EDC668: Course Syllabus
Click Here to Return to EDC668 Managing Technology in School Settings (Summer 2002) Click Here to Return to Pepperdine OMAET (2001-2002) Click...
EDC668: Group Media Project: Crumble Radio Show
668radioshow Continuing in the spirit that helped create last term's "Furby Research Projects" several of us from that project got together again, this time to create an audio recording. This project featured Henry Price, Christine Lorenz and moi (Joe Bustillos) with...
EDC668: Course Resources
“Using Computers As Creative Tools” by Gary Stager [article] Book Notes: Apple Computer QuickTime for...
EDC668: Website Upgrades 1 & 2
Virtually all assignments were turned in via our school webpages which we created from scratch. After a year of this I became pretty comfortable with HTML and Dreamweaver. This is an example of two course assignments where we looked at User-Interface and Visual Design to improve our sites. Sadly having switch from websites built from scratch and hosted on Pepperdine’s servers to WordPress a lot gets lost in translation. Point is I spent the year going from thinking about putting up a website to doing my own website multiple times and never really being happy with the outcome. Enjoy (the journey)
Web Site Upgrade Part 1, based on Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug
Home Page Before:
A bit after our mid-point meeting in Colorado I made major changes on the website. Prior to this I had a table on the home page with each trimester listed and a drop-down jump menu to each class. I decided to simplify things by listing all prior classes with one drop-down jump menu and create a button for each current class. I also “color coded” each term at this time with a consistent color scheme (summer/fall olive, spring light blue, and summer 2002 red/orange) and combination button/jump-menu navigation bar along the left side of the pages.
Home Page After
One major pet-peeve that I have is when web-designers hard-code page sizes and don’t account for the fact that not everyone has their screen set at 1024 x 768. Thus, I reduced the size of the class buttons to accommodate for 800×600 screen resolution. I also added a “projects & links” drop-down menu for non-class specific projects and resources.
Class Page Before:
One of the problems that began to develop last trimester was that my “class pages” were little more than “place-holders” for my book notes and assignment links. The information blurbs that I needed in the Fall term were . . . redundant and unnecessary (especially considering that I included a link to the professor’s syllabus).
Class Page After:
The design for this term is to have more information on one page and still allow for some description and a place for the necessary links and buttons. This page is very much still under construction. [Alas, I never saved the screen grab at a very high resolution, for future viewing.]
REFLECTION:
I switched over to a more consistent navigation and color scheme last term. One thing that I like is the use of a “location” sign along the top of each page to help the user know where he/she is in the site. The one thing that is a balancing act between Krug laws and our assignments is that we quite often have to communicate with a lot of text (which is contrary to Krug’s “billboard at 60 MPH” observation). Finding creative ways to keep pages with so much text alive and vibrant is going to be the “trick.” Having cruised the pages of my cadre-mates I’m very impressed with the design scheme and style used by Greg Thompson and Gayle Britt. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to bring out the best in each other. JBB
WEBSITE UPGRADE PART 2: BASED ON DON’T MAKE ME THINK BY STEVE KRUG
Class Page Before:
Very clean, lots of information on a single page (which was the idea) and very boring. I could have grabbed the course descriptions from the professors’ pages, but that just doesn’t seem to cut it.
Class Page After:
One thing that I really liked about previous pages (versions) was the inclusion of a graphic element (usually comical) for each class. Plus, I decided that I’d create icons/buttons for the assignments of each class. Even though the assignments have their own drop-down jump menu, which is duplicated on every page, the icon/button adds another element of navigation. I also copied the navigation text:You are here: Home > Summer Trimester 2002 > ED668 > A2 Upgrade to the bottom of the page and a “return to top of page” button.
Reflection:
I don’t remember if I read it in Krug or somewhere else, but someone said that one of the most important parts about designing a website is to consider the consistent elements and use that to manage the site before building ones site. There should be a theme or feel to the site that holds the pages together. In other words, the site shouldn’t seem like its just a bunch of random pages thrown together. The main idea here is that this needs to be done beforehand or it might look like an afterthought. The second thing that seems consistent is to make things as clear and simple as possible (including navigation). I think that I’ve done that, so most of what is left is more fine-tuning and finding more creative ways to direct the “reader.” JBB
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