Revised: January 26, 2023
Northern Virginia Community College
The schedule page contains the week-by-week material; the schedule page will be continually updated during the semester. The Canvas site will have additional material.
ITE 170 - 001A, ITE 170-002W, Multimedia Software, Spring 2023
001A: Alexandria campus, Bisdorf/AA-0446 Saturday 1:00PM-3:55PM (previously in AA-0414)
002W: MW 2:20-3:40PM via Zoom - for this section, no meetings in a classroomI will cover the same material and follow the same schedule in both sections. The two sections share a common Canvas site so that changes made in the Canvas site will apply to both sections. Generally, the material covered in-person on Saturday will be the same as was covered the preceding Wednesday and the following Monday in the Zoom sessions. These two sections are cross-listed in Canvas so that the same Canvas course can be used in multiple sections. You may attend the other section in a particular week where that is useful.
Web Site for Class: www.billpegram.com
Course Content
My course includes the process of developing a web site, web design principles, page layout, image formats, accessibility, and copyright issues, but HTML and CSS, the basic coding used in web pages, receives greater emphasis and time. In the second half of the course, we will do animation, photo editing, and video editing. The first six weeks of my ITE 170 course has substantial overlap with ITD 110. ITD 110 does not cover the animation, photo editing and video editing programs, and thus can cover the other topics to a greater depth than is possible in ITE 170.
Grading
20% midterm, 25% final, 25% project, 30% exercises. These are the weights specified in the ITE 170 common syllabus. That common syllabus provides that the 30% be equally divided between those done in class and homework done outside of class. However, since one of the sections is entirely remote this semester, there will probably not be any exercises done "in class" this semester in either section..
Zoom
The Zoom link at the left in Canvas provides access to participate in the live Zoom session and also to the recording of previous class sessions. When I set up the Zoom sessions, I do not have the option of starting them at 2:20 so they will show as starting at 2pm. Class will start at 2:20; it's best if you do not join much before 2:20 since it leads to "dead air" time in the recording.
In person class - I will teach in the classroom and plan to also login to Zoom to create a recording of the class, enable enrolled students to share their screen when that is useful, and enable class participation for those not able to attend in person.
Transfer to GMU
The current situation regarding transfer of ITE 170 to GMU is described at https://www.gmu.edu/admissions-aid/apply-now/how-apply/transfer . In particular, a grade of A or B in ITE 170 will now transfer as IT 213 at GMU. As described there, a similar policy applies to ITP 120 and ITD 256. Admitted BSIT transfers with a C grade will receive elective credit, IT ----. This is a much better transfer situation for GMU than has existed in recent years. For further information about transfer of IT courses, visit www.transfervirginia.org or email iet@nvcc.edu
Software
Everything in this course can be done on both Windows and Macintosh computers. However, I've never used a Mac or Linux computer and can't be of help regarding these.
All software for this course will be free to students enrolled in the course. Text editors such as Notepad or Notepad++ (both Windows only), Atom, Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code are free downloads and will be used in the first part of the course (approximately 6 weeks). I will spend a week or two on Adobe Dreamweaver during this 6 week period. In recent semesters, students in this class received an email at the beginning of the semester indicating how they can install the entire Adobe Creative Suite on their home computers for no charge; this was not the case before the pandemic. In the Adobe Suite, we will learn Animate, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro in the second half of the course.
On January 13, I received an email from Adobe with the subject line "Get Started with All Apps EDU. At the beginning ofo the course, we will talk about how to access these.
NVCC Canvas support advises students to use Chrome to be able to access Canvas, Zoom, Respondus Lockdown Browser, and many other external tools, such as publisher textbooks inside of Canvas. If students use another browser, they will likely have difficulties accessing any of these tools.
NVCC has a Virtual Computer Lab. This permits access to some software that may not be installed on your computer. For example, if you are using a computer that doesn't meet the requirements for Adobe Creative Cloud. Or you are using a Mac and want to use Microsoft Access. More information can be found at this page. However, if you are using a computer with Creative Cloud or Access installed, it will generally be quicker to use those rather than to go through the Virtual Computer Lab, which may also have constraints on the number of simulataneous users.
Hardware/OS Requirements
NVCC established minimum computer requirements for students in May 2020 - https://www.nvcc.edu/admissions/_files/Student-Computer-Specifications.pdf. For the Zoom section this course you must have a webcam so that I may proctor you during exams. You must have either Windows 10 or Windows 11 if you are using a Windows computer. The operating system requirement is important for this course because the current Adobe software requires at least Windows 10; Creative Cloud can run on Windows 7; the difficulty would be getting the version of Creative Cloud that runs on Windows 7. If you will be using a MacIntosh computer, see instead the Creative Cloud requirements at https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/system-requirements.html.
The Adobe programs are also availabe through a NVCC Virtual computer lab. This enables you to use these applications on devices such as Chromebooks. More information coming.
Textbooks
There are no required books for my sections.
