Email Note: Please put "[NMIX 4110]" at the beginning of your email subject line. It will improve my response time to your email.

Disclaimer
The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.

Attendance:
Good workers come to work. Your class attendance not only helps you learn more, it makes the class better. Let me know ahead of time via email if you are unable to attend class. In order for an absence to be excused you must present me a note from your doctor or health center or provide some other documentation. Missing more than four classes will result in a FAIL grade for this course. Missing classes can negatively affect your in-class participation points as well. If this isn't the kind of commitment you are willing to make, drop the class.

Course Goals and Requirements
In this class students will learn how to design and develop Internet sites that function effectively with multiple platforms (desktop computers, cellphones, etc.), and will receive hands on experience in the use of media and web development software such as Dreamweaver, PhotoShop, and Flash. Topics will be presented through lectures and demonstrations, and class time will be provided to work on assignments. Assignments will support the development of a portfolio that students can use to showcase the skills they acquire in this class to future colleagues and employers.

Target Audience
This class is not an advanced web development course. Students with extensive experience designing and implementing web sites will find some of the material covered in this class redundant. This class is intended for students who want to become proficient in web and media development for their own area of expertise. Students will leave this class with a greater understanding of how to use the Internet effectively, and an emergent set of skills, that can be applied and enhanced in a variety of future settings.

Required Textbooks

• Joomla! A User's Guide: Building a Successful Joomla! Powered Website, Barrie M. North.
• Media Production: Workbook for NMI 4110, Emuel Adlridge.
• Other readings as assigned throughout the course.

Additional Readings
Additional readings will be assigned through the use of Google Reader, an RSS (Real Simple Syndication) news feed reader. Students will be required to subscribe to the feed through their own RSS feed reader. Other readings may be assigned and provided in electronic form.
Course RSS Feed

Technology News Quizzes
Online quizzes will be posted each week, covering the current week's technology news. Students are required to read technology articles that appear in the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Athens Daily News. These articles will be listed on the NMI's Tech News page -- this page displays the last 7 days of Tech News in these papers. Each student must complete an online Quiz covering these articles. Every Sunday evening a quiz will be posted online. This quiz will be self administered (check out the Academic Honesty Policy below) and timed. Students must complete the quiz by 5P on Tuesday. Late Quizzes will not be accepted.

• Check the main MyNMI page for these updates.
• For those of you using Dr. O'Donnell's RSS Feed, you will automatically recieve Dr. Shamp's Delicious Additions.

Exercises
For most topics, students will perform individual technology Exercises to demonstrate their knowledge. Students will post these Exercises on the web before class on the day the Exercise is due. No late Exercises will be accepted.

Portfolio
Students will create their own website with associated media for their portfolio. Where appropriate, class exercises may also be incorporated into the portfolio. Evaluations will be based on the student's ability to effectively incorporate and present the programming and design skills that were presented during the class. Several Exercises will include content related to the website portion of portfolio, including a proposal, site map, and page designs. Portfolios will be displayed on the web but will also be packaged on a cd-rom or other portable media for students to take with them. Late portfolios will not be accepted.

Presentation
At the end of the semester, students will present the final version of their Portfolio. These presentations will be 10 minutes long and will be judged on overall preparation, presentation of background information, use of interactive visual aids, demonstration of programming competence, rationale for the evolution of the design, and professionalism.

Class Participation
This is a hands-on class requiring extensive participation and sharing among all class members. Students will be evaluated based on class attendance, participation in asking and answering questions, and other aspects of communication and teamwork.

Ethics
All academic work must meet the standards contained in "A Culture of Honesty." All students are responsible to inform themselves about those standards before performing any academic work.

Standards of Practice
Classes in the New Media Institute will teach you about new media. But they will also teach you how to be successful professionals in whatever field you choose. Below you will find some standards of practices for students in New Media Institute (NMIX) classes. Adhering to these rules will not only make you a more successful student, practicing them in your career will make you a better professional. If you feel that you cannot conform to these practices, please consult with your teacher - maybe a New Media Institute course isn't right for you.

Plagiarism and Citations
You are required to review and learn the definition of plagiarism included in the UGA Student Code of Conduct. The idea that information that you provide will be complete, accurate, fair and original is the fundamental ethic of the mass communication industry. If you take more than four words directly from a source, they must be enclosed in quotation marks and the citation must appear at the end of the sentence in which the quotation appears. If you use facts or ideas from another source but paraphrase them into your own words, the source must be cited immediately after the paraphrased material.

Cooperative Work
More than one student may be using the same materials on assignments. You are ENCOURAGED to work together, help, and learn from one another. But you may NOT turn in identical or nearly identical papers. Each student is required to independently conduct his/her own analysis and write his/her own paper. Evidence that you are co-producing papers and turning them in individually will be considered plagiarism. If you have a question about whether your joint work is acceptable, ask me before you turn in the assignment. Group projects are of course not included in this category.

Violations of Honesty Policy
I will vigorously prosecute all instances of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, cheating, or other information fabrication. The minimum penalty for being found in violation of violations of the University's academic honesty policy will be failure of the entire course - regardless of how small a proportion of the final grade the assignment or material represented.

Office of Disability Services
Any student who is working with the University's Office of Disability Services and who needs special consideration on assignments or exams should let me know as soon as possible.

Coming Late
Good workers arrive on time. You must come to class on time to receive the full benefit from your class. Upon arriving in class, you will be required to swipe your key card in the door scanner for the classroom door. This will log when you came to class. For every two times you arrive late, you will be counted absent.

