Intro to Web Development DM-UY 2193/B

NYU

Integrated Digital Media • Technology, Culture & Society Department

Jason Sigal <[email protected]>
Spring 2016 • Mondays & Wednesdays • 2:30-4:20PM • Magnet Rm 817 • 3 credit hrs
Office hours by appointment or directly after class
Slack: https://webdev2193.slack.com
GitBook: https://therewasaguy.gitbooks.io/nyu-dm-webdev-spring2016-b
GitHub: http://github.com/therewasaguy/dm2193b-webdev-SP16

Syllabus

PROGRAM GOALS

The following IDM program goals are introduced and reinforced within this course.

Students will:

  • develop conceptual thinking skills to generate ideas and content in order to solve problems or create opportunities.
  • develop technical skills to realize their ideas.
  • develop critical thinking skills that will allow them to analyze and position their work within cultural, historic, aesthetic, economic, and technological contexts.
  • gain knowledge of professional practices and organizations by developing their verbal, visual, and written communication for documentation and presentation, exhibition and promotion, networking, and career preparation.
  • develop collaboration skills to actively and effectively work in a team group.

COURSE GOALS

This course will help students understand:

  • The core technologies of the web: HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript
  • The Web Design process including Information Design and Visual Design
  • Responsive web design
  • Front-end frameworks (Bootstrap, Foundation)
  • JavaScript libraries (JQuery, p5.js)
  • How to develop and learn through iteration. The cycle includes research, sketching, prototyping, debugging, testing, feedback and reflection.
  • How to design, build, and launch professional-quality websites
  • How to use the web proactively to build upon the foundations of this course

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, student will be able to

  • develop content for professional-quality websites
  • understand and implement the iterative process
  • learn proactively
  • create and participate in web development communities

COURSE STRUCTURE

Class time will include lectures, homework review, discussions, student presentations, critiques and in-class exercises. We may also have guest speakers as schedule permits.

Weekly homework will consist of readings and online tutorials, blog posts, and projects that students will present to the class.

Non-weekly assignments include (Show & Tell), Midterm and Final.

Critiques will follow every presentation, with longer critiques for the midterm and final. Critiques (crits) are the best way to articulate your ideas to others and get immediate feedback. During the crit, the professor and your classmates analyze and suggest ways to increase the visual and conceptual impact of each existing idea. Take notes when your work is being critiqued and do not edit the responses, whether you agree with them or not. Review your crit notes and reflect upon what was said. Ask yourself how you could combine, transform, or expand the ideas that show the most promise. However, resist the temptation to incorporate all suggestions and comments. Only utilize the ones that work for you and your project.

Participation: Please come prepared to class prepared to share your work along with any questions or discoveries you made along the way. Outside of class time, students should ask questions and participate in discussions on Slack.

All dates and assignments are subject to change at the discretion of the professor, depending on the interests and pace of the class. Any changes will be announced in class, updated on the GitBook (Syllabus), and posted to Slack (discussion forum).

READINGS

Weekly reading assignments will utilize free online resources and tutorials. There is no required textbook. However, recommendations can be found in the Readings & Resources section, and students are encouraged to pursue self-guided learning and document / share resources via Learning Logs.

EVALUATION & GRADING

Attendance

  • Attendance is mandatory and will be taken at the beginning of every class. Since there is so much technical, conceptual, and design information to absorb, regular attendance is essential.
  • Unexcused absences will affect your grade. Contact the professor IN ADVANCE if you will not be in class (in person or by email is preferred). More than two unexcused absences will result in your grade dropping 5% for each absence.
  • Be on time. Tardiness can affect your grade up to 15% (e.g. from an A to a B-).
  • If you miss an individual class, you are still responsible for the material and will need to cover it on your own.
  • Attendance is required for the midterm and final presentations.

Participation

One of the course goals is to foster an internal community. You are expected to participate in discussions and give feedback to other students both in class and outside of class (via Slack). Ask questions, help each other find answers, and share interesting discoveries.

Your final grade will be based on a synthesis of quantitative & qualitative rubrics

Quanitative Grading Overview:
  • Regular Assignments 20%
  • Show & Tell (two) 5%
  • Learning Logs (at least ten) 5%
  • Ticket to Leave 5%
  • Midterm Project 17.5%
  • Final Project 25%
  • Self Assessment & Rubric 5%
  • Participation 17.5%

Midterm and Final Grading Overview:

  • 20% Participation in the mandatory class critique
  • 20% Information Design
  • 20% Visual Design
  • 40% Code

Qualitative Grading Overview:

Each student will be judged on the quality, experimentation, iteration and improvement of their work.

  • A Excellent (Work of exceptional quality; Exceeds Expectations)
  • A- Very Good (Work of high quality)
  • B+ Good (Solid work; Meets Expectations)
  • B Satisfactory (Good work; Satisfies course requirements)
  • B- Needs Improvement (Below average work)
  • C+ Poor Work (Well Below Average)
  • C Inadequate (Less than adequate work)
  • F Unacceptable (The performance and/or attendance of the student has failed course requirements.)

TECHNOLOGY USE IN THE CLASSROOM

There will be time to use laptops during class, and there will be time to close them because it has been scientifically proven that "laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers". When in class, you may use your laptops for any activities pertaining to the course: taking notes, researching material relevant to our readings and discussions, making class presentations, etc. However, the following uses are unacceptable: checking email, instant messaging, texting, using social networking sites such as facebook, twitter etc. When your fellow students are presenting, please close your laptops and silence your cell phones.

ACADEMIC HONESTY

Please review NYU's School of Engineering's academic dishonesty policy in its entirety.

In this course, students will utilize open source code libraries, learn by reading other people's code, and draw inspiration from independent web design research. These are essential skills, but it is equally essential to give credit where credit is due.

You MUST have complete rights of use for materials that appear in your projects. This includes but is not limited to text content, source code, images, illustrations and audio. The source of any materials NOT created by you MUST be documented. Please remember that you can collaborate with other students to create your own media or contact rightsholders for permission. If you need to use stock material, you will need to provide documentation that you have the right to use it whether it is a negotiation with the rightsholder or proper use of open source / Creative Commons material.

Plagiarism—knowingly representing the text, words, media, designs, or ideas of another as one’s own work in any academic exercise—is absolutely unacceptable. Any student who commits plagiarism must redo the assignment, and a D is the highest possible course grade for any student who commits plagiarism. Please use the MLA or Chicago Manual of Style for citing and documenting source material.

ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS

If you are student with a disability who is requesting accommodations, please contact New York University’s Moses Center for Students with Disabilities at 212-998-4980 or [email protected]. You must be registered with CSD to receive accommodations. Information about the Moses Center can be found at www.nyu.edu/csd. The Moses Center is located at 726 Broadway on the 2nd floor.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

  • A web browser with developer tools.
  • Digital image editing software. Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard.
  • Github Account: github.com/join
  • HTML Text Editor (Sublime Text, Brackets.io, Coda, Textmate, BBEdit/TextWrangler, etc)
  • FTP Application (Cyberduck, Transmit, Fetch, FileZilla, etc)
  • Web Server Space
    • You can receive web server space from IDM’s Technology Manager, Elton Kwok, MAGNET 883. IDM’s FTP server info: http://sites.bxmc.poly.edu (Use active mode)
    • HIGHLY RECOMMEND setting up your own domain. Some hosting options:

COURSE SCHEDULE

See Appendix