Resources for Design
From John Maeda’s The Laws of Simplicity, the first four laws are key for this assignment.
- Law 1: Reduce - The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.
- Law 2: Organize - Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.
- Law 3: Time - Savings in time feel like simplicity.
- Law 4: Learn - Knowledge makes everything simpler.
April's Contact Information
Tips for Productive Group Work
First, know your own strengths and weaknesses. You might take some time to think through what role you like to play in a group and what aspects you know are strengths. Are you good at keeping a group focused? Are you a particularly good editor? Are you good at creating effective graphics? Are you extremely organized and are good at scheduling meetings and making plans? Do you take good notes in class or in meetings?
Second, as a group, discuss each person's self-perceived strengths. Based on that discussion, determine each person's Job Title(s) and Job Descriptions within the group for this project. It is likely that you will have a variety of responsibilities because this project is multi-faceted. You'll want to record each person's title and job description and distribute this among your members (maybe the person who likes to take notes could become a group recorder that captures these sorts of things). This is particularly important in order to be sure everyone's role is clearly defined to make the group work more effectively and efficiently. It will also help you to evaluate each group member's contributions at the end of the assignment.
As you're planning for group responsibilities, here are some potential roles that group members could play:
content production
Second, as a group, discuss each person's self-perceived strengths. Based on that discussion, determine each person's Job Title(s) and Job Descriptions within the group for this project. It is likely that you will have a variety of responsibilities because this project is multi-faceted. You'll want to record each person's title and job description and distribute this among your members (maybe the person who likes to take notes could become a group recorder that captures these sorts of things). This is particularly important in order to be sure everyone's role is clearly defined to make the group work more effectively and efficiently. It will also help you to evaluate each group member's contributions at the end of the assignment.
As you're planning for group responsibilities, here are some potential roles that group members could play:
content production
- producer of page content - for many groups, the subpages of your website will be divided based on each group member's presentation topic, so each person may produce his/her own content for one of the subpages
- producer of home page content - often a home page has some overview information about your collective topic and some brief details about your individual topics/subpages. this page will also likely make some points related to your group's thesis
- producer of glossary/key terms, bibliography, etc. - many pages will have additional information that will help your readers with the information you're providing. these items could be included on the individual subpages or on additional subpages created specifically for those items
- producer of visuals - the subpages may include some charts and graphs from individual presentations, but because those all looked different, you may want to designate one person to create/edit the charts and graphs so that they all have the same style
- content editor - proofreading the content on each individual page for grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity, etc.
- design editor - working on making the design work and making any changes necessary to make the pages more visually pleasing
- consistency editor - because there are several people creating content and designing the site, there's a good chance that your styles and organizational strategies may differ. this person would go through the site to ensure that all of the pages fit well together and would likely focus some energy on using the group's thesis to create a sense of consistency throughout the site
Steps for Adding a Link to a Specific Spot on a Page
If you want to link to a specific place on one of your pages, you'll need to create an anchor for that place and then change the linking to go to that specific spot. Here are general instructions:
To set up the Anchor:
To set up the Anchor:
- Set up the blocks of text in the area you want to link to as separate elements (paragraph with title, paragraph with picture, title, paragraph, etc.)
- Drag the Custom HTML element to the space directly above where you want the anchor.
- Click on the space that says "Click to set custom HTML," and then in the toolbar, click "Edit Custom HTML."
- Replace the highlighted "Click to set custom HTML" text with the following command: <a name="anchorname" id="anchorname"></a>
- You can replace anchorname with any identifying text as long as it includes no spaces. For example, on this section about adding a link/anchor, I made the anchor name "steps".
- Once you finish the command, the space where the Custom HTML element is should look blank.
- Highlight the text that you want to be a hyperlink.
- Click the "Create Link" button on the toolbar.
- Click website on the left column.
- In the address bar, enter the URL for the page where you placed your anchor followed by #anchorname
- In the example of linking to this section on the current page, I would include the following address: http://economicsforeveryone.weebly.com/resources.html#steps
- Once you have finished updating this, click publish and test out your anchor links.
Scheduling Meetings
April's availability is listed on this Jiffle calendar. To make an appointment:
- Click/drag to select the preferred times from the calendar.
- In the pop-up box, include all of the necessary information (name, email address, subject, and message - no need for phone number). In the message, please include preferred meeting location and group number. If you want to meet in the New Media Writing studio, you'll also want to check the calendar here to be sure the time your group wants to meet is not already reserved for a class.
- In case another group has already requested the same time, please wait for email confirmation of the appointment. All meetings will be scheduled based on the order in which I receive the requests.
Dr. Quinn's Rubric
This information is available in the assignment sheet from Dr. Quinn, but in case you have forgotten, here's how your work will be graded.
assignment point structure (100 possible points):
4 - attending intro session w/ April on March 23
4 - group meeting w/April (March 22-26)
30 - first draft (see site content below for breakdown)
12 - two peer reviews at 6 points each
30 - final draft (see site content below for breakdown)
20 - individual participation effectiveness
site content:
30% - thesis (your argument)
10% - structure (design)
30% - economic analysis (keep asking why?)
30% - evidence/sources (can be visual)
assignment point structure (100 possible points):
4 - attending intro session w/ April on March 23
4 - group meeting w/April (March 22-26)
30 - first draft (see site content below for breakdown)
12 - two peer reviews at 6 points each
30 - final draft (see site content below for breakdown)
20 - individual participation effectiveness
site content:
30% - thesis (your argument)
10% - structure (design)
30% - economic analysis (keep asking why?)
30% - evidence/sources (can be visual)
