Course objectives: The goal of this course is to learn about and gain hands-on experience in the design and production of websites and Multimedia Projects. Students will gain a conceptual understanding of planning, utilizing, and evaluating network multimedia for specific information needs. My intent is to assist in making the group experience as rich and rewarding as possible. This is a process-oriented class in which students are expected to participate in a collaborative learning experience. Students will become acquainted with resources available to support design and production of network multimedia and develop strategies for locating such resources.

Guidelines: Network Multimedia Resource projects should demonstrate the group's understanding of :

1. Content
2. Design
3. Usability
4. Technological context/ media

Students must be aware that this course will require approx. 8 hours of time outside of the structured course hours. Students will be required to work individually and collaboratively. I will make myself available during the week via e-mail should the need arise, as well as during office hours and by telephone. I will be available by appointment as well.

Requirements:

1. At least 2 zip disks, IBM formatted, or CDR-W's. (Since we work here on the Mac, but will be dealing with clients that may be working on the PC, all disks and materials should be readable by both platforms. This also means that all files created on the Mac should have file extension names so they may be read by PC).
2. A planning book that will be turned in mid and end of semester.This will be a guide to the planning and structure of your project. It will contain the agenda items and action items from your group meetings, as well as describe and explore the possible solutions in the development of your projects.
3. Web-based E-mail account. Each student is required to have an email account. I suggest Yahoo, or Hotmail (which is free) or any other e-mail that will allow students to retrieve their e-mail from places other than their home computer. E-mail is the communication of choice in this field. Since phone calls and meeting take up time in the day, much communication between team members and clients can be constructed using e mail and is useful in tracking project communications, sharing ideas, and keeping all team members apprised of development.
4. Software: You may use any and all means of attaining your goals. There is a variety of software available for you to use through the network. I encourage use of authoring tools with a firm awareness of HTML, and design principles. In the field, you will be expected to be comfortable using these tools.

Those available through the network are: MSWord; PhotoShop; Illustrator; Dreamweaver; ImageReady; Fireworks; Flash; Director, Netscape, IE Internet utilities are available on both Mac and PC. Mac will use Fetch to FTP; PC can use Telnet and WS_FTP LE.

Note: Network Multimedia is a dynamic and changing area that incorporates the latest in cutting edge technology and technology-supported processes. The activities you will be participating in deliberately shift part of the ownership for learning and performance from the instructor to the student. You will be required to actively participate in a variety of assessment activities, including self-assessment, peer-assessment, and product-assessment. If you do not have much experience in process-oriented courses or work situations, you may find it confusing and stressful to be involved in assessing another's work, but in the long run, you will gain immensely from this experience. There will be times when you may feel anxious about your progress and that of your group. There will also be times when you feel there is too much ambiguity in the course. These are normal emotional responses to certain phases of the process that you and your group must work through in order to successfully complete this course.

There are a dozen ways to do the same thing. You will discover that each individual finds their own process and that many of your team members may not see eye to eye. The trick is in showing others that your way may be the best solution and back it up with evidence and research. This is how groups can find consensus on tough issues. If you find that your group is having difficulty making decisions, first try and work it out as a group, then seek instructor advice.

Hints for success: You must be willing to actively engage in constructing your own learning and in contributing to the learning of the other members of your group. The instructor's role in this course will be to provide the framework and initial guidance for the projects you will be developing. The instructor will coach and advise your group, but you will be expected to solve your own problems both in terms of product and process. Along the way, your ability to develop and manage multiple and alternative perspectives on a problem will mature. As you collaborate with the other members of your group to solve problems, you will benefit from exchanging and reflecting upon different perspectives and points of view.

Please pool your resources. Discover what materials and equipment might be available to your group that you might be unaware of. Offer your best skills to your group and discover what skills another might be able to teach you to broaden your skill base. Remember that previous experience is of great value and although that experience might not be in digital media, it may crossover and become in fact, your strength.

Copyright/ownership laws should always be obeyed when using photos or other images that were not created by you.

Assignments:

Final Project (50%) (50 points)A web page or multimedia project created by a team, working for a nonprofit organization in the community. This will be a complete, published, professional project that teaches, informs, entertains, or otherwise connects customers with the client's knowledge/services/information. This is a client driven project yet it should showcase the multimedia production talents of the team, as individuals and as a unified whole.

Assignments/Reviews/Misc (35%) (5 pts each)This is a class in project management as well as production. Teams will prepare reports and present them to the instructor and class. Students will complete constructive reviews of each Project (including their own) and their team experience.

Attendance (10%) More than 2 absences will affect your grade. You are accountable both to the class as well as your teams. Missing classes and therefore important information, may affect the success of your project. In the final project homestretch, it will be optional to decide where and when to meet depending on the process and progress of your projects. However, if your group plans to meet at one members house and you decide not to attend, that will be counted as an absence.

Participation (5%)

Students choosing the Credit/Noncredit option must earn 75% of the possible points to earn a CR grade

Please read this page: http://www.teacherjohn.com/gateweb.html
Before using the directory.

This is a Unix server; Unix file and directory naming conventions apply. This means that file and folder names can contain ONLY the following:

• uppercase letters A-Z lowercase letters a-z numbers 0-9
• a hyphen an underscore a dot (a period) In other words, no other punctuation, no special characters, and NO SPACES. file names cannot start with a dot file and folder names are case-sensitive
• You should, at all times, keep a backup copy of all work on the server. This is a reliable, commercial server, but anything is possible, especially when everyone in the class has the same password!
• This Web space is donated by Cruzio, a local Internet service provider. Do not call Cruzio for any reason. It is not Cruzio’s responsibility to give you technical support if you are having problems doing your project.

If you suspect a technical problem with the Web server, Please contact the instructor, and the instructor will contact Cruzio. Once this class is over, the Web space will be cleared out. Please make sure you have backed up your work for your individual portfolios, and that the client has received a digital copy of the work you have done for them.

Students can upload from home or wherever. If uploading from the Cabrillo lab, due to the way their connection works, you may need to toggle the "passive mode transfer" setting in your FTP program. This is true for getting past most firewalls.

Please Note: The 80 megs is an aggregate total; if it fills no one will be able to upload. Do not store uncompressed multimedia files on the server. If you are uploading a flash file for instance, the only file you will need to upload is the .swf file. Backup the .fla file on a zip disk, or other media storage disk.