This Chapter is designed to be used in conjunction with Chapters Seventeen and Nineteen. Depending on when you have students build Web projects, though, they could be assigned at any point in the semester.
As the book moves into more advanced HTML options in Chapter Eighteen, we should reiterate the benefits of developing your own class site as a way of experimenting with and modeling more sophisticated ways of composing for the Web. For instance, the information on tables can be put to good use by developing tables for presenting information on the class Web site. Figure 3 shows a class schedule that has been created using tables.
In Figure 3, you can see that the instructor has color coded some of the cells within the table to indicate tasks that relate to particular projects. Not everyone will go so far as to color code their tables, but by providing an example for students, you can give them a reference they can view, edit and paste into their own pages.
One aspect of Chapter Eighteen that is likely to cause some confusion is the information concerning color codes. The hexadecimal RGB color codes used for controlling colors on Web pages are admittedly non-intuitive and difficult to understand. However, because we believe that working with color is an integral part of Web composition, we recommend that you spend some time clarifying the codes for your students. Not everyone needs to know the ways that the codes are mixed to create different colors, but your students should know where to find color charts with the hexadecimal information. You may also be using an HTML editor that simplifies working with colors. In any case, you'll want to make students more comfortable with the logistics of selecting different colors for their Web projects so that you will be able to focus on the rhetorical concerns of using color.
You will probably also want to reiterate the recommendations in Chapter Eighteen about working with images, especially the concerns of file size. If you have access to an image editing program such as Adobe Photoshop you may want to get comfortable with the logistics of scaling, translating formats, and reducing the number of colors within images. You can spend a fair amount of time getting familiar with a graphics program, however, so be sure to weigh your own priorities and consider the kinds of support that are available at your institution as you incorporate graphic-oriented tasks into assignments. You can easily teach the tenets of efficient image-oriented composition without having to master every aspect of graphic design.
Exercise 18.1 Revising the Layout of Your Personal Page
Time: This exercise can be done over the course of two class periods or as homework over several days. It also might be incorporated into a more specific project in conjunction with Exercise 17.1. This, of course, would take a bit longer.
Suggestion: Exercise 18.1 extends the work that students have done in Exercise 17.1. You may have already come up with an alternative exercise in which students undertake the creation of a basic HTML page or you may want students to work through exercise 17.1 and exercise 18.1 in conjunction with each other. You can assign both chapters and exercises over the course of two or three class periods and expect students to come up with a reasonably well-developed set of pages by the end of the process.
Again, however, you'll want to first scout out the logistics of working through the exercises on your own system. You may also want to use the class page as a way of facilitating the exercisefor instance, you can compile links to several of the most extensive archives of backgrounds and images, so that students can quickly begin choosing a background scheme rather than spending time randomly surfing for images.
You should also watch to see if students are beginning to develop a basic comfort level with HTML composition as they work through the exercise. Check that the basic operations of saving files and viewing them in the browser are becoming more transparent for your students and spend some time with any students who still seem to be somewhat mystified with the entire process. Students quickly learn to use most of the HTML commands, but they often must get over the conceptual hump of marking up a text document and viewing it in a Web browser. At this stage, most of your students should be getting more comfortable with the composition process.