Overview
NMIX 4010 / 6010: Web Development
Fall 2025
Class time: Tuesdays + Thursdays:
- 9:35 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.
- 11:10 a.m. – 12:25 p.m.
- 12:45 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Location: 401 Journalism
Instructor: Lauren Baggett
- Contact: DM on Slack / lbaggett@uga.edu
- Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30 – 4:00 or by appointment. Students should reach out via Slack or in person to connect for office hours.
- Office Location: 403H.
Prerequisites
Students must either have completed or be concurrently enrolled in NMIX 2010. Students must also have applied to the New Media Institute. Class is offered by POD only.
There is no prerequisite for Emerging Media Masters students.
Description
Design, develop, and code interactive web products that function effectively across multiple platforms through an introduction to front-end web development. No prior coding experience is needed.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the semester, you’ll be able to:
- Learn foundational web development skills.
- Gain an understanding of foundational web development topics and languages as dictated by industry trends.
- Purchase and configure domain names and web hosting.
- Create websites by hand with HTML and CSS.
- Design responsive websites with front-end frameworks like Bootstrap.
- Develop complex extensible sites powered by a content management system (CMS) like WordPress.
- Develop a professional portfolio showcasing accomplishments and skillsets.
Topical Outline
- Hello world
- HTML & CSS
- Bootstrap
- WordPress
Instructor Philosophy
I am here to help you learn the subject material, but more importantly, I’m here to help you learn how to build confidence with this material and problem solve through challenges. Hopefully, when you finish the class, you’ll have developed a really solid working knowledge of the field and know where and how to further your own knowledge and expertise.
Class Culture
While our first lesson will walk through many of the attitudes and practices each oTogether, we will work to cultivate an atmosphere of curiosity, fun, and professionalism. That means that you can expect me to:
- Create an atmosphere where everyone feels welcome to bring their authentic selves to class
- Communicate a clear direction for the course as a whole and with each class gathering, activity, and assignment
- Work diligently to make all assignments and activities of this class worthwhile
Similarly, I expect each of you to approach each component of the class with an open mind, a diligent work ethic, and respect for your peers and instructors. How? We’ll get into the particulars throughout the rest of the syllabus.
Texts and tools
Course Site
All required course materials are available at nmi.cool/webdev.
Class Expenses
You’ll need to purchase a dual USB C + USB A flash drive like this one.
You’ll also need $45 to purchase a domain name and hosting at Reclaim Hosting.
FreeCodeCamp
You’ll need to create an account at Free Code Camp to complete and track regular exercises for the course.
ELC
ELC will be used to view your grades.
Summary
- This site contains all course readings/videos
- Set aside $45 to cover registering your domain name and hosting
- You’ll do daily work at FreeCodeCamp
- ELC will be used for posting grades
Assignments + grading
Free Code Camp (FCC) Assignments (15 points)
Completed throughout the semester, these assignments form the foundation of our technical learning. (Assignment page)
Project 1: Artisanal Hand-crafted Small-batch Locally-sourced Bespoke Website (15 points)
You’ll lovingly craft your first site by hand using the HTML & CSS skills you’ve learned so far. (Project page)
Project 2: Bootstrap Triptych (15 points)
You’ll take three separate passes on the same page to gain a deeper understanding of how to leverage Bootstrap to create beautiful responsive websites. (Project page)
Project 3: WordPress Variety Pack (15 points)
Create a WordPress shop using the WooCommerce plugin to explore the wide variety of things you can do with the powerful, popular CMS. (Project page)
NMI Dossier (15 points)
Create your NMI Dossier and build its first page—the one for this class! (Assignment page)
Final Project (25 points)
Choose from a menu of ambitious projects—or propose your own!—to show off all the skills you’ve gained in this class. (Project page)
Summary (100 points total)
| Free Code Camp Assignments | 15 |
| Project One: Artisanal Hand-crafted Small-batch Locally-sourced Bespoke Website | 15 |
| Project Two: Bootstrap Triptych | 15 |
| Project Three: WordPress Variety Pack | 15 |
| NMI Dossier | 15 |
| Final Project | 25 |
| Total | 100 |
Grading scale
| 95-100 | A |
| 90-94.99 | A- |
| 87-89.99 | B+ |
| 83-86.99 | B |
| 80-82.99 | B- |
| 77-79.99 | C+ |
| 73-76.99 | C |
| 70-72.99 | C- |
| 60-69.99 | D |
| 59.99 and below | F |
Schedule
Note: Projects are due at 11:59 p.m. on the day listed. I will check in on Free Code Camp assignments at the end of each week, but they are all due 10/5 at 11:59 p.m.
