In the second half of the semester, some students may choose to make Web projects, Option B of the Assignments. Generally, students who've chosen to make a Web project have chosen not to write and/or present on a Technoprophet, Option A, although there may be some overlap. The guidelines are separated into:

Examples | Requirements | Considerations | Calendar for Completion
Special Concerns | Standards | Final Comments

Examples

See these Web projects made by students in the Fall 1997 class: 

See these Web projects made by students in the Spring 1997 class:

 See also these Web projects made by students in the Fall 1996 class:

 See also these Web projects made by students in the Spring 1996 class:

 Requirements  ^

All Web projects must be approved before proceeding. You are required to know HTML and to have established a home page, preferably on the Duke server. If you are interested in this option but haven't yet learned HTML, you may be able to take a class in time or if you learn how to use an HTML editor, you could possibly still make a Web project. See this list of HTML Resources provided by Laura Cousineau at Perkins Library.  Ms. Cousineau wil lead classes on Web searching and HTML coding on Sept 16 and 23 (details to be announced in class).

Tools aside, E&I is a seminar in the Religion Department and not a electronic publishing workshop. Nevertheless, in 1997 it's no longer possible to fully understand the Net without some hands-on exposure to the Web. In addition to the reasons mentioned with the Assignments, I hope to encourage livelier Discussion in class and construction with substance on the information superhighway.

However, opting for projects does not eliminate the need for meeting the other Goals of the course, including Critical Thinking. Similarly, like students writing on one of the technoprophets, projects students are expected to turn in work on time that has been carefully edited, formatted, and proofread. Remember to save often and back up your files. Depending on how you want to look at it, it's quite possible that more may be expected of these students than those who choose Option A, if only because making Web projects means publishing as soon as you write and adding on an extra layer of complexity.

So choose freely, but choose wisely. During the middle of the first half of the semester, I'll meet with those of you who are considering Option B.

Considerations  ^

Before the break, students considering Option B will need to have thought about the following:

1. What do you have in mind for the topic? Pick one from the Schedule or Readings and Surfings, or discuss your idea with me. For inspiration, see the projects produced by students in past semesters of E&I. 
2. What do you want to say or what service do you want to provide through the Web platform?
3. How do you plan to go about accomplishing this? Have you considered alternatives?
4. How much work do you anticipate and are you reasonably sure that you can "finish" (see the second Special Concern below) this semester? This varies widely depending on your experience, access, perseverance, and free time.
5. Why might a Web project be good for you and what do you hope to get out of it? How does it fit in with your major or provide a useful complement? Why wouldn't a paper be better?
6. What resources are available for you draw on for support? Do you forsee any delay in obtaining the materials you need before you can start? Do you have permission to use them?
7. Have you looked around for another site that does what you are proposing? (Go through the pointers provided with the Readings and Surfings and query some online search engines.) Have you found any ideas that you want to build on or that could be carried out better? 
8. What kind of contribution to the Net community could your project make? (Providing another cool list of pointers won't be enough, while coming up with the ultimate "killer app" may prove elusive.) Make your own statement about an ethical topic of your choice.
9. This is crucial: Do you have the equipment that you will need to see the assignment through (relatively fast machine, network connection, Netscape or MSIE, HTML editor, helper applications, etc.)? 
10. This is equally crucial: Have you considered different kinds of users with different kinds of equipment (such as a 386 with a slow modem)? Will you produce work for many or for a select few? Who are your users? What do they need and what do you have to do to meet their expectations?

Calendar for Completion  ^

Oct 21: 

Address, or at least seriously think about, the above ten questions, establish a home page for the project, and lay out its hypermedia structure. Where will the links go? How will a user navigate your site? Additionally, you should be in the information gathering stage. You will turn in a project proposal, which I will return with comments and suggestions. 

Nov 18: 

Depending on time constraints, some of you will have an opportunity to share your project with the class in a 5-10 minute demo. We will understand that it will be a work in progress, but it will need to be in progress. If you encounter any difficulties -- and if you've chosen a project worthy of your time and effort it's highly likely that not everything will go 100% smoothly -- please bring your frustrations to the class and newsgroup Discussion. Share your victories as well. We can all learn from your experience and may have helpful suggestions to offer. Something we will look for is whether your site is easy (or inviting or intriguing) to read and access. Do we want to spend time there? Does it catch and hold our eye? Would we return for another visit? I'll need hard copies, or "screen dumps," of your pages. 

Dec 2: 

This is the next to the last day of class.  You are strongly encouraged to turn in hard copies of your project on this date.  In some cases, allowances can be made for turning in your work on the last day of class, but if you do so you will not have feedback from me until after the semester is over.

Special Concerns  ^ 
In general, we're entering uncharted waters with using the Web to produce academic work. We'll dive in together and maybe even help establish precedent. Nevertheless, I should share two more concerns: 

1. Authoring hypermedia and working within the confines of interface design is quite different from writing and designing for print, although some principles carry over. I can work with such students somewhat on shaping their projects, but no more than I can help the other students research, write, and edit their papers. Furthermore, I want to see that those who make Web sites have considered their audience and have a specific user with specific needs in mind. For example, I don't want to see programming just for the sake of pushing the envelope. Whatever projects students produce must work on several levels and stand up to scrutiny from several different standpoints. While this can be difficult, these are the challenges that make Web construction rewarding for some people.
2. Producing work online is different from print in another way. The emphasis is on process rather than on product, or on creating "living" or fluid documents rather than completion. Everything on the Web is more or less "under construction." We all intuitively know this after some preliminary surfing. Nevertheless, if you are accustomed to showing or turning in your work after it's through, this can be unnerving. While you can work on your own system to try things out, you'll need to upload your pages regularly so that we can drop in unannounced and see what you've been doing. You could have visitors from anywhere in the world at any time. This communal sharing or lack of privacy is something else to keep in mind. 

Standards  ^ 
Yahoo links to popular HTML style guides and CERN provides pointers on Web Etiquette. Students making Web projects will be expected to be aware of the generally accepted, if ever evolving, standards for electronic publishing. If you choose to bend these rules, be prepared to explain why.

Furthermore, since this is a course in Ethics and the Internet, please be mindful about observing netiquette and reasonable ethical standards. Some challenging of the old and outworn is expected and encouraged, but clearly breaking the law or the University's policy recommendations cannot be. We'll talk further about this in class.

Final (for now) Comments  ^ 
These guidelines are intended to keep us on track. Short of a genuine emergency, no one will get an Incomplete. And I do want everyone who opts for Web projects to produce wonderful work that is meaningful, enjoyable, and interesting to make and use. Do what you and we will get the most out of.

I look forward to hearing your ideas and watching you carry them out. Let me know if I can help, or if I can help you find someone else who can help you solve a specific problem.