Final Project Assignments

Building Your Own Web Site

Your final project will be to create a site and publish it on the web. In many ways, all other assignments in this class are designed to prepare you for this assignment. You may choose to develop this as a educational project for your class, school or the world at large. You are encouraged to develop a web site of particular interest to you that will be useful beyond the course.

If you wish to expand upon your midterm assignment, that is fine, as long as significant elaboration takes place.

Final Project Proposal (10%)
Due Friday, 2nd Weekend

Write a short description of your proposed site, intended audience, goals, technical issues, graphics and other media needed, information you plan to integrate from the web and anything else you may want to include. Also include a description of the context in which you would use the site and discuss relevant pedagogical and social issues.

Please bring any media that you would like to include in your project to class the second weekend.

Project Story Board and Rough Draft (10%)
Due Sunday, 2nd weekend

Prepare a storyboard (site map) of your projected final project (you can use software such as "Inspiration" or draw freehand). This should reflect what you want for the flow of the site when it is completed -- the idea is to take an opportunity to plan the structure of your site and brainstorm what you will need and how it will fit together. It is fine if this is a preliminary plan and working document which won't necessarily be identical to what you turn it in when you are finished. Take into consideration your experience critiquing other pages and developing your own rubric. Consider design issues, placement of graphics, size of the photos, navigational links, etc. Also, remember to consider the folks using s l o w modems!

You are not required to use every fancy feature in the book. You may design your site with Shaker simplicity if it suits your purposes. Clean, sharp, and clear is a good starting point! However, you should be sure to include a minimum of 5 or more related HTML pages that clearly demonstrate your basic proficiency in the following areas:

HTML and Layout. (Variety of Text Formats and Simple Tables for Layout)
Links and Menus (Within Page, Between Pages and Outside Pages)
Graphics from Various Sources (Created or Adapted)
Advanced features are optional and depend upon your specific design considerations (e.g. sound, frames, image maps, forms, JavaScript). However, you are encouraged to experiment with at least one or two advanced features discussed in class.

You should show some initial progress on the pages for your project during the second weekend of class, and you are also strongly encouraged to begin work before the second week and turn in a rough draft of your project the second week before leaving. This will serve to make certain that the you are working along appropriate lines. This should include not only rough drafts of the actual web pages, but also the description from the proposal, including any revisions. This assignment is intended to organize your ideas and provide an adequate opportunity for you to receive feedback. If you would like feedback as you design, send me a message with your questions.

Project Final Draft (30%)
Due 4 Weeks after Last Class

When you are finished, you should turn in the following items:

Description (Include from proposal, revised as needed.)
Storyboard (Include from proposal, also revised as needed.)
Web Site (Ideally, you should publish your site on the web, and indicate the URL.)
Completed Rubric (Use the rubric that you created in class to assess how well you accomplished your own goals.)

Projects should be turned in by sending your materials to your instructor. If you would like your project returned to you, please include self-addressed stamped envelope.