CMGT 538 Syllabus (order of subjects may be changed to accommodate guest speakers)
➢ Course Overview / History of the web – Week 1 – January 13th
➢ Language Overview – Week 2 – January 20th
• Presentation – RSS, Google Reader / Feedburner / select 1 RSS product
➢ Basic HTML / CSS – Week 3 – January 27th
• Presentation – Web based analytics, Site Meter / Google Analytics / Webmaster tools
➢ Brainstorming / Planning – Week 4 – February 3rd
• Presentation – FTP Clients, Filezilla / FireFTP (Firefox Plugins)
➢ Hiring a team – Week 5 – February 10th
• Presentation – Outsourcing technology builds, Odesk / Craigslist / Rent-a-coder
➢ Collaboration / history of online communities – Week 6 – February 17th
• Presentation – Project Collaboration Tools, Google Docs / Basecamp / Sharepoint / Zoho
➢ Backend – CMS / Server, etc. – Week 7 – February 24th
• Presentation – Software as a Service, Salesforce / eTapestry
➢ Frontend UI / Navigation / Streaming (video / audio) – Week 8 – March 3rd
• Presentation – Crowd Sourcing – 99Designs / Deviantart.com / select 1 other
➢ API’s / Content – Week 9 – March 10th
• Presentation – Audience measurement techniques – ComScore, Neilson, Quantcast, Alexa.
➢ Spring Break (no class) – Week 10 – March 17th
➢ Search Engine Optimization – Week 11 – March 24th
• Presentation – Search Engine Optimization tools – select 5 to present on
➢ Traffic / User Acquisition (besides SEO) – Week 12 – March 31st
• Presentation – CPM – PPC – CPA Advertising / Publishing – AdBrite / Stumbleupon / Commission Junction
➢ Business Models – Week 13 – April 7th
• Presentation – PPC Advertising / Publishing – Google Adsense / Adwords
➢ Mobile Overview – Week 14 – April 14th
• Presentation – Twitter tools, CoTweet / Bit.ly / 5 other Twitter Apps
➢ Final Paper Presentations – Week 15 – April 21st
➢ Final Paper Presentations continued / Course Review – Week 16 – April 28th
➢ Final Exam – Week 17 – May 5th
Peer Presentations (10%)
- Each week a student (or team) will present on a web service that is related to this class.
- Presentations and follow up discussion will last approximately 20-30 minutes.
- Presentations should give the other students a complete overview of the service.
- Students will sign up for presentation dates / subjects during week 1.
Homework / Readings / Quizzes (25%)
- Readings / Projects will be assigned one week before class.
- Required weekly reading includes the following blogs:
TechCrunch http://www.techcrunch.com
Mashable http://www.mashable.com
Final Paper and Presentation (25%)
- Students may choose their own subjects, preferably to be aligned with their personal interests – that includes a deep dive into one or more subjects discussed in class.
- Must have subject approval by week 10.
- Presentations to class will be 10 minutes firm, with a brief class Q&A afterwards.
- Opening slide should be on what class subjects will be discussed.
- After presentation, students will submit a PDF version of the presentation, along with a Title and Paragraph summary for inclusion on the class website.
- Papers will be 8-12 pages, using APA citations.
- Students will sign up for presentation dates / subjects during week 1.
Class Participation (20%)
- Show up, pay attention and participate.
- Use your computer for class related subjects only.
- Engage with class speakers.
Final Exam (20%)
- Designed to summarize class.
