Swinburne University of Technology - Melbourne Australia
Future Students - Courses
Duration
Contact Hours
Campus
Prerequisite
Corequisite
1 Semester
3 hours per week
Hawthorn
Students who are not native speakers of English should have a knowledge of English equivalent to level 7 in the IELTS test across all bands. Students are advised that it is preferable for them to have completed HATC410, HATC411, HATC412 and HATC413 before attempting this unit.
Credit Points: 12.5 Credit Points
A unit of study in the Graduate Diploma of Social Science (Technical Communication)
This unit aims to give students a strong foundation in the theory and application of information design. This includes learning to analyse audience needs for information and the most effective way of meeting these needs. Special emphasis will be devoted to the design of instructional materials. On completing this unit students will: Understand information design, including the different requirements of online versus print delivery. Understand developing trends in information design, including web design, instructional design and information architecture. Appreciate the particular role of information design in an Internet-based environment. Be able to design and deliver curriculum and instructional materials (including training and e-learning content), and use images to convey meaning. Be able to test the curriculum. Be able to use technology to create content and present the learning material. Be able to design, deliver and manage a website.
Lectures, tutorial discussions, computer laboratory work, and student presentations
Assignments, participation in group discussions, presentations, examination
On completion of this unit students will have acquired a set of skills that allow them to go into the workplace proficient in researching, analysing, evaluating, organising and delivering information in the most appropriate manner for the audience and the content. They will also know how to design, test, and deliver instructional materials.
Content: • Principles of information design, and the ways in which these differ for print and online materials • Current trends in information design • An introduction to the Internet, intranets and the web • Theory and uses of the World Wide Web • Writing for the Web: integrating content and design • Designing curriculum and instructional materials (with both training and e-learning content) • Delivering and testing curriculum and instructional materials • The use of technology, including new and emerging technologies, in creating and presenting online content. This includes the application of CSS, XML, Wikis, server-side and client-side scripting, podcasting, RSS, Flash, ‘mash-ups’ and AJAX.
Castro, E HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS 6th edn, Peachpit Press, USA, 2006 Krug, S Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability 2nd edn, New Riders Press, USA, 2005 Nielsen, J Designing Web Usability, New Riders Publishing, USA, 1999 McGovern, G, Norton, R & O'Dowd, C The Web Content Style Guide, Financial Times Prentice Hall, USA, 2001 Wodtke, C Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web, New Riders Press, USA, 2002
