Revised: January 17, 2023
Northern Virginia Community College
Advanced Multimedia Development, Spring 2023
ITE 270 - 001L, TTh 11:10am-12:30pm (15 week)
080N - MW 7:00-9:55pm (2nd Seven Week)
both via Zoom - no meetings in a classroom. same material covered in both sections; the two sections share a common Canvas site so that changes made in the Canvas site will apply to both sections
Web Site for Class: Canvas site and www.billpegram.com
Instructor - William Pegram
Course Content
Web content management systems (CMS), in particular WordPress and Drupal, has generally been the focus of this course since it was first taught in Summer 2021 although a different focus was used in Summer 2022. In such a content management system, the content resides in a database and this content is created and edited by using a browser rather than a text editor or Dreamweaver. Although the prerequisite listed for this course is ITE 170, ITD 110 provides as good, or better, preparation for this course with its content management systems focus.
Unfortunately, I am not able to change the course description in SIS or the prerequisite of ITE 170, both of which might suggest different content. There is no course content summary yet for this course (course content summaries are found at https://www.nvcc.edu/courses/).
We will spend substantially more time on WordPress than Drupal for several reasons:
- We have a good book on WordPress; I have yet to find a suitable book on Drupal.
- WordPress is used on a lot more sites than is Drupal and if you were going to do a site for yourself or a small organization, WordPress would more commonly be used than Drupal.
- Although both programs are always changing, changes in the last year or two make changing appearance and adding functionality more difficult in Drupal than it is in WordPress.
Certificate and Transfer
ITE 270 is part of the Information Systems Technology: Web Design and Development, Career Studies Certificate. 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 couple weeks 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 perhaps another free 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. You can view the book online through the NVCC library -- see the instructions to do this in Canvas. However the book is very inexpensive so you will probably want to buy the book. We will do all of this book. 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 the course and 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.
Dropping and Withdrawal from the Class
15 week class - Thursday, February 2 is the last day to drop and get a tuition refund 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, March 25 is the last day to withdraw without grade penalty. The award of W after the last day to withdraw REQUIRES official documentation and the Dean's signature which is very difficult to get.
2nd 7 week class - Tuesday, March 28 is the last day to drop,Wednesday April 19 is the last day to withdraw without grade penalty.
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.
- Have your camera on during class to increase engagement. 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.