WebClassroom:  Week #3

This week's topics:

Announcements

Custom Graphics

Individual Base Page Assignment

This Week's Discussion Area

Deadlines

Announcements

Thank you for all of your quick responses to the distribution list announcement last week.  This week's focus will be upon the creation of custom graphics and the incorporation of them into your web pages.  This is the second week in a row that may find the material difficult for some of you (for the newcomers to this "sport") and somewhat commonplace for those of you with more experience.

The main product for this week is a web page that will serve as a starting point to information about you and to the pages you create.  This page does not need to have any curricular component--just information about you and a link to the page you created las week for this course.

There is no reading asssigment for this week. 
 

  Custom Graphics

Last week the use of ready-made web graphics was introduced.  There are many fine sources of artwork on the web, but finding appropriately themed graphics can be tedious and time consuming.  Dealing with copyright issues (obtaining written permission, providing links back to the archive, listing a source citation) can also be a real bother. It is often much easier (and more personally satisfying ) to create the graphics that you need yourself.  The most common means of generating these graphics are:

    - self-drawn graphics created within a paint or draw program (Some common Mac examples: SuperPaint, ClarisWorks Paint, Hyperstudio.  Windows: Windows 95 has a free Paint program stored in Programs/Accessories ).
 
    -  photographs captured with a digital camera (one very low-cost digital camera is the grey-scale QuickCam--usually under $100).

    - images scanned from paper-based art.

Some graphics programs (paint/draw software, digital camera software, and scanner software) allow you to save your images in the file formats needed for the web ( .gif or .jpg ).  Unfortunately many of these programs to not provide this capability.  In these cases it is necessary to use a conversion program that is capable of taking in your image information saving that information as a web-ready  .gif or .jpg  file. Two such programs are GifConverter (for Macintosh) and Image Commander (for Windows).  There are other programs that may be better--but these provide the basic function at minimal cost.  Both are shareware that may be downloaded from the internet and tested.  After a trial period if you decide to continue using the program you should pay the requested shareware fee.

For nearly all of these programs the following basic sequence will take image information from any source and transform it into a web graphic format:

    1. Create or open the graphic in the original software.
    2. Select the graphic or portion of graphic you would like to turn into a web graphic.
    3.  Copy that graphic or portion of graphic using the appropriate "copy" command.
    4.  Open a new file in a graphic conversion software package.
    5.  Paste your graphic into the new file.
    6.  Save the graphic as a .gif or .jpg file into your project folder.
 

 

Individual Base Page

Some of you may already have personal home pages that are already on the web.  This week's page assignment will be similar.  Create a page about yourself with the following:

    1. Brief description of your professional background.
    2. Brief description of personal interests.
    3. At least one graphic that you created.
    4. A working link to your instructional focus page from last week.
 

Put these up on the web and send me the web address of your base page.  I will make links from the Students and Work section to your individual pages.
 

This Week's Discussion Area

This week's discussion should focus on any issues relating to creating web graphics or any issues relating to the individual base page assignment.

Week 4 Discussion Area
 

Deadlines

All Week 4 work and discussions should be concluded by 12:01 AM Central Time on March 3rd (extra day because the assignment was late).  Week 4 materials and assignments should be up by 12:01 PM Central Time on March 2nd.