Competency 003

Santos Delgado

The Master Technology Teacher knows and applies basic strategies and techniques related to web site

mastering.

The Master Technology Teacher:

• Demonstrates knowledge of mechanism for navigating, accessing, transferring, sharing, and storing Web-based information across networks (e.g., the internet, intranets)

Navigation:• The importance of your navigation

structure cannot be over-emphasized. Without some sort of navigation, a site loses all sense of structure and organization. There are many ways of presenting your navigation: in a bar down one side of the screen, along the top and bottom, or in a frame that stays with you throughout your visit to a site. It is important to allow access to the rest of your site from anywhere. Ideally, you should be able to go to any page in a maximum of two or three clicks, with your main pages accessible in one.

Navigation:

• Primary navigation must be clear, structured and intuitive. This means breaking your site’s subject areas into categories and groups and presenting them in the most logical way possible.

• First and foremost is a link back to your homepage.

Accessing:

• To use • To visit a Web site, you enter an Internet address in a

format called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) in the Web browser. The Web browser then downloads that Web page from the Web server, and formats the page. Every page on the Web has a unique address, much like the one for your house. The URL uniquely identifies the exact location of a Web page on the Web. Note that the term Uniform Resource Indicator (URI) is often used in place of the term URL.

Transferring

• Type of protocol used to transfer data.

• A protocol is the set of rules that describes how information is transferred across the Internet between clients and servers. The protocol used by the Web to transfer data is called the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The Internet, and most Web browsers, support other protocols.

The most common protocols are :

• file://Opens a file on a mounted disk volume• http://Opens a World Wide Web page• ftp://Connects to a server using the File Transfer Protocol • gopher://Connects to a Gopher server• telnet://Connects to a server using Telnet• news: Connects to a Usenet newsgroup• mailto: Sends an electronic mail message• snews: Opens a secure newsgroup connection• shttp://Opens a secure World Wide Web connection

Sharing and Storing Web-based information across networks

• local-area networks (LANs) : The computers are geographically close together (that is, in the same building).

• wide-area networks (WANs) : The computers are farther apart and are connected by telephone lines or radio waves.

• campus-area networks (CANs): The computers are within a limited geographic area, such as a campus or military base.

Sharing and Storing Web-based information across networks

• metropolitan-area networks MANs): A data network designed for a town or city.

• home-area networks (HANs): A network contained within a user's home that connects a person's digital devices.

Internet

• An international network of over 30 million computers. People often refer to the Internet by one of its parts, the World Wide Web or simply the Web. It is also known as cyberspace.

Intranets

• An intranet is a private network that is contained within an enterprise. It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the wide area network. Typically, an intranet includes connections through one or more gateway computers to the outside Internet. The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing resources among employees. An intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for teleconferences.

The master Technology Teacher:

• Knows how to create and edit Web pages using appropriate tools, design principles (e.g., size and type of graphic files, font size and color, backgrounds), and page elements (e.g., hyperlinks, HTML tags, alt tags for accessibilities).

Create and edit Web pages

• Primary audience  • needs • interests • technology level of audience • computer equipment (special software requirements, available

memory, speed/mhz)

• Purpose for the site • personal • profit earning business • non-profit organization • educational • entertainment

• Location of the site • commercial Internet service provider (ISP) • educational institution server • organization server • personal server

• Types of content • text  • graphics • video • applets  • sound • forms or surveys for users to fill out (some servers do not accommodate

forms).

• Information provided on the "home" page  • a "who we are" or "who I am" message • a mission or purpose statement • contact information * • update notice • copyright notice • disclaimer (for ex: Though we try to keep the information up-to-date,

some information may not be the most current.  OR  "This list does not constitute an endorsement of any one or more of the products .")

• * If the site is for a business or organization, it is important to include an address, phone number and email contact. If the site is a personal site, disclosing an address or phone number is not advised because of privacy issues.

• Content ( the key to a good site): • should match the purpose

• should be well organized

• should be spellchecked

• should observe correct English (or the appropriate language).  Some sites have information in more than one language, depending upon the possible audiences.

