Thursday, February 11, 2010

SOFT6007 Class 06A

We looked at lists again briefly and students typed up the nested list exercise from the last class. Some students have missed a lot of classes already, and it's only week 2!

We looked at tables and I asked students code their timetables in HTML

SOFT6007 Class 07B

We looked at tables in more detail. We examined colspan and rowspan, and students used one of them to display 2 hours classes in the timetable.

We saw how to add color to cells.

We saw how to code spaces and special characters like é ß Ñ

I asked students to look at online class 05 to review tables

SOFT6007 Class 06B

We looked again at nested lists. Students typed up the nested list exercise from the last class. Some students still didn't have the hang of nesting correctly, but I think most are clear on that now.

We looked at tables. I asked each student to make a webpage of his/her class timetable using a table.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

SOFT6007 EV Week 02

We did an exercise on nested lists. It didn't go especially well so we went over the details of lists again. The hard part is making sure everything fits together properly.

We looked at tables and did an exercise, and then added colspan and rowspan to make irregular cells. And we did an exercise on colspan and rowspan too.

We saw how special characters like á ß and ñ are coded in HTML

notes
Nested list handout and solution
Sample page 4
Question 5

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

SOFT6007 Class 05

Colin used his mac instead of a PC and he couldn't figure out how to
ensure the file he saved as ASCII. So after a few minutes he gave up
and switched to the PC.
We looked at how to nest lists, and did an exercise in class.

Notes: nested list exercise

SOFT6008 Class 08

Students contuinued working on their navigation bar rollover project.

Monday, February 8, 2010

SOFT6008 Class 07

Some strudents were struggling  a bit with Photoshop and The GIMP trying to make slices that fitted together perfectly. we looked at how to manually do slices in Photoshop with a simple example. Photoshop actually has a slice tool. But it is a bit complicated to use.

Video of class

For a bit of humour you could take a look You Suck at Photoshop

SOFT6008 Class 06

Students continued working on the navigation bar with the sample images provided. Some students made a start on their own page.

SOFT6008 Class 05

We looked at how we might make a website navigation bar with rollovers in JavaScript.

Sample Images available here

To complete this exercise students really need to know their tables.
Some revision material is available:
http://mcom.cit.ie/staff/computing/cmanning/pod/ISWD05a.mov
http://mcom.cit.ie/staff/computing/cmanning/pod/ISWD05.pdf
http://mcom.cit.ie/staff/computing/cmanning/pod/ISWD19c.mp4

Sunday, February 7, 2010

CMOD6001 CIT Repeat

The next repeat CIT Module class will take place in B132 (Media Communications Dept) from 4.30pm to 6pm tomorrow (Monday, February 8). I would like to meet with all those who wish to take the repeat module this semester.

Friday, February 5, 2010

SOFT6007 Class 04

We looked at lists.

I asked students to go through online classes 1 to 4 in time for the
next class. We will see more about lists next class.

Colin Manning, Dept. of Computing
Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland

Thursday, February 4, 2010

SOFT6007 Class 03 A

We looked at how to include images in a web page.

I asked students to watch online Class 02 and Class 03 before our lecture tomorrow. The mostly deal with stuff we've already done so far.

I advised students they could use some of today's class time to work on their blog if they wanted.

SOFT6007 Class 02 A

I told students they needed to continue their blog.

I told students where to find my blog.

We looked at how to download the online classes in iTunes.

We built a simple web page (Example 2) and added links to it (Example 3)

I showed studens how to turn off the "hide extensions of known file types" option

SOFT6007 Class 03 B

We looked at how to include an image in a web page.

I advised students to uncheck the "hide extensions of know file types" option on their personal machines.

SOFT6007 Class 02 B

I told students that they need to continue with the blogs they started last semester. Students who don't have blogs should start one and send me the URL.

I told students that my blog is colinmcit.blogspot.com, but of course you know that if you are reading this :-)

I showed students where to find online classes using iTunes. I asked students to have worked trhough Class 02 and Class 03 before out next class together.

We looked again at the example from last class and typed it up in notepad to see it in the browser. We saw how to add a link to a page.

This lab group is full. A number of machine weren't working so students had to share. If you would like to vonunteer to move from Group B to Group A just for this lab class, please let me know. A few students had finished working for the day, so I asked them to give up their machines and leave.

More thoughts on Free Choice module

If students are to take a free choice elective without timetable clashes then there would need to be enough capacity to accomodate them all.

Is my back of the envelope maths reasonable or am I missing something? 
The number of electives * average no of students in each = total number with an elective.

30ish x 30ish = 900ish

Isn't that roughly an order of magnitude out? Or am I missing something major?

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

SOFT6007.EV Week 01

We looked at the origins of the Internet and the implications they
have nowadays. We say that HTML files are raw ASCII. I gave advice on
naming conventions for HTML files.

Students build a simple webpage (example 2) and added 2 links.

We saw how to subscribe to the module podcast and download classes and
notes.

I asked students to work through classes 1-4 by next week, and build a
page with images and a page with a nested list.

Notes: www1 (link to follow soon)

Colin Manning, Dept. of Computing
Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland

COMP7004

If you are interested in signing up for this module you'd want to get
a move on. It is slated to be taken off the menu.


Colin Manning, Dept. of Computing
Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Electives

I am very unhappy with how the Free Choice system is being implemented.

From a student's point of view it is very confusing. The list of Free Choice modules contains at least one module that in not in fact running. Students are expected to make their choices with very little information. To register they need the CRN for the module which they are supposed to get from the lecturer. Ideally students would attend the first one or two classes to get a feel for the subject and get the CRN there. As it is, however, each student is expected to track down the lecturer concerned and request the CRN. There is no published timetable for the modules that might allow the students to find the class.

From a lecturer's point of view it is also very unsatisfactory. I have been assigned a Free Choice module to teach. When I went to my account on the registration system I could not see it. I later found that not only was the module not associated with me, it did not even exist in the system. So it was impossible for any student to register. This week, at a minimum, I should be meeting students and explaining to them what the course is about. Ideally I should actually make a start. I don't know where to go. If this module has been timetabled in a classroom, I have no way of finding it, despite being the only person that is teaching it. I have asked and no one will tell me where to go.

SOFT6007 Class 01

First class. We looked at origins of the Internet. We discussed what happens
when a user clicks on a link. We looked at 2 simple web pages.


I wasn't happy with the conduct of students during class.

Notes: www1 (link soon)