HTML and CSS are an important part of this course. The schedule page has links to some good online material on HTML and CSS. On the schedule page, I will also include page references for HTML & CSS design and build websites by Jon Duckett. It is very good, only $16+ on Amazon, and we will spend more time on the subject matter covered in this book than we will on any single one of the four software programs listed above. You can also view it online through the NVCC library.
We will do four Adobe applications in this course. We will do Dreamweaver, Animate, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro. Adobe publishes each year a separate book for each of these applications. We will cover the first four chapters of the Photoshop CC Classroom in a book. The 2020 version of this book as well as the 2020 version of the Animate Classroom in a Book and the 2020 version of the Premiere Pro Classroom in a Book are available online through the NVCC library.
As an alternative to purchasing separate books, Adobe also offers digital access for 120 days for $59.99 to all Adobe books (presumably the latest editions).. This can be purchased by going to https://nvcc.bncollege.com/ and selecting for spring 2023, the Alexandria campus, ITE 170, 001A, the Pearson+ Multi Title Subscription, 4 month term.
Homework
Homework assigned will generally be due 8 days after the homework is assigned. This will permit you to work on the homework during the week, get any questions resolved in the next class, and submit the homework on time. Late homework will not be accepted but your two lowest homework grades will be dropped; this policy of dropping the two lowest two grades is designed to cover illness, computer problems, work or family responsibilities, etc. so exceptions to this policy will not be granted.
You must submit your homework so that the files can be read on a Windows machine. Thus if you are using a Mac, you must do any necessary conversion of the files. If you are required to submit a zipped folder, make sure that whatever you submit can be opened by WinZip. If you are using software that is not properly licensed, make sure the resulting files can be opened on another Windows machine.
Office Hours
Office hours via Zoom at a mutually agreeable time or at the conclusion of the in-person section.
Communication with Students
For general class announcements and messages to individual students, I will use Canvas so make sure Canvas is set up so you see these promptly. Similarly, I suggest using Canvas to send me a message. If you email me at wpegram@nvcc.edu, please remember to include your name, class and section; this is not necessary when using Canvas since Canvas supplies this information.
Academic Integrity
On homework assignments and projects, students may ask for and receive some assistance from others, unless otherwise directed by the instructor. Yet those helping a student should avoid "doing the work" for the student.
Unless specifically stated in the assignment, students may work together to complete an assignment. However my experience is that students who turn in essentially identical work on an assignment tend not to do well on subsequent tests either because they have not learned the material or are too reliant on another person.
No assistance is permitted on exams and quizzes and you must have your webcam on during these times so that I may monitor you. The college policy on student conduct is found at www.nvcc.edu/students/handbook/conduct.html. You will be asked to submit your student ID or equivalent ID in Canvas to take exams.
Cheating on a test will result in a grade of 0 on the test. Cheating on a subsequent test will result in a grade of F for the course. Cheating may be reported to the Division Dean and the Annandale Judicial Affairs Officer.
Dropping and Withdrawal from the Class:
Thursday, February 2 is the last day to drop a 15 week class and get a tuition refund (use NovaConnect) or to switch to audit (which requires my signature). Saturday, March 25 is the last day to withdraw without grade penalty in a 15 week course. The award of W after the last day to withdraw REQUIRES official documentation and the Dean's signature which is very difficult to get.
Covid-19
For the in-person class, utilize the Zoom recordings from the Zoom section if you are not feeling well.
Student Success Tips
- For the in-person class, come to class; for the virtual section, watch the Zoom session - it it may be easier for you to understand something if you see me do it and explain it, instead of just relying on other sources.
- Although I may do an occasional short PowerPoint presentation, class instruction at least 90% of the time will involve me writing HTML or CSS code or doing things in Animate, Photoshop, or Premiere Pro. I will go slow enough so that you can do what I am doing on your computer and am always happy to repeat steps. Students being active in this way is better for most students than simply watching and taking notes. Watching me over Zoom and doing things on your computer at the same time is challenging. There are several possible solutions:
Although #4 may be best for some people, I think attending the the Zoom session at the regularly scheduled time is probably best. Although all sessions for the virtual section will be recorded and available on Canvas, my personal experience with webinars since March 2020, is that I am much more likely to watch something if I watch it live.
- two monitors - I tried this last summer when I was sitting in on a course, but never could get used to a second monitor
- one monitor with two windows (one for watching me in Zoom, the other for working in the application(s)
- watching me on a phone or tablet and working in the application(s) on your computer
- watching the recording, pausing it to work in the application, and repeat this throughout
- Don't procrastinate - If you are having a problem logging in or transferring files to your website, fix it or email me. Do the homework on time and definitely before the tests. If you need help, ask.
- Keep your files organized in folders - perhaps one folder for each class session or homework assignment. The file and folder structure on your website should be the same as on your computer or flash drive, and uploading files is a good way to back them up.
- Pay attention to the dates to drop and withdraw from the class.
- As long as you attend class once (at the scheduled time, not through watching a Zoom recording later), I will not drop you from the class. If you do poorly on the midterm, you need to decide whether to withdraw from the class before the deadline or to continue in the class. If you continue in the class, you need to continue to "come to class", to do homework and to take the final, otherwise you will likely fail the course.
