The work we’ll do
This class is divided into five units, with a series of exercises and tutorials planned for each. These pieces will all be included as part of your website, with the two major projects becoming their own pages, and other in-class exercises assembled into longer pages. A quiz at the end of each unit — or more precisely just before the beginning of the next one — will help you track your own progress and ensure you are up to date with the skills and knowledge needed for each step.
The dates on this calendar are kept deliberately vague, as the progress of this course will be dependent on a number of unforeseeable factors. Some units may grow to accommodate some of these factors, while others may be reduced. You can check this page throughout the semester to see any major changes, and I will always let you know well in advance if there any changes to major deadlines.
Unit One: Static
Weeks 1-4*
Our first unit will establish the foundations for the course, and will include instruction on basic HTML and CSS to get your pages started, as well as some introductory Javascript. It will also feature a grounding in informational graphics, especially for those who have not taken J464.
Topics: Introductions / HTML + CSS / Infographics 101 / Formats and SVG / Quiz No. 1
Unit Two: Tools
Weeks 5-8*
Next, we will begin to think about interactive possibilities through the use of several online tools to create our visualizations. Some of these tools, like timeline.js, will work in a fairly basic way, but with others, like Highcharts, we will learn how we can customize many aspects of the presentation of the information. As well, we will begin to more purposefully clean and analyze data in this unit, and turn spreadsheets into meaningful and informative visual displays.
Topics: Javascript intro / Timelines / Highcharts / Highmaps
Unit Three: Code
Weeks 9-10*
Javascript is the foundation for adding interactivity to your content. It is a programming language, which makes it a little harder to learn than HTML or CSS, and we will take a patient approach to developing your skills in this area. While you will not need to hand-code very line of your projects, you will need at least to understand the semantics and syntax of this language, and learn to write basic functions.
Unit Four: Libraries
Weeks 12-15*
Our final unit will incorporate Javascript libraries — notably jQuery and D3 — which can parse data from different sources and create interactive, visually exciting visualizations.
* All of these date spans are approximate.