About this course
This course is more about how to tell a story on the web (e.g. "Expository Writing") than about the Internet as social phenomenon, (e.g. "British Literature") but we'll discuss the social phenomenon too.
Sites by folks who've taken this class
- Portfolio for Miriam Loh - project done for Comm326.
- Melanie in Motion - project while still at GC.
- Mennonite Disaster Service - non-profit website
- LightSky - business founded by GC alums
What you'll learn
- Dave Gray writes "The ability to play with tools drives literacy".
- Web design is fun partly because it's so multi-faceted.
- Web design can be frustrating because it's so multi-faceted.
You will hopefully leave this course with some familiarity in all of these areas....
Computer-ish stuff
- HTML, CSS, and a bit of XML (in the form of RSS)
- We'll touch on scripting (programming) with php and javascript.
- troubleshooting your pages and the nitty-gritty of moving your files into the right location for a webserver to dish them up to others,
- how computers display color,
- digital graphics formats.
- a mental model of how the web/Internet "works" .
- integrating web services--facebook/flickr/blogs/calendars/Google gadgets--in your website.
Writing and Design
- Design basics: how to use line, color, composition to tell a story visually,
- establishing a visual hierarchy to draw attention to the most important parts of your website,
- Photography basics: placing subjects, what to leave in/out when cropping,
- typography,
- PhotoShop.
- Writing styles appropriate for humans browsing the web
- Writing for robots
- Words vs pictures
- hyper text
- navigation schemes
- the smell of information
Spirituality
Mis-communication about whether
Sean Bell had a gun (he didn't):
- Empathy--putting yourself in someone else's shoes
- The human situation--cognitive limits to processing information
- Trust and integrity
- Communicating across cultures
- Isn't communication a practical strategy for peace?