| Date | Topic | Major Assignments + Dates | Homework |
| Week 1 | |||
| 8/14 Thurs. | Syllabus overview; getting to know you; computer and account set-up | First day of class | Create Free Code Camp (FCC) account; go ahead and have a go at installing the course software and setting up your Mac. |
| Week 2 | |||
| 8/19 Thurs. | *Lauren in Dallas* File Structure & Uploading to the Server | Drop / Add deadline | FCC-1; Register your domain; Configure Cyberduck on your laptop |
| 8/21 Tues. | *Lauren in Dallas* HTML intro | FCC-2 and FCC-3 | |
| Week 3 | |||
| 8/26 Thurs. | HTML, cont. – Lists, Links, Images | ||
| 8/28 Tues. | CSS intro + applying CSS rules | FCC-4,FCC-5, FCC-6 | |
| Week 4 | |||
| 9/2 Thurs. | CSS day two | FCC-7, FCC-8 | |
| 9/4 Tues. | CSS fonts, tags, & accessibility | FCC-9, FCC-10 | |
| Week 5 | |||
| 9/9 Tues. | Work Day | Project One due | Project One due at 11:59 p.m. |
| 9/11 Thurs. | Intro to Bootstrap/Bootstrap Starter Steps | FCC-11, FCC-12 | |
| Week 6 | |||
| 9/16 Tues. | Bootstrap Day Two | FCC-13, FCC-14; Bootstrap Playground | |
| 9/18 Thurs. | Grid & Media Queries | ||
| Week 7 | |||
| 9/23 Tues. | Responsive Design Exercise | FCC-15; Finish Responsive Design Exercise | |
| 9/25 Thurs. | Customizing Bootstrap Themes | FCC; Finish Working with Bootstrap Theme Exercise | |
| Week 8 | |||
| 9/30 Tues. | Project 2 Overview/ Getting Started | FCC; Brainstorm Triptych Content | |
| 10/2 Thurs. | Project 2 Work day | Free Code Camp due Sunday, 10/5, at 11:59 p.m. | |
| Week 9 | |||
| 10/7 Tues. | Project 2 Work day | Midterm; Project 2 due | Project Two due at 11:59 p.m. |
| 10/9 Thurs. | *LB at Coca Cola* Work day | ||
| Week 10 | |||
| 10/14 Tues. | Intro to WordPress/Starter Steps | WordPress Installation; Read 20 FAQs, Block Editor, Plugins | |
| 10/16 Thurs. | Page Editor/Backing up your WordPress | WordPress Playground; Read Shopping for a theme, WooCommerce | |
| Week 11 | |||
| 10/21 Tues. | WooCommerce | Read Wide World of Widgets, Off the (Navigation) Menu | |
| 10/23 Thurs. | Widgets & Navbars | Read Customizing WordPress | |
| Week 12 | |||
| 10/28 Tues. | WordPress Customization | ||
| 10/30 Thurs. | Work day | Fall Break – 10/31 | |
| Week 13 | |||
| 11/4 Tues. | Work day | ||
| 11/6 Thurs. | Work day | Project Three due at 11:59 p.m. | |
| Week 14 | |||
| 11/11 Tues. | Final project + dossier overview // Work day | Withdrawal deadline – 11/12 | |
| 11/13 Thurs. | Work day | ||
| Week 15 | |||
| 11/18 Tues. | Final project proposal presentations | ||
| 11/20 Thurs. | Work day | Final Project Proposal due at 11:59 p.m. | |
| Week 15 ½ | |||
| 11/25 Tues. | Work day | Dossier + case study rough draft due TODAY @ 11:59P | |
| 11/27 Thurs. | Thanksgiving Break | ||
| Week 16 | |||
| 12/2 Tues. | Final project rough draft presentations | Last day of class | Final Project + Dossier due 12/3 at 11:59 p.m. |
Policies
Attendance and participation
As you will with much in life, you’ll get out of this class what you put into it. You’re expected to attend all class meetings. Life, however, is full, and conflicts, illnesses, and extraordinary opportunities may arise. Therefore, you may miss up to four classes without any direct penalty; I make no distinction between excused and unexcused absences.
