Summer 2026 Schedule

ITSE-1301 Summer 2026 weekly course calendar.

Week Dates Topics / Activities Important Dates and Deadlines
Week 1 Jun. 8–14 Foundations of Web Design
Ch. 1: Introduction to Internet and Web Design
Ch. 2: Building a Webpage Template with HTML5		 Classes begin June 8
Due June 14 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 2 Jun. 15–21 Images, Links, and Site Navigation
Ch. 3: Enhancing a Website with Images and Links		 Juneteenth holiday June 19 (college closed)
Certification date June 20
Due June 21 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 3 Jun. 22–28 CSS Fundamentals
Ch. 4: Designing Webpages with CSS		 College reopens June 22
Due June 28 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 4 Jun. 29–Jul. 5 Responsive Design for Mobile Devices
Ch. 5: Responsive Design Part 1		 Independence Day holiday July 3 (college closed)
Due July 5 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 5 Jul. 6–12 Responsive Design for Tablet and Desktop Devices
Ch. 6: Responsive Design Part 2		 College reopens July 6
Due July 12 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 6 Jul. 13–19 Modern Page Layouts
Ch. 7: Improving Web Design with New Page Layouts		 Due July 19 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 7 Jul. 20–26 Tables, Forms, and User Input
Ch. 8: Creating Tables and Forms		 Last day to withdraw with a W: July 23
Due July 26 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 8 Jul. 27–Aug. 2 Multimedia and Web Assets
Ch. 9: Integrating Audio and Video		 Due August 2 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 9 Aug. 3–9 Web Interactivity and Website Publishing
Ch. 10: Creating Interactivity with CSS and JavaScript
Ch. 11: Publish, Promote, and Maintain a Website		 Due August 9 at 11:59 p.m.
Week 10 Aug. 10–13 Bootstrap and Final Website Submission
Ch. 12: Getting Started with Bootstrap		 Final exams and session end August 13
All coursework due August 13 at 11:59 p.m.

Assignments for each chapter include Apply Your Knowledge, Consider This: Your Turn, and a chapter quiz. Week 1 also includes the Coding IDE Prerequisite and Pre-Course Assessment. Week 10 includes the Post-Course Assessment and Final Website Submission.

Final grades are due August 17, 2026.

This schedule provides a general course outline. Students should check eCampus for announcements and any changes during the term.

Posted June 8, 2026, under:
schedule

File Management Explained

File Management for Web Design

🏠 Think of Your Computer Like a House

Real World Analogy:
Imagine your computer is like a big house with many rooms. Each room (folder) has a specific purpose, and you put related items (files) in the appropriate rooms. You wouldn't put your kitchen utensils in the bedroom closet, right?

In Computer Terms:

  • Folders = Rooms in your house
  • Files = Items you store in those rooms
  • File Path = The address to find a specific item

Click to explore a typical house structure:

🍳 Kitchen
🛏️ Bedroom
💼 Office

🌐 Website File Organization

When building websites, organization becomes even more critical. A typical website structure looks like this:

my-website/
├── index.html (your main homepage)
├── about.html (about page)
├── contact.html (contact page)
├── css/
│ ├── style.css (main styles)
│ └── mobile.css (mobile styles)
├── images/
│ ├── logo.png (website logo)
│ ├── hero-banner.jpg (main banner)
│ └── gallery/
│ ├── photo1.jpg
│ └── photo2.jpg
├── js/
│ ├── main.js (main JavaScript)
│ └── contact-form.js (form functionality)
└── assets/
├── fonts/
└── documents/
📄 HTML Files
Your web pages
(index.html, about.html)
🎨 CSS Folder
Styling files
(colors, fonts, layout)
🖼️ Images Folder
All photos & graphics
(logos, photos, icons)
⚡ JavaScript Folder
Interactive features
(animations, forms)

✅ Best Practices vs ❌ Common Mistakes

✅ GOOD PRACTICES:

  • Use descriptive names: "hero-banner.jpg" instead of "image1.jpg"
  • Create logical folders: Keep all images in an "images" folder
  • Use lowercase: "contact.html" not "Contact.HTML"
  • No spaces: "my-website" not "my website"
  • Consistent naming: If you use dashes, use them everywhere

❌ COMMON MISTAKES:

  • Generic names: "file1.html", "untitled.css"
  • Files everywhere: All files scattered in one folder
  • Mixed cases: "MyFile.HTML" and "myfile.css"
  • Spaces in names: "my file.html" (breaks web links!)
  • No organization: Images mixed with code files

🛠️ Hands-On Exercise

💡 Pro Tip: Start every website project by creating your folder structure FIRST, before writing any code!

