I W A N C Z U K
siwanczuk223247@comcast.net
stephen.iwanczuk@drexel.edu
COM 335-501
Writing for the World Wide Web
Korman 103B
Thursday
6-8:50 pm
3.0 credits
Office Hours:
(PSA Building
33rd and Powelton)
Monday and Thursday, 2:30 to 5:00 pm,
and by appointment.
COURSE SYLLABUS
Description
Electronic
Publishing is essentially devoted to writing.
We will explore the practicality and expression of this
craft as applied to the web. Elements such as style, meter, cadence, tone, syntax
and creativity will be analyzed for their appropriateness to specific, intended
audiences. Individual and unique perspectives are not only encouraged but
expected from those taking this course. Writing assignments and exercises, will
be created for in class as well as home activity, with the specific goal of
challenging students to discover their own creativity and apply it to truly
unique vehicles. Individuality, expression, and functional appropriateness are
the prime elements of this literary and highly visual course.
Objectives
To develop
appropriate writing skills for the web
To
discover unique, personal and expressive solutions for creating
literary content on the
web.
To
provide a general understanding of the internet, its issues, and
the knowledge to develop
web sites.
Course
Outline
Homework notes: Weekly critiques of websites are a prime
component of this course. These critiques will be gathered in a journal format
and ultimately turned in to me at the final class session. However, informal
critiques of websites will be presented by students to the class each
week. All homework assignments
must be typed and delivered to me each week in class. Reading/topic lists will
be supplied at appropriate points in course process.
Week
1 (6/28)
Class:
—Course Introduction
—Class Introductions
Home: (due next week)
—Journal #1: Visit a web site of your own choosing
and critique it.
Be
prepared to discuss it at next session.
—Prepare 2 options for final project and be ready to
discuss.
Week
2 (7/5)
Class:
—Web terms/basics
—Audience and Tone propriety discussed
—Informal presentation of site critiques (homework)
—Discussion of final project options. Look at site
aesthetics/navigation.
—Brief FrontPage orientation
Home: (due next week)
—Journal #2: Corporate business site critique.
Prepare for discussion
—Writing exercise: ÒFormal Business toneÓ
Week 3 (7/12)
Class:
—Business writing examples (formal/informal) from the
web.
—Interactive Editing workshop
—Discussion of Web mechanisms (hypertext, meta tags)
—Writing: Very brief first drafts of final projects
(1 page)
—Begin roughing out home page design (computer time)
Home: (due next week)
—Journal#3: Search out a Kid Site, and critique. Be
ready to discuss.
—Writing exercise: Convince a kid about something
they dislike.
Week
4 (7/19)
Class:
—ÓKid friendlyÓ writing/sites discussed.
—Formal business tone workshop
—Web navigation
—Computer time (student projects)
Home: (due next week)
—Journal#4 Locate and critique ACADEMIC/educational
website.
Be
ready to discuss.
—Writing exercise: Academic issues.
Week
5 (8/2)
Class:
—Academic/educational writing and jargon discussed
—ÓKid friendlyÓ workshop
—USABILITY TEST PROJECT
This project will explore the
quantitative and qualitative aspects of usability
methodology. Each student creates and completes an analysis of a ÒfavoriteÓ
website utilizing NielsenÕs (and other divergent) utility perspectives.
This assignment
is due at end of this term.
—Computer time (student projects)
Home:
—Journal#5: Find entertainment review site (books,
films etc.)
and
critique. Be prepared to discuss.
—Writing exercise: Are critics a blessing or an
obstruction to creativity.
Week
6 (8/9)
Class:
—Entertainment reviews writing discussed.
—ÒAcademic IssuesÓ workshop
—Copy-editing
—Computer time (student projects)
Home: (due next week)
—Journal #6: Locate a site that Òhelps writersÓ and
critique.
Be
prepared to discuss.
—Writing exercise: How do I create great literature.
Week
7 (8/16)
Class:
—ÒHow toÓ sites discussion
—Entertainment review workshop
—Grammar on the Internet.
—Computer time (student projects)
Home:
—Journal#7: Search out a Óproducts, support servicesÓ
site and critique.