• should be current information

• should be appropriate for the audience

• Level of Web technology to best suit the purpose: • Minimal style - mostly text, little or no graphics (quick loading,

does not require lots of memory or a high end graphic card) • Middle of the road style - some graphics to add an element of

design or style, which compliments the information, but does not detract from the main purpose (still easy to load, may be more appealing than minimalism

• High tech style - Lots of graphics, animation, java applets, "art" text, video clips, etc. (could be suitable for an audience of tekkies with high-end equipment, but could lose the average audience waiting for the images to load or trying to navigate links not clearly identified as such). 

• Style to best suit the purpose • professional  • scholarly • casual • child friendly • teen oriented • artistic

• Page design - consistency, clarity, user friendliness: • Include a "back to home" link  • Use a consistent template on each page • Create a uniform color scheme (with limited color palate) • Be sure there is sufficient contrast between background and text  • Avoid a too large font that SHOUTS* • Avoid a too small font that is hard to read* • Place important information near the top • Avoid long lists of links if possible.  • Categorize lists in smaller chunks and provide internal tags • Provide a  table of contents (with links to find information in a long list) • Organize your material to too much scrolling to find content

• Resolution: • Standard for screen resolution is 800 (width) by

600 (height). If you design for a higher resolution the user may have to scroll back and forth or up and down to view your full content.

• Graphics: • .jpg image format (compressed file format for high quality images

- photographs).  While working on photographs, save in .tiff format, or program default, until the final quality and size is achieved, then save in .jpg.  This saves the image quality. 

• .gif image format (for graphics files, buttons, clip art not photographic quality).  The quality does not degrade when working with .gif files.

• animated .gif files (Use sparingly.  Is animation appropriate to the theme or a distraction from your main purpose?

• flash animation (Provide a "turn off" option for flash).  Too many "bells and whistles" can be overpowering.  Does the flash compliment the site? Or is it there to say "See what I can do?"

• Background and text colors: • Patterned backgrounds produce "noise" that interferes with reading

the text. • Provide sufficient contrast between background and text • Limit your font colors - "Hot" colors (like bright pink and orange)

are, in general less professional for business sites. (If the business is "hot" graphics, however, that caution would probably not apply.) Primary colors (red, blue, green) might be best suited for sites that appeal to children. Black backgrounds can give a "hard edge" to a site or make it seem "gloomy" or counterculture.

• Use of frames (out of favor): • Hard to bookmark • Hard to navigate • Hard to figure out which frame you are in to

print content. • Search engines can't always index their

contents

The Master Technology Teacher:

• Knows how to establish and access a folder/directory hierarchy for the management of a Web site and its related files.

folder/directory hierarchy for the management of a Web site and its

related files• Electronic folders are used to organize your electronic data in the same

way that paper folders and file cabinets are used to organize your paper documents.

• There are two types of links found in a web document: • Absolute links have paths that are prefaced by http:// and contain the full

web address. An absolute web address must be used for links to Web pages on other servers.

• A relative address should be used for links to other Web documents on the same server, especially when the files are all part of a larger project you are developing. Using relative addresses will also make your Web document more portable and easier to maintain.

• A structured system is the most common system of links. In the simplest terms, a structured system is a hierarchy. It gives the viewer a idea of where their position is within your site and makes it easier for them to navigate successfully. It is best to keep your hierarchies two to three levels deep, otherwise viewers will become frustrated.

• Before you begin your first HTML document, you should storyboard your site. Storyboarding is comparative to charting your course on a map before undertaking a cross-country trip by car. It is a rough outline of the finished product and shows the overall structure of your website. Your storyboard should include which topics go on which pages, the primary links, and a conceptual idea of more prominent images. This allows several people to develop certain portions of web site at same time, which minimizes the duplication of work.

The Master Technology Teacher:

• Demonstrates knowledge of network, security, and access issue (e.g., firewalls, password controls) related to the maintenance of a Web site.

Network

Network

• A group of two or more computer systems linked together. There are many types of computer networks, including:

Networks

• local-area networks (LANs) : The computers are geographically close together (that is, in the same building).

• wide-area networks (WANs) : The computers are farther apart and are connected by telephone lines or radio waves.

