Hello, and welcome to all! I am Greg McIlhiney, your instructor for this course. This week's guide is longer than most weeks as there is a lot of information to cover in the first week. Let's get started!

I am assuming that if you are reading the documents in the order presented in the Schedule, you have already read the Welcome and Introduction document which details the different sites you will be dealing with for this course. As you encounter each of these sites there will be more detail provided.

For each week in the Schedule, the first link will always be to an Online Guide for that week. I strongly suggest that you begin with the Guide as it will outline the week's lesson and give you hints on the best way to approach the materials and organize your strategy in approaching the tasks for that week. It will also include a brief overview of the specific tasks you are being asked to complete.

In this first week we concentrate on the items listed below. I know it looks like a lot, but much of this material is a review of what was covered in the COIN 61 and 63 classes. This class assumes that you have already completed those courses or have equivalent experience. Meaning that you already know how to write valid XHTML, you are familiar with the process of validating your documents, and you have some exposure to CSS from those two classes.

I should point out a misconception of some students when they enroll in an online class... online classes are frequently MORE work and take MORE time than a traditional face-to-face class. If you are not prepared for this and have not allocated time accordingly, you need to re-think taking this class.

And this is especially true for online courses delivered in HTML/CSS format as this one is. There are lots of individual pages to read and print, and lots of different sites you will have to deal with in this class. If you have completed the COIN 61 and 63 classes then this process should be familiar. If not, realize that it will take some time to become comfortable with the materials being delivered.

Don't feel like you need to do the whole list of links at once. You may want to look them over briefly now, and then come back and take them one item at a time so you can really concentrate on them. Some of you may even wish to print the pages if you work better that way. Use this first week to figure out what method will work best for you so you can get the most out of this class.

I do want to point out that for each link you see in the Schedule, that topic probably has multiple pages of information for that topic. All pages will contain NEXT and PREVIOUS links at the top and bottom so that you can start with the first topic on the Schedule page and read all the way through ALL of the week's lecture pages by clicking the NEXT button on each page. The main topics on the Schedule page allow you to enter the flow of text at logical points for review but those few linked pages are not the whole story! (smile).

Also know that some links displayed on the lecture pages will open into a popup window to show an example, and some external links may open into a new browser window or a new tab depending upon how your browser is configured.

Let's get started with the materials this week, and here is a suggested plan:

1. Read the COIN 65 syllabus to familiarize yourself with all aspects of this class. This is very important since it contains information about grading, tests, textbooks, and polices which may affect you as a student. The syllabus has a tentative outline of the subjects we will be covering for each week.
2. Purchase the two required textbooks as noted in the syllabus and read Chapter 1 of the "Stylin' with CSS" text.
   
   Note that this course was added late in December and textbooks may have to be purchased from an online source like Amazon.com. The Foothill bookstore has assured me that the books would be ordered and you can access their site at books.foothill.edu/
3. Read the lecture documents in the order listed on the schedule. They cover the following topics:
    
   • A Brief Web History which covers the evolution of HTML/XHTML and the need for web standards.
   • The guidelines and structure for creating valid XHTML documents in this course.
   • The introduction to the Document Object Hierarchy and related terminology.
   • Standards-Compliant Browsers and Web Development Tools which walks you through the process of downloading and installing Firefox as well as installing the Web Developer Toolbar extension we will be using this quarter.
4. Complete the lab 1 document as explained in Chapter 1 of the Stylin' text and illustrated on page 17. The goal here is to create a valid XHTML document and review the required XHTML structure of the web documents you will be creating.
5. Complete homework 1, building your home page which will be uploaded to the CTIS web server during week 3... after your accounts have been generated.
6. Log-in to the ETUDES on-line classroom and explore. Directions for doing this are in the welcome and introduction document.
7. Post a short introduction in the forum. This is optional, but I would love to know a little bit about your background, experience, browsers used, Mac or PC, etc., whatever you would like to share (smile)
   
   Here is an optional handout with information about registering in the forum. You do not have to register but if you do then the forum offers registered users additional functionality which you may find useful.
   
   I created this document originally for my Flash classes, so just ignore the word Flash and the information is still appropriate.

OK, time to get started. Have fun, and I will see you online!