usually only one activity per module is listed with the due date for the module. ALL activities in the Assignments for that module are due at that time! You can add your own items to the calendar. Make this your own study plan organizer.

Modules - There is a link to the Modules page in the left navigation menu. There is a list of the activities for each of the modules. There is a green circle and check mark for each activity as you complete them. Have you completed all the activities? You can see for yourself.

Grades - in the left navigation menu, there is a link to Grades. You can check your grades at any time yourself.

Late work - Late work is usually accepted for partial credit. I accept late assignments, because you will learn something even if you don’t get full credit for the work. Any time you know in advance that you will not be able to complete assignments, please let me know and we can work out a completion plan for you.

Privacy is a big concern for many. We will be looking at this in depth. By learning to be careful, you will understand that you can be active online and make a contribution to this important global resource.

Coming up... - The next module is outlined on the course Front page. There will be a link to the Module (or see the Module link in the left navigation menu).

Questions, suggestions - Many of your questions about computers and the internet in society will be topics for modules throughout the course. If you are interested, you can look ahead. Everything is available to work on now.

If you have questions, please ask. Suggestions for additions and changes to the course are welcome. Keeping the material current and interesting are important and your help is appreciated.

Coding projects, html and css

New project for each module - The coding projects are practice. Start from the very beginning again for each project. Focus on the elements and attributes highlighted in the module. Practice the basics - head, meta, comments for each project. The grading rubric provided for each module is also a guide to remind you of the important features that are to be included in your project code. Most of the requirements should be visible on the display of your project. Just including the attributes in your code doesn't count if there is no visible effect in the display.

html and css - This web development course requires both knowledge and skill in html and css. Be sure to nclude css code for styling as well as html code for content.

Source code - The best way to really learn professional web development techniques is by viewing the source code and figuring out "how did they do that?" Some coll stuff is done with programming or JavaScript which are beyond the scope of this course - DeAnza offers these course. As we saw in the Zen Garden, amazing results can be accomplished with Cascading Style Sheets (css) code.

Reuse, remix source code - It is ok to look at any source code. It is ok to copy "some" of it and make it your own. It is NOT ok to copy complete work and call it your own. Web development tools like Dreamweaver will create code but you won't learn anything much about html and css and you won't learn much about the tools.

Glitch - This course is intended for you to learn html and css coding knowledge and skills. You need to learn the basics by actually writing the code yourself. Yes, you will make some mistakes that you will figure out how to correct. That's the whole point. Glitch is a nice learning environment - quick and easy to get started. Glitch supports most of the web development skills we cover in the course.

Voyager - DeAnza provides access to a network server for use in CIS courses. Web developers must work with web hosts to upload and maintain content and source code in the appropriate web-accessible directories on the host server. We will use Voyager as our host to practice file transfers. More about Voyager later.

Other editors, other servers - If you are familiar with other basic programming development environments, you can use them rather than Glitch. Code must de developed with a simple text editor, saved as text files with .html and .css extensions, and uploaded to a web-accessible directory on a network server. Submit your coding project as the web address of the main html page for the coding project. The html code must include a link to your .css file.

Be sure to take time to appreciate the work of others in the class and share your learning.

Coming up... Module 2.