Week 6: Learning Responsive Web Design with Bootstrap; Exam #1

We have used Unit #1 as a platform for applying the basic principles of HTML and CSS covered in our textbook. At this point, none of you knows everything there is to know about web design (spoiler alert: you probably never will), but you should feel confident in your ability to look at HTML, CSS, and image files and understand how they fit together. For the remainder of the semester, we will use those basic principles to work with a variety of tools and templates that simplify the process of developing websites. The default tool for our Unit #2 project is Bootstrap, but the same underlying principles will apply to any responsive framework you might use in the future.

Here’s a brief summary of our plans for next week:

• We will spend Monday in workshop mode, getting comfortable with the Bootstrap framework. Before you come to class, please read through the entire Bootstrap website, especially the “Getting started” and “CSS” pages. (The “Grid System” section on the CSS page is incredibly important; resist the temptation to skim it.) It also would be wise to download an extra copy of the Unit #2 starter files to practice the concepts explained on the Bootstrap site. Last but not least, please review the list of potential “clients” for Unit #2 located in our class’s shared Google Drive folder. Once you have explored several sites, claim the one that you would like to modernize for this assignment.
• On Wednesday we will have the first exam of the semester. Please arrive ready to spend the entire class period on the exam, which will consist of three sections: multiple choice questions, short responses (definitions and mini-essays), and a markup exercise. Everything we have covered during the first five weeks of class is fair game for the exam, so please review your notes, reread textbook chapters, and form study groups with your classmates to ensure that you are prepared.

If you have any questions about these plans, or if you would like my opinion about your choice of website for Unit #2, please let me know. Otherwise, I’ll see you on Monday, ready for some fun with responsive web design!