William M. Pegram
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Revised: January 15, 2008

Northern Virginia Community College - Annandale Campus

ITE 170 - Multimedia Software, Spring 2008 (3 credits)

Section 003N: M4:30-7:20, CT230, Section 004N: W4:30-7:20
Instructor: Dr. William M. Pegram, wpegram@nvcc.edu

Web Site for Class: www.billpegram.com

Course Description:

The course will have several aspects:

  1. An introduction to XHTML and FTP, equivalent to the web content of the new ITE 115 beginning Fall 2006 (There is no XHTML prerequisite for ITE 170, but ITE 170 transfers as IT 213 at GMU which has IT 103 as a prerequisite which covers some XHTML and FTP topics).
  2. A hands-on introduction to multimedia software, in particular Dreamweaver CS3 (the leading web authoring/HTML editor), Flash CS3 (the leading web animation program), and perhaps Fireworks CS3 or Photoshop (computer graphics).
  3. Concepts relating to web design, web images, and sound, video, and animation on the web

Textbook

Adobe Flash CS3 Professional by Todd Perkins, Peachpit Press, 2008, ISBN-13 978-0-321-50983-3, ISBN -10: 0-321-50983-8. I have used previous editions of this text in this course and have been very pleased with them. It was used by one of the sections of ITE 170 in Fall 2007.

Software:

You will need access to this software outside of the classroom. Here are some alternatives:

  1. Some of the computers in the open lab on the first floor of the CT building have the software.
  2. There are 30 day free downloads of Dreamweaver CS3, Flash CS3, Fireworks CS3, and Photoshop CS3 Extended at www.adobe.com. Although Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks are part of Studio, I would recommend downloading the parts separately and waiting to install each one till you need it because of the 30 day limitation. You may also purchase a DVD with the trial software.
  3. Purchase of software - Because you are students, you are eligible to purchase Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Standard (contains Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Fireworks, Contribute) at greatly reduced prices, e.g. for $390 from www.campustech.com or www.sprysoft.com. You will need to supply them with an academic ID. Software at academic prices is generally not available from local retail outlets, although Patriot Computers in Johnson Center at GMU may allow non-GMU students to purchase from them. They sell at the academic list price.

Storage Media

Initially, you will want to bring a floppy disk to class so that you can save your work and for exams.  If you forget to bring a disk, you can save your work to the c drive and then send an email to yourself with the file as an attachment. Later in the term, you may find having more capacity useful (e.g. a CD or thumb nail drive). Nothing saved to the c:drive will be there after you logoff. 

Homework

In the past, my policy was to accept late assignments but in some cases to penalize them a little. In thinking about this policy since the end of the fall semester, I decided that this policy had a number of drawbacks: (1) Instructor grading time was increased because grading at one time is more efficient (and equitable) than if this process is spread out over several weeks. (2) I was unable to discuss a completed assignment with the class as a whole in a timely fashion since there were always some who had not yet completed the assignment. (3) For students who did not complete the assignment on time, they were spending time on topics that had been covered earlier in this course, which contributed to them falling further and further behind. (4) People often work best under some sort of deadline and a lax policy on assignments provided little in the way of deadlines. So as a result, my new policy is that I will not accept late assignments, but I will throw out the lowest grade (this should cover missed assignments due to illness, deaths of relatives, etc.). Exactly what I mean by late will be made clear as we go through the semester.

Attendance:

If you miss class, please check the class website for any changes to the schedule, including new assignments.  When class is cancelled due to inclement weather or instructor absence, assignments will be pushed back to the next class date. You are welcome to attend class in the other section, subject to capacity constraints.

Office Hour Schedule:

Before or after class - other times by arrangement.

Communication with Instructor:

In addition to office hours, most class periods will have time for one-on-one questions with the instructor.  Asking questions in this way is generally more efficient than email.  

Required Email Address

I will email you at the email address on my class list which is your VCCS email address unless you specify a different address in Nova Connect. If you do not check this address frequently, I would recommend you set it up for automatic forwarding to an email address you do check more frequently. During the first class, I will show you how to specify a different address in Nova Connect and to specify a forwarding address. Please remember to include your name in all emails to me since I often can't tell who you are from your email address.

Grading Policy:

Your grade will be a function of 2 quizzes (30%), a final (25%.) and homework (45%). Although I normally offer students the ability to take makeup tests in the Testing Center, the software used in this class is not available there, and so please try to be present for all tests. If you must miss a quiz, I will try to make some opportunity available at the end of the semester for this purpose.

Academic Integrity

In general, students are expected to follow the Information Technology Student/Policy Ethics Agreement as posted in computer areas and academic integrity standards as set down in the Student Handbook. Let me provide more specific guidance however:

Students are encouraged to help each other out; it is a large class which limits my ability to help each student during the class period. However, on work that is graded, there are restrictions on helping other students: 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.  No assistance is permitted on exams and quizzes.

Dropping and Withdrawal from the Class:

Thursday, January 31 is the last day to drop the class and get a tuition refunds (use NovaConnect).   Monday, March 31 is the last day to withdraw or to change to audit. Practically all of the people who get an F as a final grade from me are those that stopped coming to class and doing the work but didn't withdraw by this second deadline, even sometimes after email and telephone reminders.

Learning Environment

NVCC is a place for learning and growing.  You should feel safe and comfortable anywhere on this campus.  In order to meet this objective, you should: a) let your instructor, his/her supervisor, the Dean of Students or Provost know if any unsafe, unwelcome or uncomfortable situation arises that interferes with the learning process; (b) inform the instructor within the first two weeks of classes if you have special needs or a disability that may affect your performance in this course.

Fire/Emergency Evacuation Procedures

Students should familiarize themselves with both the primary and secondary routes that are to be used, in case you need to evacuate the building, as well as other evacuation procedures to be followed.