Since this class deals with Cyberculture, it is appropriate that you publish much of your course work on your course Web page, which will be linked to your home page on the George Mason University mason server.  This class is a good opportunity to become aware of the complexities of Web publishing - privacy, copyright, reliability of Web sources, audience concerns, etc.  Observe copyright laws and, of course, do not plagiarize someone else's work. Being aware of how to protect your privacy and your copyrighted material, as well as the material produced by others that you reference on your Web page, is an essential component of this class. What you post on your Web site says a lot about you.  Your home page is yours to do with what you want as long as it follows GMU computing rules.  However,  your course Web site has to adhere to specific guidelines and standards. Remember, your Web site is one of your digital "identities."  (If there is some reason why your identity should not be disclosed, please advise us so I can make alternative arrangements.)

Learning goals:

• Organize and present your learning experiences in this class on the Web

• Build upon your basic understanding of Web design principles

• Build upon your skills to incorporate graphics and other elements in your course Web site

• Richness of content - All course work that is Web-based, plus relevant information, such as name, email address, date of creation, link to home page, copyright symbol, etc.

• Quality of english skills- grammar, spelling (Use spellcheck!!), clarity, logical organization, evidence of proofreading

• Good organization - Be sure your Web site has a clear organizational pattern and is easy to navigate.

• User-friendliness - The main page should have links to all required material.  Please make sure that all links work!!  Your reader should be able to navigate your Web site without getting lost.

• User-friendly layout - Your Web site should have margins, font that is not too large or too small, appropriate contrast between text and background, consistent color scheme (Your course Web site page should have a consistent design.).

• Appropriate graphics - Your graphics should be relevant to the topic and should compliment, not overshadow your written content.  Your graphics should not be memory hogs.  We are not in a good mood when we have to sit there and watch your graphics load.

• Copyright - You should always cite the sources of all information that you did not create yourself.  I recommend the APA guidelines for citing sources. This includes graphics.  It is illegal to "capture " someone else's document and post it on your Web page.  Linking is okay (Some Web sites, however, have guidelines for linking to their material.). You must gain permission from the source to copy a graphic onto your Web site. All material on the Web is copyrighted, whether or not there is a copyright symbol.

• Appropriateness of information - Do not reveal personal information about yourself or others. Do not include phone numbers or addresses or information about your personal history or that of others. We do not recommend you post personal photographs. 

-	Create a generic GMU home page.  IF YOU DON'T ALREADY HAVE ONE.  Creating a new index.html file will overwrite your old one. This page should be named index.html.
-	Create a link on your "home" page to an nclc 350 course page,  called: 350.html [SEE TEMPLATE.]
-	your name at the top
-	an email link
-	Student Honor Pledge [Insert your name and upload to your Web site]
-	a copyright symbol at the bottom: © Your Name 2003
-	Links to the course syllabus, townhall, your blog,
-	links to each completed assignment. Each completed assignment should be on a separate Web page, linked to your NCLC 350 Web page.  (Your Web-based course work, of course, will also have internal links, where appropriate.)
	Be sure there is sufficient contrast between the background and the text. Be sure your background is not so "busy" as to make it difficult to read the text.
-	Include an appropriate graphic on your nclc350.html home page (.jpg or .gif). Feel free to include, if appropriate,  graphics in your course assignments posted on the Web.  Ideally, use original graphics you created.  If not, use free graphics and clipart.
	(Lots of animation and too many or too large graphics can be distracting and take a long time to load.)
-	Rational for the design of your Web page (attention paid to reflecting on why your Web page for this class looks the way it does. What does it say about you as an individual and learner in this class?  How have you made it your unique virtual place?)

Other elements may be required as the semester progresses.

Web page resources:  

-	Guidelines for Student Web Pages
-	GMU Computing Policy for Web Pages
-	Create your Web page on mason
-	HTML Tags
-	Web Page Publishing Guidelines
-	Considerations When Creating a Web Page
-	Images, Backgrounds for Web Pages
-	FTP files to Web page
-	UNIX commands  |  UNIX permissions
-	Copyright and the Internet
-	APA Guidelines for Citing Sources

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