📋 Create Your First Website Structure:

  • Create a main project folder (e.g., "my-portfolio")
  • Create an "images" folder inside your project
  • Create a "css" folder for your stylesheets
  • Create your main HTML file: "index.html"
  • Create your main CSS file: "css/style.css"
  • Practice linking CSS to HTML using the correct file path

🚀 Why This Matters for Web Design

Proper file management saves you time and prevents headaches:

  • Find files quickly: No more hunting through hundreds of unnamed files
  • Collaborate easily: Others can understand your project structure
  • Scale your projects: Add new pages and features without chaos
  • Debug faster: Broken links are easier to fix with organized files
  • Professional workflow: Employers expect organized code
Remember: Good organization is like good hygiene - it's invisible when done right, but obvious when missing!
Posted May 27, 2025, under:
cit "file management"

Not (yet) forgotten

Don’t ask me how many classes I’ve taken in my life, or who my teachers were… but I like to think that I manage to keep something from every encounter, even if it’s not something directly related to the class.

For example, in my high school physical science class, our teacher liked to answer all kinds of questions, no matter how outlandish they might be. If he couldn’t answer he had a go-to phrase that I still use in a regular basis: “It’s possible, but not probable.” Maybe he thought he didn’t want to be the one person that stopped someone from developing a teleportation machine or flying car.

My first year in college is mostly a blur, but I’ll never forget this one maxim my Chemistry I teacher: “Two, four, six, eight — who do we appreciate? Valence electrons! I don’t remember why valence electrons are important, but I can’t help but cheer for them every now and again.

A Calculus professor explained many basics the first day, including the importance of zero when it’s used to measure distance, particularly when talking about two objects occupying the same space. After presenting a couple more “That being said, what is the shortest distance between two points?, to which many in the class mechanically answered “a straight line! More annoyed than disgusted he calmly replied, “what did we just learn about zero?”

While I quote some of these regularly, the one the comes up the most is one from the only newspaper design class I ever took (the only one offered during my time studying journalism): The first and probably only rule of newspaper design is “Beg, borrow and steal.” I apply this to many enterprises.

References

Posted September 10, 2022, under:
school 80s 90s

Programming proverbs

Specifically, I was looking for the handful of programming proverbs written by Henry F. Ledgard in his series of programming books from the 1970s. And although I could not find a blog post I remember from a few years back, I did run across this page, which quotes one of the proverbs, and a few other relevant thoughts:

"High thoughts must have high language."

– Aristophanes

"You can’t trust code that you did not totally create yourself. (Especially code from companies that employ people like me."

– Ken Thompson, 1983 ACM Turing Award Lecture

"Instead of this absurd division into sexes they ought to class people as static or dynamic."

– Evelyn Waugh

"Good as it is to inherit a library, it is better to collect one."

– Augustune Birrell

"In programming, it is not enough to be inventive and ingenious. One also needs to be disciplined and controlled in order not be become entangled in one's own complexities."

– Harlan D. Mills, Forward to Programming Proverbs by Henry Ledgard

"I have made this letter longer than usual, because I lack the time to make it short."

– Blaise Pascal

Posted August 21, 2022, under:
programming, quotes

Best Parking in the West End

(By which I mean, “Cheapest parking in the West End.”) Parking around El Centro College is expensive. Some places charge $10 a morning or thereabouts, and getting a monthly subscription can be tricky if your timing isn’t right. If you don’t mind wallking about 1/3 of a mile, I recommend parking where I park. It’s a parking lot owned by the city, and it costs me $2 a day. NOTE: This price is good only for regular work hours — my parking times are usually 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

I also recommend the ParkMobile app. It works on all City of Dallas parking, including the parking meters. It allows you to set reminders and pay for additional parking time if needed (in most cases). You can pay with cash or credit card on-site and get a printed receipt and not have to pay convenience fees (35 cents or so for this lot, I think):

Posted August 11, 2022, under:
dallas,el centro,parking