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//Information Media/web info/

Project Information

For Infomedia, if you follow the basic requirements for each project and use your class worktime wisely, you should not have to do ANY work from home. There is no requirement for homework for this class.

In the case that you want to do work on a project from home or need to catch up with your deadlines, look at the links below for information about your project. These links contain project details for the given projects as well as links to tutorials and other information on the internet:

//Information Media/evaluating sites/

Web Site Assessment Activity

10 points. Time allowance 2 lessons.
Expanation
All of the projects for this class require that research be done on topics that have been chosen for the projects. As you are doing research, you will be finding sources of information for your projects including books, magazines, journals, etc. Part of your grade for research is based on the quality of sources that you have chosen for your project. In other words, you need to choose your sources because they have reliable, accurate information about your topic and you should be able to explain why you chose each source (besides that it was convenient, easy, looked nice, or seemed to know what it was talking about).

In this activity, we will look at some ways to evaluate a web site and determine the quality of the information that is found on it. Then we will put those evaluation skills to work.

Assignment
Follow these steps:
  1. In your notebook, put your name, the date, the name of this activity and your class section on a sheet of paper.
  2. Thoroughly read the page on web site evaluation.
  3. Choose any 5 of the sites below. Look at each site and compare it with the evaluation ideas we just read about. You will probably need to follow the links on the web site and use a search engine to help follow up on some of the information that you find on the site also.
  4. Do these things on your paper:
    1. Write down the name of each site.
    2. Give each site a rating between 1 and 10 for the quality of its information. This rating needs to be based on the evaluation criteria from the web evaluation page we just read.
    3. Give a solid explanation with at least 7 reasons why you rated each site as you did. These reasons, once again, need to be based on the criteria from the web site evaluation page.
Pretend that you are doing a paper on training dolphins for special purposes and need to find some information. Having done a search, you have found these sites which seem to be in line with the direction for your paper. Evaluate the 5 sites of your choice:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian/issues03/sep03/phenomena.html
http://www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/allweb/B84336D57E281EB580256D0300464287
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4034383.stm
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/dolphins/partners.html
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1577753,00.html
http://dolphins.jump-gate.com/military_use_of_dolphins/dolphins_of_war.shtml
http://www.iran-e-sabz.org/news/dolphins.html
http://www.sarkanniemi.fi/oppimateriaali/dolphin_training.html
http://www.vanaqua.org/education/aquafacts/dolphins.html
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0007583.html


//Information Media/webInfo/

Web Information Activity

10 points. Time allowance 3 lessons.
Expanation
Most of the information and tutorials that you need for your projects are included in this information center. Sometimes, you may need more explanation about the different technologies that you are using or you may want to learn more than you will find in the tutorials here.

Most regular entertainment or business web sites have a similar way of dividing up their information into sections. You are probably already familiar with this, but when you get into looking at web sites that promote software it might be easy to get lost.

In this activity, we will become more familiar with the organization of some standard technology web sites. This will help you to get around a little more quickly when you do need to do some research on technology in your projects.

Assignment
Follow these steps:
  1. In your notebook, put your name, the date, the name of this activity and your class section on a sheet of paper.
  2. Choose 3 of the web sites below.
  3. Do these things on your paper:
    1. Write down the names of the sites you chose.
    2. Write down the sections that each of the web sites is divided into. You don't need to do this for EVERY link on the main page, just the major sections that the web site is divided into.
    3. For each section found, write down what the purpose of the section is and what kinds of documents or information that you find in them.
    4. Compare the sites that you looked at and write down the things that are the same and different in the organization of all of the sites that you chose.
GIMP
Kmindmap
Polyedit
Open Office
VLAN
Eclipse
Spybot


//Information Media/citations/

Citations and Plagiarism Activity

10 points. Time allowance 3 lessons.
In the projects for this course, you will be doing research. That means you will be using information from papers, web sites, books, magazines which other people have written. Whenever you use other peoples' ideas, graphics, photos or other artwork in your work in ANY way, you need to tell where you got your information. You CAN NOT change another person's work and act like it is your own either.

This IS a serious thing, if you don't get into the habit of quoting your sources properly you could end up in trouble. You might want to see what other people say about it if you don't believe it. Either way, if you don't make citations properly for your projects, you will lose important points for your project.

For each of your projects, whether a bibliography is part of the project itself or not, you will need to turn in a bibliography as a separate piece with it at the end of the project.

Some things you will need to know about for your projects are: How many sources will be needed? How are sources cited in a paper or project? and How are sources cited in a bibliography?

