Revised: October 4, 2022
Northern Virginia Community College
ITE 270 - 001N, Advanced Multimedia Development, Fall 2022 - Tues 6:30-9:25 pm via Zoom - no meetings in a classroom
Web Site for Class: Canvas site and www.billpegram.com
Course Content
Web content management systems (CMS) are the focus of this course, in particular WordPress and Drupal. This has been the focus of this course most semesters since this course was first taught in Summer 2021. Although the prerequisite listed for this course is ITE 170, ITD 110 provides as good, or better, preparation for this course.
Unfortunately, I am not able to change the course description in SIS, the prerequisite of ITE 170, and there is no course content summary yet for this course, all of which might suggest different content. I currently do not plan to have any instruction in image or video editing software such as Animate, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, or DaVinci Resolve. If you want additional study of these, you might consider ART 130 and 230 or courses offered by NVCC Workforce Development (https://www.nvcc.edu/workforce/.
Transfer
For questions about how IT courses transfer, visit www.transfervirginia.org or email iet@nvcc.edu
Grading
20% midterm, 25% final, 55% exercises and project(s).
Software
All software for this course will be free to students. In the first part of the course, we will be installing WordPress on our computers in a couple ways so you will need the privileges to do the install -- this should not be a problem unless you are using a computer provided by your employer. Later we will be be hosting our WordPress and Drupal sites on Pantheon and probably another web host.
Hardware/OS Requirements
NVCC established minimum computer requirements for students in May 2020 - https://www.nvcc.edu/admissions/_files/Student-Computer-Specifications.pdf.
Textbooks
Required: WordPress the missing manual, Third Edition by Matthew MacDonald, O'Reilly, 2020, ISBN 978-1-492-07416-8; https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/wordpress-the-missing/9781492074151/ provides a free trial for the book (10 days, I believe). We will do at least 300 pages in this book. For an introduction to web content systems, we will use Chapters 1-4 of Web Content Management by Deane Barker. This is available online through the NVCC library by searching for Web Content Management Barker. For Drupal, we will use the Drupal User Guide at https://www.drupal.org/docs/user_guide/en/index.html.
Office Hours
Office hours will be held on Zoom. Email me and we can set up a mutually agreeable time.
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; 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, and Final Exam
Thursday, September 8 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). Students who have not attended any class meeting of a course (watching a recorded Zoom class does not meet this attendance requirement) and who have not submitted any assignment by this date, will be administratively withdrawn from this course. Saturday, October 29 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. The final exam will be held Tuesday, December 13 during our usual class time.
Student Success Tips
- Attend the Zoom sessions. It is much better if we work through this together rather than you watching a Zoom session after the fact.
- Having your camera on during class I think will help foster a sense of community although this remains your choice, except during exams when it is required. You may use a virtual background, except during exams
- Don't procrastinate - If you are having a problem, fix it or email me. Do the homework on time and definitely before the tests. If you need help, ask.
- 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.