Advanced AcademicPrograms Online

Much of your course will be made up of web pages, which will show up as pages within WebCT. To begin creating the pages that make up your course content, you will need to learn a little bit of HTML code. Don't worry, it is actually much easier than you might think to use HTML to create web pages. You can use a special HTML editor that will allow you to design pages a lot like you would in a word processor. The editor will generate most of the code, so you won't have to learn a whole lot. Here is a list of the HTML resources you'll find on this page:

HTML is a lot of things. Most importantly, it allows you to create your own web pages using regular text that you type. HTML is not an actual programming language, it's a markup language, meaning that you type what you want the viewer to see, then add special 'tags' before and after the text to designate formatting (this means it's easy to learn). A web browser will read and interpret the tags and display the correct formatting. For a basic explanation of HTML and what it does, see http://htmlclinic.com/whatishtml.php

If you are going to be using HTML to edit pages in WebCT, setting up the WebDAV feature before starting will make your life much, much easier. WebDAV will let you access your WebCT files as if they were on your home computer. This way once you save them, they appear in WebCT, without having to upload them or worry about updating links within your pages. For information about how to setup the WebDAV feature login to WebCT, select the WebCT Online course, and navigate to the 'Managing Files' unit of the 'WebCT Training Two' section. A comprehensive WebDAV tutorial is located at the end of this unit.

To help you learn HTML, wehave found anumber of free sources on the internet. These include tutorials forbeginners to advanced users, tips and tricks and other pages. Some ofthe more comprehensive resources are listed below.

If you know of any otheronline resoursethat would be useful to other instructors, please contact Joe Newcomer at jnewcomer@jhu.edu

List of HTML Editors to Use

Good free HTML editors arehard to find;and maybe not worth the money -- except for Netscape Composer (which isfree). It really is best to purchase one. the following list shouldhelp you determine which to use:

NVU:Nvu (pronounced N-view) is a FREEcomplete Web Authoring System that combines web file management andeasy-to-use WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page editing.Nvu is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal fornon-technical computer users who want to create an attractive,professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or webcoding.For more information, visit:
http://www.jhu.edu/advancedonline/nvu/nvu.html
To download Nvu,visit: http://www.jhu.edu/advancedonline/nvu/download.html
MacromediaDreamweaver: This is anotherprofessional grade website designing suite. Similar to GoLive, itfeatures both a barebones editing mode as well as a visual layoutdesign interface. Dreamweaver is well integrated with the MacromediaFlash plugin. However, while it is very powerful, it does have a steeplearning curve. Macromedia does offer a educational discount on theproduct. For more information, visit:
http://www.macromedia.com/resources/education/store/
MicrosoftFrontPage: FrontPage is one ofthe oldest webpage editors and is published by Microsoft. Like theother editors, it has both a barebones edition mode and a visual layoutinterface. While this is a very easy editor to use, one of the majorproblems is that it uses features that are supported by the InternetExplorer browers only. On the upside, however, FrontPage comes bundledwith the Microsoft Office Suite (professional edition). From moreinformation, visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/
MicrosoftWord: This is a very simple webgenerating program. While it is possible to use MS Word to create an HTML page, we strongly discourage it. For more information on creating HTML pages in MS Word see http://www.jhu.edu/advancedonline/microsoftword.html.

If you know of any otheronline resoursethat would be useful to other instructors, please contact Joe Newcomerat jnewcomer@jhu.edu