Because missing class affects your ability to be an effective member of our learning community, if you miss more than five classes before the midpoint, you will be dropped from the class. If you accrue more than five absences after the midpoint, your final grade will be reduced by two points for each day of class you miss past the fifth absence.
Students who miss classes or other assignments due to their religious observance will be provided with a fair opportunity to complete their academic responsibilities. However, students must provide us with notice at the start of the semester of the dates of religious holidays on which they plan to be absent.
You’re expected to be present in class both mentally and physically.
Ask questions. Take good notes. Don’t screw around on your devices. When you work in pairs or in groups, work eagerly and enthusiastically. In short, be the sort of person you’d want to be in class with.
Make-up work
You are expected to complete and turn in your work by the due date, and late work is accepted only at the discretion of the instructor. If late work is accepted, the minimum penalty for the first assignment you turn in late is 10% of its total value per day late (Ex: 15-point project turned in two days late will be penalized a minimum of 1.5 points). After your first late assignment, each subsequent late assignment will be penalized a minimum of 20% of its total value per day (ex: 15-point project turned in two days late will be penalized a minimum of 3 points).
Late work will not be accepted after the last day of class (12/2).
Email / Direct Messages
As I mentioned in my Instructor Philosophy, I am here to help you, but I’m also here to help you help yourself.
So that I can most quickly help those in need of assistance, take the following steps before reaching out to me:
- Check the syllabus, eLC, the class workbook, etc. to see if the answer’s posted there
- Spend 5-15 minutes (but not any more time than that) trying to solve the problem on your own (via Google, asking a classmate, etc.)
- Attend NMIXpert office hours
If you do all of those and still have a question just for me, then by all means message me! I’ll respond to your questions as quickly as possible, but please allow a reasonable amount of time (generally under 24 hours; 2 business days max) for a response.
Office Hours
In addition to being available through Slack and Zoom throughout the week, you’re always welcome to come by my office hours (see above!) with any questions or concerns – or even just to say hi. 🙂
NMIXperts
You know our motto — “Make something work. Then make it work better.” While we’re learning how to make it work on our journey to becoming technowledgeable, there are a select few of us specially equipped to make it work even better. These incredible individuals are NMIXperts. From development to design, NMIXperts have displayed an outstanding aptitude for a specialized skill throughout their NMIX classes. Now, they’re ready to help you make it work even better. Whether you need help troubleshooting your website, debugging an app, navigating Adobe CC, or anything in between, our NMIXperts are ready to help you tackle the challenge! Seeking their assistance is easy:
- Navigate to nmi.cool/resources
- Find an NMIXpert below whose talent(s) align with your needs.
- Check out their available Xpert Hours and jump in the Xpert Zoom Channel (932 2797 1374, password: nmi)
- Hang out in the Waiting Room, and you’ll be admitted once they become available. Easy as that!
If you need assistance during an Xpert session or have questions about getting ahold of an Xpert, please reference the #xpert channel in the NMI Slack Workspace.
Access policy
If you have a disability and require accommodations, please send me a message on Slack or make an appointment during office hours. If you plan to request accommodations for a disability, visit the Accessibility and Testing website or call 706-542-8719.
Service animals in class
Students who train or use service animals should be aware of UGA policy. More info is available here.
Non-discrimination policy
I do not engage in or tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of race/ethnicity, religion, national origin, sex/gender, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, or veteran status. In addition, I do not discriminate on the basis of class, income, or political views. If there is something I can do to make the class more hospitable, please let me know.
Honor Code and Academic Honesty
UGA Student Honor Code: “I will be academically honest in all of my academic work and will not tolerate academic dishonesty of others.” A Culture of Honesty, the University’s policy and procedures for handling cases of suspected dishonesty, can be found at www.uga.edu/ovpi. Every course syllabus should include the instructor’s expectations related to academic integrity.
Students are expected to adhere to all elements set forth in the University Honor Code and the Academic Honesty Policy. Failure to adhere to these may result in grade sanctions and/or dismissal from New Media Institute Academic Programs.