Be
ready to discuss.
—Writing exercise: Was Bang Olufsen (the stereo firm) really worthy of a MOMA
exhibition?
Week
8 (8/23)
Class:
—Products, support services discussion.
—ÒHelpÓ site workshop
—Finish proposal for Final project
—Computer time (student projects)
Home:
—Journal#8: Find a ÒnewsÓ site and critique. Be ready
to discuss.
—Writing exercise: Could Walter Cronkite ever SOUND
excited?
Session
9 (8/30)
Class:
—News sites discussion.
—Products, support services workshop.
—FINAL group critique of Culture/Communications
proposal.
—Computer time (student projects)
Home:
—Journals #9: DETAILED critique of fellow studentÕs (in progress) project.
Be
prepared to discuss.
Session 10 (9/6)
—Journals #9: DETAILED critique of fellow studentÕs (in progress) project.
CONTINUED—Be
prepared to discuss
—Open discussion of the potential of web sites and technical
aesthetic/creativity .
—Turn in complete and GATHERED journal.
—Open discussion of the potential of web sites and
technical aesthetic/creativity .
—End of term celebration/evaluation s(held off campus)
Final
Project
The final project is a Web site, designed and written by
the student. It will be
graded as an complete aesthetic unit, with emphasis on the writing, visual appeal, layout,
and ease of navigation. It is due on September 6, 2007.
Students choose what their sites will be about, but may not
construct "adult" or
pornography sites that will contain material that other
students are likely to find offensive.
This course is in part a workshop, and students will be asked to visit the
sites of fellow students.
Possible topics could include a business, school
organization, band, artistÕs website, political organization, or sports team.
The site can be created for a real organization or a fictitious one, as long as
the layout and writing are original work. Students may not use existing sites
for text source.
Copyright and trademark laws and University plagiarism
policies apply to all
projects and written work.
The site should
meet the following minimum parameters:
—5 levels deep.
—10 total pages.
—Contain a minimum of 2500 words of text.
—Graphics, layout, and navigation that complement the
text and site design.
All
sites must contain a version of the following:
—Home/Index: (Splash Page) This is the page visitors first see. It does
not need to be
text-heavy, but should
entice the visitor to click on the site's navigation links.
Other
suggested pages:
—Welcome/Mission: This is a statement welcoming visitors and
explaining
the
purpose of the site.
—About the Staff/Executive Board/Band Members: Brief
biographies of
important people.
—In the News/What's New: What happened recently that visitors
should know?
—Products: This page sells something: membership pins, T-shirts, or
whatever is
appropriate for the site.
—Upcoming Events: What is happening soon that visitors don't want
to miss?
—History: How did the company, organization come to be?
—Membership Requirements: How does a person join ?
Any of the above can branch off to a third level etc, and this
level can add
to the total number of pages.
Students may substitute for the pages above, as long as
they meet the minimum word, page, and level requirements. Students are also
free to title their pages as they see fit, as long as their titles are
appropriate for their site.
Grading:
Final
Project = 40%
Homework
and all other assignments = 20%
Web
site evaluations journal: 20%
Participation
= 20%
Requirements
and Policies
Class Structure: Class sessions will be part lecture,
workshop, and computer lab. General class material breakdown will be: PART 1 (Website analysis/lecture/demos), PART
2 (General wrap-up and Lab activity).
FrontPage/Microsoft
Publisher: Web design in class will be on Microsoft FrontPage or
Microsoft Publisher. If students have not already received their free copy of
FrontPage/Publisher, they need to see the appropriate computer personnel as
soon as possible. Both should be available for both PCs and Macs. The class
will be working on PCs in Korman Center. If unfamiliar with FrontPage/Publisher,
students should use the program's tutorial and consult instruction books as
necessary.
Computer: Students
need to know their passwords and any other information
necessary for using the computers in Korman, as well as the
URL to which they are permitted to publish their Web sites.
Attendance: Attendance
is mandatory. Missing classes may significantly effect a
student's grade. Please contact the instructor, in advance
if possible, when you have a valid excuse for absence. Excused students are
responsible for all work and instruction that they miss, and must hand in all
work on the following class session.
