Syllabus
Web Design Course Overview This one-semester elective course is intended to be an introduction to web design and a handson guide to web design methods, practices, and principles. This course is structured as a sequence of 12 lessons and six Course Activities, as described in the Course Pacing Guide at the end of this document. In most of the course activities, you will design and build a web page or a website, applying the principles and guidelines that you will have learned in the preceding lessons. You will submit the Course Activity documents to your teacher for grading. In each lesson, you will complete a set of Lesson Activities that will help you learn, apply, and practice the lesson content. You will check your own answers in the Lesson Activities. Each lesson also has a multiple-choice mastery test. A multiple-choice end-of-semester test completes the course. Hands-on learning (through Course Activities and Lesson Activities) is a major component of this course. To get the most out of this course, you should complete all of the Lesson Activities in each lesson. In addition to lessons and Course Activities, the course includes six Course Discussions and five games, which you can access after you have completed the relevant lessons. Once a course discussion becomes available, you can continue to participate in it for the rest of the course.
Course Goals This course will help you meet the following goals: Understand general concepts and principles of visual design and be able to apply them to web design. Understand what makes a web page appealing and useful. Be familiar with methods and software tools to structure web pages and organize information in websites. Be familiar with content details on web pages such as markup code, formatting, typography, and image formats. Be able to create web pages and websites according to design principles and guidelines. Be aware of careers in web development and the tasks they involve.
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Prerequisite Skills Web Design is a beginning class and does not have specific content knowledge prerequisites. However, these basic skills will be helpful in completing the practical tasks in the Lesson and Course Activities: visualizing and planning structuring information paying attention to detail
General Skills To participate in this course, you should be able to do the following: Use text editors. Perform basic operations with word processing software, such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Draw diagrams using drawing tools available in word processing software. Perform online research using various search engines and library databases. Communicate through email and participate in discussion boards. For a complete list of general skills that are required for participation in online courses, refer to the Prerequisites section of the Plato Student Orientation document, which you can find at the beginning of the online course learning path.
Credit Value Web Design is a 0.5-credit course.
Course Materials Notebook Computer with Internet connection and speakers or headphones Microsoft Word or equivalent
Course Pacing Guide This course includes 12 lessons, six Course Activities, six Course Discussions, and five games. The following pacing guide is intended to help you stay on schedule with your work. Note that your course instructor may modify the schedule to meet the specific needs of your class.
Day 1 day: 1
Activity / Plato Objective Course Orientation Review the Plato Student Orientation and Course Syllabus at the beginning of this course. 2
Type
3 days: 2-4 1 day:
Elements of Design
Lesson
Explore and apply visual design concepts. Effects of Color
Course
5 3 days: 6-8 3 days:
Discussion Principles of Design
Lesson
Apply visual design principles. Applying Design Principles
Course
9-11 1 day:
Activity Visual Design in Web Design
Course
12 1 day:
Discussion Game
Activity
3 days:
Typography
Lesson
14-16
Explore the effects of typography on presentation.
5 days: 17-21
The Visual Structure of a Web Page
5 days: 22-26
Creating a Home Page
1 day: 27
Standard Layouts and Templates
1 day: 28
Game
Activity
3 days: 29-31
Interface Design Concepts
Lesson
3 days: 32-34
Image and Multimedia Formats
5 days: 35-39
Web Page Design
5 days: 40-44
Web Page Design
13
Lesson
Examine the visual structure of a web page and create page structures that reflect the purpose and organization of the displayed information. Course Activity
Course Discussion
Explore interface design principles and apply them to web design. Lesson
Compare a variety of image and multimedia formats, and apply techniques to optimize file size and media quality. Lesson
Design web pages. Course Activity
3
1 day: 45
The Role of Typography
Course Discussion
1 day: 46
Game
Activity
4 days: 47-50
Website Design and Navigation
Lesson
6 days: 51-56
Website Design
1 day: 57
Reliability and Popularity
6 days: 58-63
HTML Basics
6 days:
Formatting with Style Sheets
64-69
Create style sheets to format a web page and control its layout.
1 day:
Game
Activity
3 days:
Organizing Website Content
Lesson
71-73
Examine methods of organizing website content.
3 days: 74-76
The Website Development Process
3 days: 77-79
Designing a Blog
1 day: 80
Effects of Advertising
1 day: 81
Game
6 days: 82-87
Commercial Website Design
2 days: 88-89
Course Review
1 day: 90
End-of-Semester
Examine website design and navigation. Course Activity Course Discussion Lesson
Examine the basic structure of a document that codes a web page, and create web pages using HTML. Lesson
70
Lesson
Examine the processes of website development. Course Activity Course Discussion Activity Course Activity
Assessment
4