August 2010 Archives

1) Unit Projects

We will start off by doing three brief projects, using free software tools.

• Unit 1: Scratch is a multimedia design tool that was designed to teach programming skills to elementary school kids. (Sep 09)
  
• Unit 2: Inform 7 is programming language designed for creating old-school text adventure games. (Sep 28)
  
• Unit 3: Web Apps. Use any text editor (such as NoteTab Lite for PC or Text Wrangler for Mac) to create HTML and CSS files that will make any web page look and act like an iPhone or iPad app. (For example, if you view this GRE Word List web site in a regular web browser, it looks like a web page, but look at with your iPad or a smart phone, and it looks like more an app. This unit will teach you how to make a regular web page look like an iOS page.) (Oct 14)
  

Each of these Unit Projects will involve some planning, implementation, testing, and revising, and the recording of screencasts (a movie that shows what's happening on the screen, narrated by you).

2) Midterm Portfolio (Oct 14) will compile and reflect on all your Unit Projects.

3) Revised Portfolio (Nov 09) after we spend a few more weeks with each of the design tools.

4) Final Project (Dec 8) For the last month of class, you will work on a final project, using the design tool or tools of your choice. This project will be tested and revised in several stages, and presented in a final, professional electronic portfolio.

08		24		Overview
08		26		Scratch
08		31		Scratch
09		02		Scratch
09		07		Scratch
09		09		Interactive Fiction (Due: Scratch Project)
09		14		Inform 7
09		16		Inform 7
09		21		Inform 7
09		23		HTML and CSS
09		28		Web Apps (iPad/iPhone) (Due: Inform 7 Project)
09		30		Web Apps
10		05		Guest Speaker Interactive Fiction
10		07		Web Apps
10		12		BREAK
10		14		Midterm Portfolio Presentations (Due: Web App Project)
10		19		Scratch
10		21		Scratch
10		26		Inform 7
10		28		Inform 7
11		02		Web Apps
11		04		Web Apps
11		09		Term Project Workshop (Due: Revised Midterm Portfolio)
11		11		Term Project Workshop
11		16		Term Project Workshop (Due: Alpha Release)
11		18		Term Project Workshop
11		23		Term Project Workshop (Due: Beta Release)
11		25		THANKSGIVING
11		30		Term Project Workshop (Due: Beta Release Report)
12		02		Term Project Workshop
12		08		Final Project Presentation (Due: Final Portfolio)

 

100.00	Scratch (Unit 1)
100.00	Inform 7 (Unit 2)
100.00	Web App (Unit 3)
100.00	Midterm Portfolio
150.00	Revised Midterm Portfolio
50.00	Term Project Alpha Release
100.00	Term Project Beta Report
300.00	Final Portfolio
1000.00	(Total)

Unit 1: Scratch. You may create a game or a interactive narrative/informative project. Scratch Game
	Review of 2 games
	Opening Screen
	Instructions
	Level 1 (what's the point?)
	Level 2 (how does it get harder? How is it more rewarding?)
	Level 3 (how does it get harder? How is it more rewarding?)
	Win Screen (what's the payoff?)
	Lose Screen (how to encourage replay?)
	Credits
	Usability Test Report (watch and learn from 3 testers not in this class)
Scratch Interactive
	Review of 2 informative/narrative Scratch projects
	Opening Screen
	Instructions (if needed)
	Section 1 (what's the point?)
	Section 2 (how does it build on section 1?)
	Section 2 (how does it build on section 2 and 1?)
	Explanation (what does it all mean?)
	Bibliography (cite sources, suggest related sources)
	Credits
	Usability Test Report (watch and learn from 3 testers not in this class)
Unit 2: Inform 7
	Review of 2 games
	Your scenario (what is the setting, who is the PC, and what will the player have to do in order to achieve the PC's goal? How will the game intensify to keep the player's interest?)
	Draft of opening screen and first few moves
	6-8 locations with at least 1 or 2 significant objects in each (a desert oasis might have a spring and a palm tree; shaking the tree might drop a coconut on your head)
	3-4 related objects with complex behavior (e.g. , a villain, the puppy he wants to kick, and the ball that will lure the puppy away to safety)
	2-3 puzzles (broadly speaking) that help tell your story (escape from a room, retrive an item for a supporting character, evade or defeat a rival, etc.)
	Usability Test Report (watch and learn from 3 testers not in this class)
Unit 3: Web App
	Review of 2 web apps
	Your concept
	HTML
		Home Page
		At least 4 sub-pages
		At least 1 sub-page with additional sub-pages
		About/Credits
	CSS
		Screen
		iPad (support rotate, swipes, etc.)
Midterm Portfolio
	Screencasts of you demonstrating all 3 projects (from the user perspective and coding perspective)
	Website that includes videos (and explanation)
	Blog Portfolio
Revised Midterm Portfolio
	Scratch
		Screencast w/ audio of first-time volunteer using your Scratch project
		Updated project
		Screencast of you demonstrating changes in project
	Inform 7
		Screencast w/ audio of first-time volunteer using your Inform 7 project
		Updated project
		Screencast of you demonstrating changes in project
	Web App
		if it's not technically possible to record a screencast from an iPad, document a volunteer's experience as best as you can. (Video camera pointed at screen? We'll figure something out.)
		Updated project
		Screencast of you demonstrating changes in project
		CSS for screen, iPad, mobile, and print.
	Blogging
Term Project Guidelines
	Scratch, Inform 7, or Web App.
	If a new project, make it at least as ambitious as your midterm project.
	If you are expanding your midterm project, you should at least double its size/complexity.
	Creative combos are welcome. (For instance, make a fun Pac-Man style game about bullies on a playground, AND a more serious choose-your-own-adventure web app that SHOWS the likely outcome of different ways to deal with bullies.)
Term Project Alpha
	Have  basic shell, with some working sections, and placeholders for the rest.
	In small groups, test each other's projects and suggest improvements.
	You will be graded not on what other people say about your project,
	but on the quality of the feedback you give to your peers,
	and the reflection  you offer on what you learned from your peers.
Term Project Beta
	Your project works, in that all placeholders have been filled in or the
	project has been scaled back so the gaps don't show.
	You will be graded not on what other people say about your project,
	but on the quality of the feedback you give to your peers,
	and the depth of your efforts to seek out and implement suggestions for improvement.
	Screencast highlighing improvements that came from what you learned in alpha testing.
Final Portfolio
	Final project, presented on a web site (one or several pages) highlighting your media skills.
	Demonstrative screencast, showcasing your polished, finished project. (Think of a potential employer as your audience.)
	Reflective screencast, highlighting improvements that came from what you learned from beta testers.
	How-to screencast, explaining (for a total newbie) how to do something you're particularly proud of. (At least 5 minutes.)
	Blogging

In class Tuesday, you should have downloaded and installed Scratch.
Your goals for today:

1. Look for Scratch projects that do things you'd like to be able to do in your own project.
   
2. Find the source code for at least two such projects, and try to figure out how it works. (I'll be happy to help if I can.)
3. Play with Scratch. You're welcome to work with a classmate.
4. Show me what you're working on as I circulate through the room.
5. At about 2:30, we will start informal presentations, in which you show the class what you learned.
6. By 3, have a rough written plan for what you'd like to do for your Scratch project. (You're free to change it later.)
   

Scratch is designed so that users learn by trying things -- almost at random. f you are more of a step-by-step person, and you'd like some help getting started, you can watch this tutorial. (If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post a comment.)

Focus on coding your project. I'll be available to help you through any thorny passages (or to advise you when you are trying to do something that Scratch just can't do.)