Read the entire policy online, but the short story is: don’t cheat—the punishments for violations of the Academic Honesty Policy are severe. You are expected to do your own work and to report individuals who do not do their own work. As nearly all of the class materials and assignments are online, you may find the temptation to cheat (cheating includes unauthorized sharing of class materials, using unauthorized sources during assessments, and more—seriously, read this now to get a full sense of what all constitutes academic dishonesty) even greater than usual. Resist that temptation. Questions related to course assignments and the academic honesty policy should be directed to the instructor.
NMI AI Use Policy
This course follows a responsible use policy for AI tools. To read the NMI’s official AI Use Policy, visit AI Use Policy.
New Media Institute Policies
New Media Institute students are responsible for knowing and abiding by all NMI policies. You agreed to these policies upon applying to NMIX courses and will be held accountable for following them. For a refresher on these policies, visit nmi.cool/nmc.
NMI Dossier
Throughout your academic journey, you’ll create many things you want to show off to the world. Through your NMI classes, you’ll develop and build on the skills to create a digital dossier to do so.
In this course, you are required to submit the following Dossier requirement(s):
- A Case Study
- A Professional Portfolio
Details and requirements for the NMI Dossier can be found at the links below:
Dossier Details
Dossier Details: nmi.cool/portfolio
Dossier Submission: nmi.cool/dossier
Note: Links do not need to be resubmitted or updated URLs are up-to-date and functional. If your information needs to be updated, please resubmit the form.
NMI Social Media
In addition to Slack, the NMI loves to be social. Follow our socials to stay in the know!
• Follow the NMI and join the New Media Institute Job Board on LinkedIn
• Like the New Media Institute on Facebook
• Follow @nmiuga on Twitter
• Follow @nmiuga on Instagram
TACO (Technology and Accessory Check Out)
Introducing the Technology and Accessory Check Out (or TACO). New Media Certificate students may check out iMacs, MacBooks, cameras, microphones, and more. To make your request, visit nmi.cool/taco.
Resource Webpage
For more information about Advising, accessing the TACO, meeting with our Xperts, making room reservations, and more visit nmi.cool/resources.
Student Services
As a student at the University of Georgia, you have access to a wide variety of services to help you succeed. Click here to view a description of services along with links and contact information if you wish to learn more about these topics. Of course, you’re also welcome to talk with me if I can help in any way, too.
UGA Well-Being Resources
UGA Well-being Resources promotes student success by cultivating a culture that supports a more active, healthy, and engaged student community.
Anyone needing assistance is encouraged to contact Student Care & Outreach (SCO) in the Division of Student Affairs at 706-542-8479 or visit sco.uga.edu. Student Care & Outreach helps students navigate difficult circumstances by connecting them with the most appropriate resources or services. They also administer the Embark@UGA program which supports students experiencing, or who have experienced, homelessness, foster care, or housing insecurity.
UGA provides both clinical and non-clinical options to support student well-being and mental health, at any time, any place. Whether on campus or studying from home or abroad, UGA Well-being Resources are here to help.
- Well-being Resources: well-being.uga.edu
- Student Care and Outreach: sco.uga.edu
- University Health Center: healthcenter.uga.edu
- Counseling and Psychiatric Services: caps.uga.edu or CAPS 24/7 crisis support at 706-542-2273
- Health Promotion/ Fontaine Center: healthpromotion.uga.edu
- Disability Resource Center and Testing Services drc.uga.edu
Additional information, including free digital well-being resources, can be accessed through the UGA app or by visiting https://well-being.uga.edu.
Counseling and psychiatric services (CAPS)
College can be stressful. Life has difficult stretches. If you need help, get it. CAPS provides short-term individual counseling, group counseling, couples counseling, crisis intervention, psychiatric evaluation and medication monitoring, and psychological testing, and makes referrals to campus and community resources when appropriate.
Emergency Preparedness
Verify that your emergency contact information is correct at ugaalert.uga.edu and add 706-542-0111 as “UGAAlert” in your contacts. We will discuss emergency exit routes on the first day of class.
- If the fire alarm sounds, we will evacuate the building and reassemble outside of the Journalism building on Sanford Drive to make sure that everyone exited safely. Quickly move away from the entrances so as not to hinder first responders.
- If there is a tornado warning, we will move to the first floor and account for everyone.
- In the event of a medical emergency, I will ask one of you to meet EMS responders and bring them to our classroom.
If you have concerns about other emergencies or if you have special circumstances that I need to know about in case of an emergency, please speak to us after class.
Changes to Course Syllabus
The course syllabus is a general plan; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.