Cell Phones Off
It is unprofessional to allow outside interruptions to disrupt meetings. The same goes for class. Turn your cell phone off before you enter class (or at least turn it to vibrate).

Classroom Computer Use Professionals do not engage in extraneous activities during meetings. Successful students do not engage in activities unrelated to a class during that class. In class, not use your computer for activities unrelated to the class. Answering email, working on other class projects, downloading songs - do these on your own time, not during class. If you engage in non-class related activities during class, you might as well not be in class - and you will be counted as absent.

Challenging Evaluation
In your jobs and your classes, you will be evaluated. How you handle and use these evaluations will greatly determine your eventual success. There is a professional approach for addressing evaluations (or grades) with which you do not agree.

• Take some time to consider the evaluation. After you receive the evaluation, think about it for at least 24 hours before doing anything - this cooling off period will help you present your case in a positive manner.
• Formulate a rational argument for why you deserve a better evaluation. Develop at least three points that you think prove you deserve a better evaluation. Your opinion is not an argument. Support your argument with data and analysis.
• Present your argument in writing (email is preferred) within one week of receiving the graded assignment, then request a meeting to discuss your evaluation. I may very well buy your argument and you won't need to meet with me at all! Handling disputes constructively is the mark of a true professional. I will not reconsider an evaluation if you challenge it more than one week after the assignment is returned. Missing class is not an excuse for not receiving a returned assignment.

End of Semester Evaluations
At the end of the semester I will ask you to evaluate me. This can be done here.

Grading Policy
Grading in the course will be based on the percentage of points earned out of the total points possible. The standard scale will be used (Note: rounding is based entirely on in-class participation):
A: 93.000-100%;
A-: 89.995-92.995%;
B+: 86.995-89.994%;
B: 82.995-86.994%;
B-:79.995-82.994%
C+: 76.995%-79.994%
C: 69.995-76.994%
D: 59.995-69.994%
F = below 59.995%

Assignments

Description	Due Date	Percentage of Final Grade
In Class Assignments, Quizzes, and Participation	N/A	10%
Exercises	Multiple (See Schedule)	30%
Digital Portfolio	Multiple (See Schedule)	20%
Gamelab.uga Design Proposal	03/16/2009	20%
Gamelab.uga Design Presentation	03/16/2009	10%
Digital Portfolio Presentation	05/04/2009	10%

Assignments must be turned in to me by 2:30PM (Class time) on the day that they are due, except when noted. No late assignments will be accepted. Be aware that I do not accept computer and printer problems as an excuse for late assignments. Computer-problem solving is a critical professional skill.

Course Schedule
A continually updated course calendar is available online.

** Week 1 - Beginning 01/09/2009:
First Class Meeting: Welcome and Course Introduction
Complete Dr. O'Donnell's Honesty, Plagiarism, and Attendance Policy Form

** Week 2 - Beginning 01/12/2009:
Explanation of tools and toys.
Intro to basic web production.
How it all fits together.

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;
TBD;

** Week 3 - Beginning 01/21/2009:
Text Formatting;
Introduction to CSS;
External and Internal Links;
Image Handling;

Read for Class
Tableless Layouts with Dreamweaver 8
An Overview of CSS in Dreamweaver 8
The Difference Between em, and px
Intro to CSS and HTML
Assigned via RSS Feed;
TBD;

** Week 4 - Beginning 01/26/2009:
CSS Layouts;

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;
TBD;

** Week 5 - Beginning 02/02/2009:
Introduction to MAMP and Wordpress;
Installing and Editing a Wordpress Theme;
Adding Content to your Wordpress Site;

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;
What is MAMP?;
What is WampServer?;
Installing Wordpress on your Mac with MAMP;
Installing Wordpress on your Windows WampServer;
WordPress.org Theme Directory;

** Week 6 - Beginning 02/09/2009:
Fireworks vs Photoshop;
Image maps and rollover buttons;
Collecting Information with Forms and Validating Forms;
Building a Site with Dreamweaver;
Use of Dreamweaver Templates;

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;
TBD;

** Week 7 - Beginning 02/16/2009:
DEVELOPING a Gamelab.uga Prototype

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;
TBD;

** Week 8 - Beginning 02/23/2009:
DEVELOPING a Gamelab.uga Prototype

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;
TBD;

** Week 9 - Beginning 03/02/2009:
DEVELOPING a Gamelab.uga Prototype

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;
TBD;

** Week 10 - Beginning 03/09/2009:
UGA SPRING BREAK - REST FOR UPCOMING SPRINT

** Week 11 - Beginning 03/16/2009:
PRESENTATIONS of Gamelab.uga Prototype

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;

** Week 12 - Beginning 03/23/2009:
Developing Gamelab.uga with Joomla!

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;

** Week 13 - Beginning 03/30/2009:
Developing Gamelab.uga with Joomla!

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;

** Week 14 - Beginning 04/06/2009:
Developing Gamelab.uga with Joomla!

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;

** Week 15 - Beginning 04/13/2009:
Flash and Interactive Web Development

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;

** Week 16 - Beginning 04/20/2009:
Flash and Interactive Web Development

Read for Class
Assigned via RSS Feed;

** Week 17 - Beginning 04/27/2009:
Flash and Interactive Web Development

** FINAL EXAM DATE: Mon, May 4, 2009 @ 3:30PM - 6:30PM:
Final Digital Portfolio Presentations

Assignment Due:
Final Digital Portfolio Presentations;