Electronic Enlightenment

I want to have a record of my senior year that shows who I am and what mattered to me during the time I spent in this year of purgatory, between the safety of being a dependent minor and the freedom and responsibility of true adulthood. I want to be able to access this record whenever and wherever I want. The easiest and as far as I know the only real way to do this is through a web page. Therefore, I am going to make a personal home page on the Internet documenting my life during my senior year of high school.

The project will be an ongoing venture, but will be ready for evaluation by December and will be totally brilliant by the June 4th presentation date.

I will work on my project at the LRC and at my own personal computer or any other computer I encounter hooked-up to the Internet.

I am the sole person behind this project.

The skills I already posses that will make the production of a web page easier are: an innate sense of layout, a basic understanding of the basic HTML format, an ability to pour hundreds of hours in to computer time without as much as blinking, a lack of shame when it comes to self-promotion, working well with feedback of all kinds, a burning desire to learn how to make the best web page using everything including Java and HTML, and a computer named blinky.

The knowledge I hope to acquire through doing this is: how to make/design web pages using all the technology available to me to the fullest extent (Java, active X, animated gifs, and frames), how to type, more about myself and to see how my prospective on the world changes as I reach adulthood.

The first step in making a web page is to acquire space on the web. I will get a free home page from Geocities and then acquire more space with other companies that offer free space. The second step is to get acquainted with Geocities program manager by working with it and reading the help files and learning how to write basic HTML in its pure form. After I have aquatinted myself with the program manager I will upload files for use in my page and edit the index HTML so that the files either appear in the index HTML or are linked to from the index page.

I’ll practice layout on this page until I understand the basics to making a beautiful multimedia presentation. Then I’ll start to consider the structure I want my page to take and outline the form I come up with in a pictograph. I will then restructure my page to fit the idea outlined in the pictograph and upload the files that necessary to fulfill the pictographs requirements. Some of the basic components of my page will be a section where I write to the audience similar to the way "tales of the city" is presented. Also a poem, prose, and several social-political essays will be among the components of my page.

I will constantly update my page, at least once a week, and be adding new material and links frequently. I will also try to learn more sophisticated techniques and structures for my page by visiting other pages and studying their source codes and by asking for help and advice from many of my friends who also have web pages. After I have learned the basics of web design such as how to make links, embed midis, have pictures, and have a counter I will work on frames, Java, and if space allows active x. However the main focus of my page will be me and what my interests.

I will know my project is complete when I can see myself clearly through the content of my page. I will have a web page that chronicles my senior life.

Competencies:

1) Understand one's relationship to the global environment in order to make responsible decisions based on various economic, political, technological, and social issues and impacts.

I understand that a person's influence is directly related to how much effort they put in to making themselves heard. I will use my influence to raise awareness of social issues through the essays I post on my page.

3) Gather, select, interpret, organize, evaluate, and use information.

I will be procuring all manner of materials from various sources for my web page. Given the limited amount of space allotted me I will have to select only the best and most appropriate material for my page.

6) Communicate effectively in a variety of formats to different audiences.

I will first use my web page to communicate my ideas and interests. Then later, I will present what I have accomplished to the people who come to my presentation.

7) Think analytically, creatively, and logically to formed reasoned judgments and solve problems.

In developing a focus and dealing with logistics of this project I will have shown I can do all three listed above.

9) Use assessment to improve one's educational progress and plan future growth, becoming a self-directed learner.

I have designed my project from scratch, and directed the focus and pace of completion of my project. I am in charge of every aspect of my project.

13) Recognize, experience, and express oneself creatively through various art forms, developing and achieving a sense of aesthetics.

I am expressing myself though the electronic medium that is known for its rich textual and visual content.

15) Read, Analyze, and interpret various written materials.

I am putting together a collection of poems, stories, essays, pictures, social-political messages, things that interest me, and a journal in a coherent way.