This is a major course project for a 6 credit course, and should have significant depth, credible sources, be clearly written, with appropriate documentation.  It should also be presented in an appealing, user-friendly, multimedia, hypertext format on the Web, not as a linear research document.

Your proposal for this Group Project will have to be accepted before you go full spead ahead.

In groups of 3 - 5 students, you will create a Web-based cyberculture site where people interested in a particular topic can go to find out about that cyberculture, share information and views You will choose a particular topic, theme, idea, trend related to the study of cybercultures and virtual communities to examine.

Before you submit your proposal in the appropriate Townhall folder, for approval (one proposal per group), do a preliminary search on the Internet to find sites and discussion forums related to your topic.  Observe the "personas" of these communities, the kinds of content, links, graphics, discussion forums, etc. Bookmark these sites so you can return to them.  Some may be examples of "what not to do" and some may be good models. Let them inform your understanding of this cyberculture/virtual community, but don't copy examples.  Your site should be an original interpretation.

Expectations: Your site should have at least 5 comprehensive "pages."  Your site should not be composed of  just graphics and design elements.  There should be rich content from researching resources (ideally, text and Web sources) with appropriate citations). We expect your interpretation of the cyberculture to be creative and original.  Please do not "lift" information, designs, or graphics from other sites.  This is plagiarism and a violation of copyright rules. If you want to use logos or graphics from other sites, get written permission.  We do not expect you to have high end Web and graphics design skills.  However, the site should be coherent, have a unifying theme, suitable content, graphics and text for the particular audience and purpose and be easy to navigate. You can create your own discussion forums or blogs or link to others related to your community's issues.  You will create (ideally) or find free graphics to enhance your cyberculture site.

A book that might inform your community building for your project (though not required for the class) is  Design for Community: the art of connecting real people in virtual spaces, by Derek M. Powazek. Indianapolis, Ind: New Riders, 2002.

We will have class input on your proposal and your project in process. You will present your site to the class towards the end of the semester.

At the end of the semester you will turn in an evaluation of your group members' performance for your professors' eyes only. This participation will count heavily for students' individual course participation grades.

Cyberculture sites grading criteria

Process steps:

• You will form into groups of 3 - 5 students.
• Brainstorm, research and refine your topic.
• Submit a proposal for approval
• Groups are responsible for choosing a recorder for meetings, for establishing schedule of meetings (class time will be available), for requesting conferences with professors at least one time during development of project.
• Create storyboards, draw a description of each "page," and create a site map. 
  
• Individual members of group need to keep journals and individual academic criteria, detailing individual contributions to project (competencies enhanced, research process, design, html, graphics, interviews, meetings, roles performed in group, etc.). This component will influence individual grades. See academic criteria.
• Post your project on the Web
• Request any special equipment needs for multimedia presentations to see if they are feasible and available.
• Present your project to the class at the end of the semester
• Evaluate group members' performance in your groups.
• Evaluate Group Cyberculture Projects


Additional Academic Criteria (Create a separate link for these components):
- Include the research process for each group member.
- Include a reference page of your sources in APA format.
- Include each group members response to the NCC Competencies. Select at least three. Give specific examples and skills. 

Design Considerations:

Balance
Aim for a balance between visual and text information.

Graphical elements
Colors, contrasts, images should enhance text, not distract. Follow copyright rules.

Text
Too much text can overwhelm the reader.  How much text to include depends, of course, on the purpose of the Web-based document.

Site Plan
Plan your pages.  What is the purpose of the site? What are the objectives and policies?

- Who is your target audience?

- What theme and personality do you want to convey?

- What information do you want to provide?

- What graphical elements will enhance the site and purpose?

- How can you make your site user friendly?


- What forms of community discussion will you create so members can share ideas?


Visual plan of the site
Make a storyboard and design template to create a  mockup of each page in the site. Think about the  hierarchy of "pages" - branches from the home page. Feel free to choose your own storyboard style and design template for your project site.

Assemble appropriate graphics

Select your color palette - uniformity in design and colors unifies a site.

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