Web Authoring: Lesson Three

This is a Tapped In mini-assignment.

Objective: To demonstrate the TILT Principles in website authoring.

Introduction: Where is Yosemite? What does it look like? And more importantly, what do you do when you get there? Where will you sleep, eat, meet with others? Simple, just go out to Virtual Yosemite and get a preview of what you'll be experiencing. Eh? There is no Virtual Yosemite? Well, then create one. By creating Virtual Yosemite (or Virtually Anything) your audience will have a better idea as to what to expect when they get there. Investigations that utilize the Internet are virtually as exciting as a real visit! The plants and animals that live in Yosemite might be presented in close-up without risk of injury. And the geology there represents a view of science many may not be accustomed to experiencing. Let your audience experience a virtual day or two at Yosemite in preparation for a wonderful real-time adventure.

Your task: An organization within your school is sponsoring a family retreat to Yosemite National Park in early June. You are a faculty member who has been asked to help prepare students and parents for the trip. You decide to use the web as an information source and delivery medium. You will create a website called Virtual Yosemte. When your students and their parents are finished visiting Virtual Yosemite, they'll know a little about the location, climate and history of the park, the plants, the animals, and the geology. They'll also be prepared to make the trip, but most importantly, they'll know how to find out more about the real Yosemite National Park.

Note: This is not a major assignment and may be modified to suit your real needs within your subject areas. If you like, rather than demonstrating the TILT Principles using Yosemite as a theme, choose a theme or content area of your own that you or your colleagues may actually use.

To start: You'll need the following ...

A web authoring application like FrontPage, Dreamweaver, PageMill or Netscape Composer.
A knowledge of web authoring that allows you to create a website using the TILT principles.
An efficient way to search the web for information about Yosemite National Park.
Some royalty-free images of Yosemite.
- Even more royalty-free images of Yosimite.

Some ideas:

Welcome the users to your site.
Yosemite facts.
Getting there.
The weather in June?
Animals to see or avoid.
Plants to look for or avoid.
What's the big deal about Yosemite's geology?
Things to do as a family.
Where to eat and sleep.
Yosemite links.

Timeline: During our regular Phorum week, you'll have online lab time. Use this time to research, prepare and upload your Virtual Yosemite site. Since this is not a major assignment, I expect that you will be able to do this within a nine day period. You should have text, images, links and tables within your site. You will present your URL in the following Tapped In session.