By Ron VandenBoom
Young and old alike will be able to learn the fascinating world of Web page design at Cabin Fever 01.
Classes will be held for age groups ranging from fifth grade through adult, said Lanny Wilke, assistant professor of business at MSU-Northern and instructor for the class.
Class for students in grades 5-8 will be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27 and classes for students grades 9-12 will be held Thursday, Dec. 28, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Adult class will be held Friday, Dec. 29, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All classes will be held in room 317 in Cowan Hall.
Wilke said that each class will be designed to be appropriate for each age group.
Younger students will be creating sites that are not quite as complicated as sites created by older students, Wilke said, but they will contain links to sites that are age appropriate and that interest the student personally.
The site will not contain personal photographs of the children, Wilke said.
Students will also learn how to post whatever text they want on their site.
Wilke said all the sites created by the students, for the safety of the children, will be posted at the University on his computer where only those people who obtain the Web address from the student, such as parents or grandparents, will be able to gain access.
Older student in grades 9-12 will still have their creations posted on Wilke's computer, but he said he expects the level of complexity of the sites to increase with the older student.
"Adults will be able to create whatever is of interest to them," Wilke said. "The content will be up to them."
Classes will be taught using Microsoft Front Page Web building software and students will not be required to learn html code in the classes.
Wilke said he believes most of the adult students take the class out of curiosity, but there are always some that take the class because it is job related.
Wilke has taught Web page design in his regular classes at Northern and has also taught various subjects for the past five years as part of Cabin Fever program. Web design is something that is of interest to him.
"I think I learn as much as the students do," he said.
All students will have the opportunity to search the Web for their favorite sites and to get ideas and to download graphics and pictures they may want to use on their own site. Students will also be provided two disks on which they can download their creation onto their own computer at home.
A lunch is included in the price of the class.
Cost of the adult class is $45 if the student registers prior to Dec. 21. The cost after Dec. 21 will be $60.
The cost of the two classes for grade school and high school age students is $25 prior to Dec. 21 and $40 after Dec. 21.
Class size is limited to 20 people due to the number of computers available.
Registration forms are available at the Hill County Extension Office in the basement of the Hill County Courthouse.
For more information call 265-5481 ext. 233.
