UB University of Baltimore
Merrick School of Business


INSS 401 - Internet and Business
Spring 2010

Tuesdays 5:30- 8:00 PM - BC 321

Professor Al Bento

office BC 473 v-mail 837-5272
e-mail abento@ubalt.edu URL http://home.ubalt.edu/abento

Office hours: Tuesdays 3:00 - 5:00 PM and TBA

[assignments][ mid-term exam][project][outline] [WebTycho]

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The objective of this course is the study of the Internet and its importance for business, through hands-on experience of the main Internet services and applications, emphasizing the World Wide Web (Web). Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) concepts and tools, including graphical and text-oriented editors. Business graphics and audio content in Web pages. Introduction to Web pages dynamic content using JavaScript and CGI. Analysis, design, implementation and maintenance of simple business sites using hypermedia and the Web. Uses of the Internet for business. Electronic Commerce strategic areas. Marketing, Customer Service, Cost Control and Information uses.

When you complete this course you will have:

  1. your resume on-line (home page), using graphics and your picture.
  2. the experience of modifying or creating a simple business site on the Web (previous students got jobs, and even opened a business to develop pages for business).
  3. learned how companies are using the Web to market their products and the strategic areas of successful electronic commerce businesses.
  4. learned how companies are providing on-line customer support in a world-wide basis using this new media.
  5. learned how the Web is used for information dissemination and public/not-for-profit on-line activities.

Each class meeting will be comprised of two parts:

  1. technical aspects of Web site development using a simple graphical Web page editor. You will do six hands-on exercises on Web site development using this simple editor to familiarize you with the elements of a Web page. Later on you will learn a more complex graphical editor to develop business, organizational, Web sites.
  2. business aspects of Web site development: detailed study of how to develop and run an online business or a public/not-for-profit  on-line site. You will work in a group create a simple businessor a public/not-for-profit  Web site.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

Assignments (6) 60%
Mid-term exam 20%
Project (Web site) 20%

Assignments

All assignments are to be done individually and placed in your UB Web space. The URL (address) of your assignments should be posted in the corresponding ASSIGNMENT area (Assignment 1, Assignment 2, etc).

  1. Post two files in your UB Web space.
  2. Draft of individual home page.
  3. Home page with picture, background color and links.
  4. Page with favorite sites using tables and/or style sheets.
  5. Page with frames and form as the default page.
  6. Page with frames with imagemap in the left side.

Mid-term exam

This is a take-home, multiple choice, exam to be done individually and will include the technical and business aspects covered in the first six week of classes. The exam will posted March 18  in the Course Conference area under Midterm Exam. Your answers are due by the end of the day of March 23 in the Assignments folder Midterm exam.

Project

The maintenance or development of a home page (presentation) for an organization, in groups of five students.  Select a group to join in the Conference area of WebTycho by January 30th.

Each group will have three options for doing the project:

  1. develop a Web site for a small-size or public/not-for-profit organization client of your choice.
  2. re-design an existing Web site for a small-size or public/not-for-profit organization with the participation of a client (you re-design the site to be used by the client).
  3. re-design an existing Web site for a small-size or public/not-for-profit organization without the participation of a client (you re-design the site just for the course).
Of course, you can also develop a Web site for your own organization, or another group member organization. I would suggest to keep it small, as public/not-for-profit organizations generally are. The Web sites should be comprised of about five Web pages. See the criteria I will use to evaluate projects. The important thing is to do a good job, rather than a very ambitious job of poor quality.

Project milestones:

  1. Group selection -- 01/30
  2. Project Web site selection -- 03/28
  3. Draft of Project proposal due -- 04/04
  4. Project proposal due -- 04/11
  5. Client's draft pages due. -- 04/18
  6. Revise client's draft pages -- 04/25
  7. Client Web site due with client OK -- 05/02
  8. Group project presentation -- 05/04
  9. Project documentation due -- 05/11

TEXTBOOKS

Sybex. HTML Complete, Sybex, 3rd edition.ISBN: 0-7821-4209-5, April 2003.
Belew, S. and Elad J. Starting an Online Business, 2nd edition, Wiley, 978-0-470-43196-2, 2009

On reserve:

  • Rand-Hendriksen, Morten, Microsoft Expression Web 3, Sams Teach Yourself, SAMS Publishing, 2010 (to be used after Spring Break, free MS download for 60 days).


    • OUTLINE
    Date Technical aspectsBusiness aspects Assignments
    01/26 Course, Internet (references:1, 2) and Web (reference: 3) overview.   Introduce yourself and select a group
    02/02 Web Browsing, Internet Explorer and Firefox, your UB Web space, and FTP in Windows. The uses of Internet for business. 1. Post files in the UB home server
    02/09 UB closedno classes1. Post files in the UB home server
    02/16 Essential HTML, NVU/KompoZer for boot camp assignments. Microsoft Expression Web 3 later to create project Web site. (2-5) E-Commerce strategic areas {IV:1-3}. 2.draft of individual home page posted in your UB Web space
    02/23 Background colors, Graphics, Sounds and Lists (7,10,15). Marketing uses. {VI:1-4} 3. Home page with picture, background color and links.
    03/02 Tables, tables and page formatting, and style sheets and page formatting (11,12,16.) Customer service uses. 4. new page with favorite sites using tables and/or style sheets.
    03/09 Frames, Forms, CGIs and using FormMail (8,9,17). Storefront Selling {VIII:1-5} 5. Page with frames and form as the default page.
    03/16 Spring Break no classes  
    03/23 Client-side imagemaps. (10)and Frames including imagemaps. Cost control and Information dissemination. and Not-for-profit uses. {IX:1-5}. List of Potential clients posted. Group work: rank client preferences. Take-home mid-term exam answers due 03/23
    6. Page with frames with imagemap in the left side and due 03/29.
    03/30 Tools for site development: Microsoft Expression Web 3 and Dreamweaver The design of Web sites {III:1-3} Project group work: draft of contract with client
    04/06 Expression: site development, styles and tables. Internet Security {V:1-5} Project group work: contract with client due.
    04/13Expression: more on styles, imagemaps and frames .   JavaScript introduction Project questions and answers Project group work: Client's draft pages due.
    04/20 Group work Group work Project group work: Revise client's draft pages.
    04/27 Expression: posting Web sites.  JavaScript applets. Project questions and answers. Project group work: Client Web site due with client OK
    05/04 Group presentations Group presentations Project group work: prepare site documentation.
    05/11 Documentation due for client Web sites Documentation due for client Web sites

    Note: The numbers in parenthesis indicate the chapters in the HTML Complete Textbook, e.g. (2) means chapter 2. Curly brackets { } indicate chapters in the books in the Starting an online Business textbook, e.g. {V:1-5} means chapters 1 to 5 of book five.

    This page is maintained by Al Bento who can be reached at abento@ubalt.edu. This page was last updated on March 23, 2010. Although we will attempt to keep this information accurate, we can not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided.