Advanced Web Design Course

Do you want to get to grips with JavaScript? Get to the bottom of Styling? Get hands on with cookies? Build data warehouses? Then this is the course for you. It goes through all of the fundamentals of advanced website design which will cover dream weaver, paint shop pro a well as search engine submission. This course is perfect for those wanting to take their skills onto the next level.

Support

As a valued student of Start Learning you will have the facility to use our personal tutor service.  At Start Learning we have a friendly team of highly qualified and experienced tutors.  A tutor will be allocated to our student for 12 months, starting from when study materials are received.  The tutors are contacted via email and are responsible for marking assignments and guiding you through the course to ensure you are ready for your examinations.

Entry Requirements

No prior knowledge is necessary to study this course.

At Start Learning we believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to expand their knowledge and study further.  Therefore we do not have strict entry requirements; we take factors such as, experience, enthusiasm, self motivation etc into consideration.  Students will be given plenty of resources to help them overcome obstacles.  Start Learning tutors will also aid our students and answer queries.  

Recommended Hours of Study

It is recommended that approximately 90 hours of your time should be allocated towards study for the Advanced Webdesign Course.

The WEBMAESTRO™ Advanced Website Design course is a fully supported, self-paced training programme for those wishing to take up a new career as a Web programmer or those who simply wish to be able to build advanced commercial-quality websites.

The WEBMAESTRO™ Course has been designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of JavaScript (an object-based, event-driven Web programming language), which tightly integrates with HTML.

You will also learn about Dynamic HTML and Cascading Style Sheets, which removes many of the constraints that have previously limited the web author's creativity and provides a whole new way to make web pages more interesting for the visitor.

Students are taken step-by-step through the lessons using innovative, interactive, multi-media computer-based training techniques, supported by highly-trained technical support specialists.

The course is self-paced with no time pressure for completion; the student simply studies at home or at work when time permits.

PLEASE NOTE: This course is not compatible with Apple Mac Computers and the course assumes that the student has a pre-existing knowledge of HTML/XHTML or has successfully completed our Webstart course.

Course Contents

The course consists of 10 individual lessons, which are designed to gradually build up and strengthen your technical knowledge base. Throughout the lessons, interactive exercises have been specially designed to support the student’s learning effort, and multiple-choice quizzes at the end of each lesson serve to ensure a thorough understanding of the course content.

During the training programme, the student is guided through the design and development of a fully-functional website incorporating HTML, JavaScript and Dynamic HTML, and students are encouraged to use their own creativity throughout.

The course consists of the following Units:

Induction:  Introduction to WEBM@ESTRO™

The following topics are covered by this Unit: Getting Started; Health and Safety considerations; Course content Unit-by-Unit and training tips; Navigating through the training programme; Technical support help desk; and Qualifications explained.
 
Unit 1:  An Introduction to JavaScript
This Unit provides you with a background to JavaScript and general programming techniques. By the end of the Unit, you will be able to write your own basic scripts that incorporate event handlers. The following topics are covered in this Unit: A background to JavaScript; An overview to JavaScript; Creating your first script; An introduction to event handlers; Using browsers and compatibility problems; Programming tips; and Assignment 1: Using event handlers.

Unit 2:  JavaScript Programming Basics
During this Unit, you will become familiar with the construction of JavaScript components, such as variables, operators and statements. The Unit extends to looking at storing and using data for calculations and basic string manipulation, and provides the fundamentals of JavaScript which will be built upon throughout the remainder of the course. The following topics are covered in this Unit: Using variables, operators, strings (concatenating strings); statements; Using numerical data for basic calculations; Using Strings; An introduction to functions; Storing data using Arrays; and Assignment 2: Exercises based on theory discussed.

Unit 3 Decision-Making Using JavaScript
This Unit builds upon Unit 2, in which the student will focus on using logic and decision-making to make certain events happen; the student will be introduced to such techniques. The following topics are included: An introduction to decision making; Using looping statements; An overview of common mistakes and errors; and Assignment 3: Exercises using looping statements.

Unit 4:  JavaScript as an Object-Oriented Language
In this Unit you will combine all of the previously discussed issues to create and utilise objects. You will have already used a number of JavaScript objects; however, in this Unit we look at JavaScript's built-in objects. The following topics are covered by this Unit: An introduction to JavaScript objects; Creating & using JavaScript objects; JavaScript built-In objects, properties and methods (the string object, the array object, the math object and the date and time object); and Assignment 4: Building a calculator.

Unit 5:  Using JavaScript within your Website
Now that you have looked at JavaScript as an object-based programming language, you can incorporate the theory learnt so far, to develop some truly JavaScript dependent web pages. We have seen that JavaScript is an object-based language, with its own built-in objects; however, the browser is also made up of objects. The following topics are covered: The document object model; Window and document objects; Form objects; Working with windows and frames; and Assignment 5: The Health insurance questionnaire.

Unit 6:  Using Cookies to Store Information
To support the concept of using JavaScript to enhance websites and user interactivity, this Unit introduces you to cookies, which refer to the   information a web server gives to your browser when first accessed and then shared on each return. The following topics are covered: A background to cookies; Creating and reading cookies; Using cookies for specific applications; and Assignment 6: Create an on-line store using cookies.

Unit 7:  Adding Style to your Web Pages
Early implementation of the HTML/XHTML specifications have been significantly extended to allow today's new breed of web designers to become more creative in their use of HTML. This Unit demonstrates how you can use standard HTML/XHTML tags to implement stunning special effects without the need for complicated scripting or programming. The following topics are covered by this Unit: Background to Cascading Style Sheets; How Cascading Style Sheets work; Implementing Style Sheets; and Assignment 7 –Adding special effects to your pages.

Unit 8:  Dynamic HTML
In this Unit, we will be looking at the concept of DHTML, a technique to enable designers to create interactive web pages that can be dynamically changed in real time. The following topics are covered by this Unit: How DHTML works; Implementing DHTML; and Assignment 8: Creating drag and drop elements.

Unit 9:  Building Data Aware Websites
In this Unit, we will be looking at the technology used to incorporate external applications into our web pages, for example, textual data, sound and visual imagery. The Unit covers the following topics: Microsoft's ActiveX technology explained; Incorporating textual data into your web pages using notepad; Incorporating audio into your web pages; Incorporating animation into your web page; and Assignment 9: Building a data-aware application.

Unit 10:  Final Course Assignment
This final Unit will bring together all the information and techniques discussed throughout the course as well as offering tutorials on using Dreamweaver CS3; Paint Shop Pro; Uploading your website; and Search engine submission. Assignment 10: Design your own fully-functional website.

The WEBM@STER™ course comes with a comprehensive software Library, which includes trial/freeware versions of the following software: Adobe Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks & PhotoShop CS3, Paint Shop Pro, Gif Construction Set, MapEdit, WinZip 11, Shop Factory Pro, Cute FTP and Colour Picker 1.9.

Qualifications

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be awarded the OCN Level 3 Web Design & Construction Award.

This is a Level 3 Award (Comparable to working at A Level or NVQ Level 3) and has 9 OCN credits. OCN Credits can be accumulated with other course or unit credits over a period of time which can lead to an accredited qualification.

The award is issued through the North West Region (OCNNW) of The National Open College Network. OCNNWR provides validated courses through its provider organisations which must meet robust quality assurance standards. It is a licenced member of NOCN which is an approved UK awarding body licenced by QCA (The Qualifications & Curriculum Authority) to offer accredited qualifications

Language of Examination

English

Examination Centre

There is no exam as such, although you will be required to complete a series of tutor-marked assignments. There is no word count for these assignments although you do have to prove to your tutor that you have fully understood the questions asked.