Week 2: Online class

My background and goals:

My background has been in print journalism and I am skilled at designing news pages (using QuarkXpress), editing stories (Word), writing headlines (creative skills) and working with other editors (collaborative skills) in deciding what is important enough to be put on the front page of the daily newspaper.
Of course, storytelling and how to design stories relevant to our readers was a major part of my job. In all of these endeavors, the managing editor played a critical role. He steered the meetings and set the agenda and once in a while (when there was a BIG story) suggested how we play the story in terms of design and headline.

I have joined this course to equip myself technically, so that I can perform similar and related functions on the Web. I want to develop my skills in these two areas:
1. Information architect: I want to learn some hard technical skills so that I can incorporate audio/video with web design. I’d like to learn Flash and basics of DreamWeaver.

2. Writer/author: I have written stories for newspapers. I want to know how to tailor my writing for Websites in terms of style, tone.

I am fairly confident of my skills in editor/ copyeditor roles, but need to brush up on the technical skills required of a copy editor (entering metadata), editor (how to edit Web content, graphics).

Project idea:
I liked Drew and Co.'s immigration website idea. I think our class and this area (Seattle) may offer many good resources. It may have good social value and can be used as a resource by many immigrant families if designed thoughtfully.