The Web Curriculum

Training and Education for the Internet and World-Wide Web

Web101

Web102

Background on the Classes

Hands-on Experience... Each class integrates hands-on exercises, structured to help students both understand experientially how things work and probe underlying relevant concepts.

Multi-modal Instruction... Class time is divided roughly equally between: supervised hands-on exercises; debriefing on the exercises to illuminate basic concepts; and demo and discussion to fully explore the territory.

Platform Independence... The Internet (blessedly) is independent of any hardware or software vendor. These classes have been given in Windows95, UNIX, and MacOS environments, often in combination in the same class! It's a rare treat to look out over students seated at very different types of computers, and have demos and exercises work for all of them.

*N* Netscape... The web tool of choice, because:

It's consistently implemented across the widest range of OS platforms, as these classes are.
It includes state-of-the-art tools to browse the web, work with email and newsgroups, and create basic web pages.
And all that, for free!

For further information or examples of class materials, write me!

Web101: Exploring the Internet and the World Wide Web

This course provides a user's view of the Internet and the interconnected hypermedia known as the World Wide Web. Through hands-on exercises, you will learn to explore the Internet effectively with Netscape on a Windows95, UNIX, or Mac platform. Class exercises, examples, and lectures will provide you:

solid competency in navigating the Web
exposure to breadth of Internet and Web resources
understanding of Internet-wide search strategies
overviews of technical, business, and ethical issues

Prerequisite: Students will be expected to be comfortable using a computer and double-clicking on a program to run it.

Class length: One day

Web102: E-mail With Netscape Messenger

Netscape's email tool (called Netscape Messenger) is free, state-of-the-art, and works within the current open Internet standards (i.e., it is compatible with other internet-standard email systems)

This half-day class will prepare you with the skills and background necessary to use it effectively. The class will use hands-on examples, discussion, and demonstrations to illustrate these topics:

Reading and sending e-mail and dealing with attachments
Setting up user and POP3 / IMAP preferences
Organizing and filing messages
Using the address book
Sending e-mail as HTML mail

Prerequisite: Prior use of some email system is assumed.
Class length: One-half day

Full-day Version: This class could be given in a full-day format for students with no prior experience in using email. Exercises would be expanded to additionally provide a basic comfort level with email operation.

Web201: Internet Principles and HTML

This course surveys the basics of HTML, explores the principles of the Internet, and discusses how information on the World Wide Web is organized and presented. The technical focus is on understanding the standards and technologies that hold the Internet and the Web together, and the near-term directions in which they are headed. You will learn the basics of multimedia hypertext through a series of exercises in which the class will create its own mini-Web site. These exercises will prepare you with the basic skills necessary to create and publish interesting Web pages of your own.

This course focuses on how and why the Internet and Web work together as they do. For a more basic user's view of the Internet and how to navigate the Web, start with class Web101.

Prerequisite: Web101 or commensurate experience (which means you are comfortable browsing the web, using its various search tools, and reading the newsgroups.)

Class length: One day

Web220: Web Publishing - Basic Tools and Strategies

The prime focus of this class is in moving existing content quickly and effectively to the web. Overall, you will learn and practice how to build and maintain Web pages with S-WYSIWYG (Somewhat What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) Web tools. Topics include:

Converting content for the Web (from Word, Excel, FrameMaker, etc.)
Working with Netscape's Composer (a Web page editor)
Understanding Web site and Web page design guidelines
Using plugins and other helper applications

In the one-week interval between class meetings, you can put these new skills and ideas into action in creating Web sites on your own. The second afternoon of class will complete the topics listed above, and allow time to address the more specific interests of the class. We will review Web work you have done, discuss any specific implementation issues you faced, and address any followup topics as you may request.

The class focuses on publishing web content without consideration of the underlying HTML. For the pure & gory details of HTML, and for doing fancier interactive pages or using dynamic HTML, see the HTML Workshops (Web231 and Web232).

Prerequisites: Web201, or equivalent experience (i.e., you should be comfortable with browsing and searching the Web, and should have struggled through building and publishing at least one Web page on your own).

Class length: One and one-half days.

Web231: HTML Workshop I

To help you implement effective and efficient web pages, the HTML Workshops provide a detailed, hands-on exploration of the HTML language and its related support structures. The class exercises and discussion in this first workshop focus on implementing and effectively using:

Tables, for tabulating data and organizing web page content
Images Maps, for linking hot spots in an image to the Web
Forms, for collecting data from web page readers
CGI scripts, for interacting with users

THIS IS NOT A FIRST COURSE IN HTML. If you haven't written HTML tags before and don't know what an IMG or HREF is, you should take Web201 before this class.

Prerequisites: Web201, or equivalent experience, i.e., the ability to create linked, graphical Web pages from scratch. Knowledge of basic UNIX shell scripts, while not necessary, will aid in understanding CGI scripts.

Class length: One day

Web232: HTML Workshop II

To help you implement effective and efficient web pages, the HTML Workshops provide a detailed, hands-on exploration of the HTML language and its related support structures. The class exercises and discussion in this second workshop focus on implementing and effectively using:

Frames, for facilitating easier access to web content;
Style sheets, for finer control and consistency of web page presentation;
Graphics and Animations, in bandwidth-appropriate ways;
Access controls, for restricting access by host or password;
Javascript, for accessing web page attributes.

The potential of the programming language Java, and its simpler JavaScript, will be illustrated and discussed, but this is NOT a Java programming course.

Prerequisites: Web201, or equivalent experience, i.e., the ability to create linked, graphical Web pages from scratch. This class can be taken either before or after HTML Workshop I (Web231).

Class length: One day

Web315: Digital Imagery on the Web and in Print

This course will enable you to effectively manipulate the digital imagery used on Web pages and in printed media. Images and graphics discussed will cover the full range, from simple black and white drawings to full color photographs. Through presentations, hands-on exercises, and discussion, you will learn:

General ideas of color depth, aliasing, and the various color models (RGB, CMYK, HSL, ...).
Basics of image manipulation: resizing, retouching, compositing an image from various pieces, adding special effects, and adjusting an image's sharpness, noise, contrast, color balance.
Creating digital imagery through screen capture, exporting from drawing programs, scanning photos and artwork, and digital cameras.
For Web-based graphics: issues of monitor resolution, color maps, and dithering; transparency; and quality vs. size tradeoffs.
For printed materials: issues of printer resolution, bitmaps, and halftoning.

The concepts taught are general, but the exercises will be done with a software package that you will take with you after class. When using the PaintShopPro image manipulation program, this is then a Windows95-based course. The class can be retailored to other packages in other environments.

Prerequisite: An aesthetic sense, basic competency as a computer user, and enough web-browsing experience to have seen some horrid web graphics.

Class length: Two days