LIS5937 Activity 1 : Getting Started

Activity 1a: Read course documents
Read the Syllabus, Calendar and any other orientation notes. Post your early course related questions to the Discussion Board in the course myUSF/Blackboard site.

Activity 1b: Please take a quick survey. This will help me design a better course, for you as a class.

Activity 1c: Introduce yourself
Please introduce yourself to the class in the "Introductions" Discussion Board. Include interesting facts, goals, what you would like to get out of the course, where you are from, etc. (any or all of these). This is a great way to start to build our learning community. Although we are at a distance we will be very connected in class through the discussion board. Only post information you are comfortable sharing.

Activity 1d: Homepages (No HTML required)
Build a student Homepage inside of the course myUSF/Blackboard site. Just click on "Homepage" link on the course menu and fill in the boxes (forms). To complete this page, please write a brief description of who you are in the "introduction" field. In the Personal Information field please describe your web design experience. If you have never built a page before pese mention that (you will not be alone). This course is designed for everyone. Next find your favorite (web design/building, tools, communications, information, or personal interest sites) and post the URL's in the appropriate text area. Just type text into the text boxes.

Pictures: If you feel so motivated you can get a good first practice with images by uploading an image of yourself, favorite person, place, thing, or pastime. Note: Blackboard's recommended size for images is 150 pixels by 150 pixels. Try to limit the size of your image to no larger that 300 x 300. You may have to edit the size of your image in an image editor to size it for uploading into Blackboard.

Only post info and images that you are comfortable sharing. Note that only your class has access to this site. Please respect other student privacy and thoughts.

To access other student pages, click on Communications link, then click "Roster", then click on student name.

You will have approximately two weeks to complete. Very basic. Very easy. This counts toward participation grade for this course. Email me when you complete this activity.

Activity 1e: Check your E-mail in the myUSF System
Make sure you are getting e-mail where you will check it the most. When you received your NetID, you were assigned a "helios" or "mail" e-mail account by the University. That is where all of your class e-mail will go unless you forward it to a preferred address.

If you need to forward your email:

  1. go to http://una.acomp.usf.edu and login with your NetID.
  2. Click on "helios" under Accounts on the left side of the page.
  3. Click on "Edit helios (or mail) Account Options" at the top of the page and then scroll down to change your forward mail option.

Note: If you are forwarding your official USF e-mail to another account, it is imperative that the email address be up-to-date. Class communications will take place using the e-mail list from myUSF. If you do not update your e-mail information, you will miss important class communications!

If you do not have your books yet, or want to check these sites out for added fun:

For background on the World Wide Web and How Web Pages Work, browse the following pages.

How the Web Works at http://www.learnthenet.com/english/html/13wworks.htm

READ these especially relevant topics (and do the "TRY ITs" on each page):

Web Browsers at http://www.learnthenet.com/English/html/12browser.htm

Anatomy of a Web Page at http://www.learnthenet.com/English/html/14wbpganat.htm

Understanding Web Addresses at http://www.learnthenet.com/English/html/16addrss.htm

Under the Hood of the World Wide Web at http://www.learnthenet.com/English/html/70alan.htm

updated: 01.06.08