IT 201 Information Design Techniques

Transcription

1 IT 201 Information Design Techniques Course Syllabus for the Virtual Class 1. Opening Note This section of IT 201 is offered via "Moodle", an online conferencing system. The material covered will be the same as in the face to face sections of IT 201. A substantial time investment into the course, on the order of 5-7 hours a week or more, must be expected (this includes reading the required text, viewing lectures, participating in the electronic conference discussions, and doing the homework and projects). Course notes can be viewed on my webpage: Discussions, weekly homework, and assignments will take place continuously in Moodle. You will be expected to sign on-line at least two times a week. It is my goal to give you as much information via this syllabus which I expect will remain unchanged. Should there be any need to make any modifications we will discuss so as a group and resolve. 2. Personnel Instructor: Maura Ann Deek Office: 3803 Guttenberg Information Technologies Center (GITC) Phone: Office Hours: online maura.deek@njit.edu 3. Course Overview Title: Information Design Techniques Credits: 3 Prerequisite: IT 101 or equivalent Description: This course presents an introduction to the theory and practice of information design. Topics covered include the theoretical foundations of information design, graphic design, content design, interaction design, usability, and multimedia standards for information design. Software tools are used in all stages of the course, with a focus on development using Macromedia Studio MX 2004.

2 Goals: The goal of this course is to provide an overview of the theory and practice of information design. The Internet has evolved to provide a collection of services that promise to radically change the ways in which people in all walks of life communicate and collaborate. New applications and services continually appear on the Internet, almost on a daily basis. The content presented in this course will prepare the students to understand internet workings and distributed applications development as well as acquiring the background necessary to understand emerging Internet applications. Students learn how to design, implement and interpret representations of visual, aural and tactile data. Topics to be covered include the fundamentals of human computer interaction, and multimedia standards for information design. Advanced software tools are used in all stages of the course, with a focus on designing effective data and graphical representations. The course also emphasizes concepts and principles taking into consideration that the technology you study now may become obsolete in a short period of time, but the principles will remain. Students will gain comprehensive knowledge by using Macromedia Studio MX 2004 bundle of Web Development tools which consists of a suite of tools that covers the gamut of what developers need to or want to develop. 4. Topics 1. Design Fundamentals 2. Designing Visual Interfaces 3. Content Design 4. Interaction Design and Usability 5. Web Design 6. Multimedia Design 7. Animation 5. Textbooks Hurwicz, Michael, Special Edition Using Macromedia Studio MX 2004, QUE. ISBN: Assignments Viewing: PowerPoint lectures and technical tutorials designed to guide you through Studio MX can be viewed via my webpage:

3 Reading: Weekly reading will be drawn from various sources such as design texts and related web sites. The readings will help to provide a theoretical basis for your design efforts. Homework: Homework is of three kinds: a) Design assignments. These short assignments will help you build a practical knowledge of the Studio MX 2004 development environment. Assignment details will be posted to Moodle each week. Assignments should be submitted by the following Monday by 4:00PM. b) Weekly participation. Each week, you must post at least two conference comments about what you learned from each week's lesson (assigned readings and lectures). Comments can include quotations from the weekly readings, questions relating to an assigned lecture, or responses to the comments of other students. At least one original comment (not a response) per week is required. c) Design projects. There will be 3 design projects posted on Moodle during the course of the semester. Submission details will vary from project to project. 7. Examinations There will be a midterm and final exam given on the Newark campus. Exact date and time will be posted in Moodle on the course calendar and will be communicated electronically under the General Announcements forum. 8. Grading Midterm 25 % Final 30 % Class participation: 20% Design projects : 25 % 9. Late policies Due to the nature of this course, no late Interaction Homework will be accepted (unless you have a good reason, such as documented illness). For projects there will be late penalties for late submissions 10. Academic Integrity The work you do and submit is expected to be the result of your effort ONLY. You may discuss the high level (general) solution of a problem. However, cooperation should not result in one or more students having possession of a copy of all or part of a

4 program written by another student. The penalty for violating the University's code may include failure in the course and probation. 12. Computing Needs The text includes trial versions of the required Macromedia Studio MX applications. These trial versions are also available from ***DO NOT install the FULL Studio MX trial version*** Each Studio MX application must be installed individually, in the designated order and at the designated time, to be sure that the 30-day trial versions will cover your entire semester. In addition to Studio MX, students will need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader on their machines in order to view the weekly readings. The readings are password protected and members of the class will receive this password by . Do not share the password or any related document files with fellow students or anyone else. These excerpts are intended solely for academic use and may not be used for any other purpose 13. Lecture Details The course will cover 1 lecture per week (topics can be found in text described above) in the following order: Week Topic Software 1 Design Fundamentals I Install Acrobat Reader 2 Design Fundamentals II Install Freehand MX 3 Designing the Visual Interface I 4 Designing the Visual Interface II 5 Content Design Install Fireworks MX Interaction Design and Usability I 7 Interaction Design and Usability II 8 Designing for the Web I Install Dreamweaver MX Designing for the Web II 10 Multimedia Design I Install Flash MX Multimedia Design II 12 Animation I 13 Animation II 14 Review

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