Behavioral Program of Teaching Web Production

Objectives: This course will introduce you to creating documents using HTML (hypertext markup language), which is the standard for the World Wide Web. You will learn to author basic Web pages and produce a Web site using basic HTML grammar and syntax. Students will also learn to organize and storyboard their sites. You will also learn common mistakes and error patterns, and how to create clean code that can be shared with others.

Methodology: Because we're following the behaviorist model, we are going to break down the HTML lessons into very small steps that the instructor can give provide feedback about. If Skinner had his way, we'd create a box that the student could feed his/her HTML into. The box would provide reinforcements to the student concerning correct coding. However, since we don't have this type of box we're going to have the students do self-regulated checking. With HTML, they can constantly check their work in the browser. The instructor will be checking their work, too, and guide them until the HTMl displays correctly. Thus, students will succeed in learning by working on their own and getting constant feedback from the instructor about their behavior. Since students want positive feedback, they will eventually correctly code with HTML .

Each class will begin with stated objectives. The instructor will then take the student through HTML coding of pages a step at a time. The instructor will break at logical intervals to check to see how students work is coming along. By the end of the class, the student will know how to build an interactive Web site with tables.

Schedule: This is an six-week class, where we meet for three hours each week.

DAY ONE: Working with text
Objectives: Students learn a the common language and structure used in HTML coding, including elements, tags and attributes. Students will use a simple text editor and a browser together to understand the edit/view cycle in constructing their resume in HTML.

DAY TWO: Linking and Images
Objectives: Students will learn how to use the three types of linking: mailto, hyperlinking and linking within a document. They will also learn how to bring images into Web pages and how to link them.

DAY THREE: Color and Tables
Objectives: Students will learn how to use color in their Web pages. They'll learn basic table tags, which they'll use for their in-class table assignment. Also, they'll learn how to upload HTML documents and images to a server.

DAY FOUR: Review and Frames
Objectives: Students will review the HTML information that they've learned up to this point. Then, they will learn about frames and framesets.

DAY FIVE: Form elements
Objectives: Students learn how to use form elements and understand how they interact with both the browser client and the server. Also, they'll learn how the client side and server side information transfer and processing occurs.

DAY SIX: Review, FTP and Final Project
Objectives: Students learn how to upload pages to the server. I review any topics that they have questions about up to this point. They will be given a final assignment that includes elements from all their lessons.