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.)

Topic:

Workshop

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.)
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