How many sources will be needed?
In a bibliography, you will need to have a certain number of sources. Most of the projects will ask for 6. The question is: what is a source? The sources cited in your bibliography:

  • Must each be from a separate piece (like an article, web site, paper, or other work) if they are by the same author.
  • Must include the EXACT internet address to their location.
Don't:
  • Cite different parts of a single web site in your bibliography more than once if they are all part of the same article or section.
  • Cite different parts of a single article in the same bibliography.

How are sources quoted in a paper or project?
There are special formats for quoting sources in a paper. See the information from KYVL and Princetonto find out about them. Be sure to read about online sources and page numbers on the KYVL page.

For a project, things are not always as easy. In a project like a web site, you can often make quotes just like a paper, but what about for graphics or in a graphic or 3D project? In the case of graphics, where possible, mark the graphic with a line showing the source it came from. If not possible, you need to account for EVERY graphic you use in your bibliography and clearly state which graphic came from the sources.

How are sources cited in a bibliography?
A bibliography lists your sources alphabetically by the last name of the author. There is a special format for listing them. Look at the information from KYVL to find out about the format. Pay special attention to the parts about web sites and electronic journals. Also note that many times you can't find all of the information for web sites-- if you can't find the author's name, you may need to use the site publisher in their place or make other adjustments.

If you have looked at these examples and still are not sure, there are millions of web sites that talk about this. Just do a search on MLA, citations, and format on Google and you will find more than enough information. If you want an easier way, just check out the Naples High School Media Center web site.

Activity part 1
  1. In your notebook, put your name, the date, the name of this activity and your class section on a sheet of paper.
  2. Do these things on your paper:
    1. There are 3 main ways to quote passages from a source in a paper. Look at the KYVL and Princeton pages above and list what you think those 3 ways are.
    2. Using your own examples (don't use the material from the web pages), show how your should cite your sources in the text of your page for each of those 3 ways of making quotes.

Activity part 2
  1. Do these things:
    1. Choose 5 of the web sites listed below and write out a citation for a bibliography for each.
    2. Make sure that your citations are in the correct format for a citation and put the citations in order as if you were creating a bibliography.
  2. Turn in your paper.
Uwire
Nuts and Bolts
Utica OD
Slate
Contact Music
AJR
News Star
MTV
Live Daily


//findingInfo/WebDesign/

Web Design Reading

Time allowance: 3 lessons
Point value: 20 points

Wearing a Bulls jersey doesn't mean you're Michael. Holding a Gibson guitar doesn't make you Jimi Hendrix. The same is true with HTML. Even though you can make stuff with it, you need to have some ideas about HOW to use it to have style. This article will help you with some basics about things to do and not do when designing web sites. It will also push you along in applying the ideas to other media also.

Questions
    Content section
  1. In your own words, what are 3 things this article says NOT to do when designing a web site?
  2. According to this article, what are 3 things we should know and/or do when beginning to design a web site?
  3. How would you relate these ideas to creating a(n):
    1. Interactive Flash animation
    2. Slide type presentation

    Content Step By Step section
  4. From this section, what are 3 good ways we can decide what things to put on a page, where they should go, and how they should look?
  5. Other than the content itself, objects on a web page should provide information of 4 types including:
    The Attention Map section
  6. From the information on this page, what are 3 reasons why you should put design ideas on paper before working on a project?
  7. How does the attention map idea fit together with the design ideas that you read on:
    1. The Content section
    2. The Step by Step section

    Writing for the Web section
  8. Tell about the 2 pyramids and writing.
  9. For our projects, we are combining academic writing with design for the web. We will also be showing information about the sources we use. How do you think these styles can be put together?
  10. Rewrite the following paragraph using language that would be more appropriate for a web site:
      Last night was undoubtedly the most exciting experience I have had. The concert was played in an exhilarating display of stylishly up-to-date music and visually stimulating effects, the like of which I have not seen in Chiang Mai in the past. Dancing was done at the front of the massively large 700 year stadium. Everyone was dressed in the clothing that is the most recent style. Tata Young was there watching also and spent time in the crowd talking to people. Her autographed photo is now part of my prized scrap book.

    Colo(u)r section
  11. How many colors does the author of the article think should be used for a web site?
  12. You could use a different color for each page of a site or project if you. . .?
  13. What is a good rule for using colors and text?
  14. How should really bright colors be used?
    Readability section
  15. How many sizes and types of fonts should be used on ALL parts of a web site?
  16. What is 1 reason you would want to use a serif font?
  17. What is 1 reason you would NOT want to use a serif font?
  18. What is 1 reason you would want to use a sans-serif font?
  19. What is 1 reason you would NOT want to use a sans-serif font?
  20. To you, what are the 5 most important rules of using type on computers?
All rights reserved. Bill Clark. Chiang Mai International School. 6/05. Last updated 1/06.
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