Homework
and Assignments: Assignments, as listed in the course outline and
described in class, are mandatory. Homework assignments
must be typed.
Late Assignments: Late assignments will not be accepted,
The exception being documented illness or an emergency. In such cases
assignments are due at the next session
Textbooks:
(Primary)
Jacob
Nielsen, Hoa Loranger: Prioritizing
Web Usability
New Riders Publishing
Crawford Killian: Writing
for the Web 3.0
(Highly Recommended Related
Reading)
David Farkas/Jean Farkas, Principles of Web Design
Longman Publishing, Allyn
&Bacon Series
Andy
Safan, Teach
Yourself Microsoft Front Page in 24 Hours
(Students are urged to purchase
an instruction book for using
FrontPage appropriate to their
level of skill and computer experience)
Strunk/White,
The Elements of
Style
If you do not already own
them, you should purchase a good college
dictionary
and thesaurus.
The
instructor reserves the right to alter course content sequence.
WELCOME
TO MY COURSE.
Links to
Helpful Sites
Please
e-mail Professor Iwanczuk with the URL of any site that would be helpful to
other students. Links to sites about writing HTML, FrontPage, meta-tags, and
developing or promoting Web sites will be posted below.
Design
Free
graphics. Nearly everything on the Webring sites is free and non-copyrighted. http://nav.webring.org/hub?ring=grfx21;id=860;err=2;list
Web
Pages That Suck: http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/
Mary's
Tips on Designing Web sites: http://www.superconnect.com/writershelp/
HTML/Tools
Writing
HTML - a tutorial for creating web pages: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/
HTML
Writers Guild - Despite the name, this is about coding, not writing: http://www.hwg.org/
Arachnophilia
- Web site workshop: http://www.arachnoid.com/arachnophilia/index.html
HTML
Reference Library from Stephen Le Hunte: http://www.htmlib.com
Writing/Grammar/Dictionaries
The
Elements of Style: http://www.bartleby.com/141/
Writing/Grammar
References: http://www.bartleby.com/reference/
http://www.theslot.com answers many
copy-editing questions.
On-Line
English Grammar: http://www.edunet.com/english/grammar/index.html
Free
Online Dictionary of Computing: http://nightflight.com/foldoc/
Dictionary
of Computer Science: http://hissa.ncsl.nist.gov/~black/CRCDict/
General
technology glossary: http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm
IT
Dictionary: http://www.whatis.com/
The
"Hacker's Dictionary", computer slang and folklore: http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/
Netdictionary--
HTML version: http://www.netdictionary.com/html/index.html
WWWebster
Dictionary - Search screen: http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm
New
Media Glossary: http://www.digitalnavigation.com/nofra/glossary.htm
A Web of Online Grammars: http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/rbeard/grammars.html
Guide
to Grammar and Writing:
http://cctc.commnet.edu/HP/pages/darling/original.htm
Writing for Multimedia - A Guide: http://home.earthlink.net/~atomic_rom/contents.htm
Writing
for the Web: http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
Resources
for Science and Technical Writers: http://www.inkspot.com/ss/genres/tech.html
Inkpot
- The Writer's Resource: http://www.inkspot.com/
Gary
Conroy's Tech Writing Page: http://techwriting.about.com/jobs/techwriting/mbody.htm
The
User Friendly Manuals website: http://www.prc.dk/user-friendly-manuals/
Usability
User
Interface Engineering: http://world.std.com/~uieweb/
The
Usability Group: http://www.usability.com/
Jakob
Nielsen's Web site: http://www.useit.com/
Usability
Professionals' Association: http://www.upassoc.org
For
Use: http://www.foruse.com/
Accessibility
HTML
Validation Service: http://validator.w3.org/
Web
Accessibility Initiative (WAI): http://www.w3.org/WAI/
Bobby:
http://www.cast.org/bobby/
(a
web-based tool that analyzes web pages for their accessibility to people with
disabilities)
Accessible
Site Design: http://www.anybrowser.org/campaign/abdesign.shtml