• campus-area networks (CANs): The computers are within a limited geographic area, such as a campus or military base.

• metropolitan-area networks MANs): A data network designed for a town or city.

• home-area networks (HANs): A network contained within a user's home that connects a person's digital devices.

Mesh Topology

• Devices are connected with many redundant interconnections between network nodes. In a true mesh topology every node has a connection to every other node in the network.

Star Topology

• All devices are connected to a central hub. Nodes communicate across the network by passing data through the hub.

Bus Topology

• All devices are connected to a central cable, called the bus or backbone.

Ring Topology

• All devices are connected to one another in the shape of a closed loop, so that each device is connected directly to two other devices, one on either side of it.

Tree Topology

• A hybrid topology. Groups of star-configured networks are connected to a linear bus backbone.

Security

• In the computer industry, refers to techniques for ensuring that data stored in a computer cannot be read or compromised by any individuals without authorization. Most security measures involve data encryption and passwords. Data encryption is the translation of data into a form that is unintelligible without a deciphering mechanism. A password is a secret word or phrase that gives a user access to a particular program or system.

Firewall

• A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria.

Vocabulary

• BUS: A collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another.

• backbone : Another term for bus, the main wire that connects nodes.

• Node: In networks, a processing location. A node can be a computer or some other device, such as a printer. Every node has a unique network address, sometimes called a Data Link Control (DLC) address or Media Access Control (MAC) address.

Vocabulary

• Internet : A global network connecting millions of computers. More than 100 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions.

• ISP : Short for Internet Service Provider, a company that provides access to the Internet

• Log on: To make a computer system or network recognize you so that you can begin a computer session

• Intranet: A network based on TCP/IP protocols (an internet) belonging to an organization, usually a corporation, accessible only by the organization's members, employees, or others with authorization

• TCP/IP : Short for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet.

• Communication Protocol : All communications between devices require that the devices agree on the format of the data.

• Web Author Web Author is the person (or company) who designed the web site and programmed the code to make it work.

• Web Server The Web server is the actual computer that contains all the information and files relating  to a Web site. Web servers are generally fairly powerful machines that are designed to handle a large volume of traffic from the Internet and search for and retrieve information quickly.

• Page It’s the basic unit of the Web. A page is the document displayed on your screen, but it is by no means limited to the size of your monitor.  (usually we use scroll bars) A collection of Web pages and associated files are called a Web site.

• Home page or Start Page Web sites are composed of several pages. To organize these pages, most Web sites have a home page that is used as an introduction and a table of contents and provides the means to reach the other pages contained within that site.

• Browser/Viewer Programs such as Netscape  or Microsoft Internet Explorer are used to browse the Internet or view Web pages. They are commonly referred to as browsers.

• URL URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator (or sometimes Universal Resource Locator) and is an address to connect you to different sites on the Internet. The URL gives the browser the information it needs to go out and find the site on the Net. URLs all consist of the document’s protocol, a host name, and sometimes the document’s path and file name.

• Hit Every time someone visits a Web page, it registers as a hit. (reload, cache)

• Hypertext and links Hypertext is regular text that, when clicked with a mouse, takes you somewhere else. Hypertext can be linked with other part of the web page, or another web page, e-mail address or ftp address, etc. Hypertext is generally shown in a different color from the rest of the text on the document, and links are usually underlined.

• Frames Frames allow Web authors to design pages with two or more independent sections. Borderless frames, Non scrolling frames and floating frames.

• HTML, VRML HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language; VRML stands for Virtual Reality Modeling Language. VRML is used to create 3-D Web Page.

• Network Computers connected to each other to provide and/or exchange information.

• Hypertext Highlighted text or image which allows the user to go from one site to another creating a link.

• Domain Includes the company (.com), organization (.org), network (.net), school (.edu), government (.gov), military (.mil) or other institution producing the site. DNS refers to Domain Name System.

• Link A connection from one page to another. The cursor changes to a pointing finger as it moves over the link. You can bring a linked page to your screen by clicking once on the highlighted text, image or icon. This transfers page content from a server location to your location.

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