As a student in Paul Leighton’s Violence and Society course in the Fall of
1999, I found the Internet to be an integral part of our learning environment
– so it made sense to use that medium to offer resources and solutions to the
problems facing our society. When I took on the Independent Study project of
creating a website based on the collective contributions of the class, I had no
idea what such a project would entail. I offer these notes to explain how the
project came together and to offer some suggestions for anyone who might take on
a similar project.
Initially, the idea had been for each student to choose a topic dealing with
restorative justice and solutions to violence, and to make a list of several
quality websites that dealt with that topic. We ended up with most students
submitting links for a variety of topics, but in the end we were able to channel
them into the main basic groups that now comprise our topic headings. The
students were to submit a disk with one file containing their group of links and
descriptions of the links. When I sat down to test the links and add them to a
web page, I entered a nightmare world of computer viruses and disks with several
files in which I never found the links for the project. I quickly dispensed with
the disks altogether and began to wade through the hard copies and transfer each
link to a 3 by 5 index card. (Sometimes the trusted primitive methods work
best.) I should note that computer viruses were rampant on the university
computer system at this time, and no one knowingly submitted a virus. It’s
also worth mentioning that instructors can easily overestimate the computer
literacy of their students, and some students will have trouble with the
concepts of files and disks and may need extra assistance. An ounce of
prevention…
I ended up with several stacks of index cards arranged by category, which I
then tested over a period of weeks to insure that the links were still valid,
often having to rework the address to find the link at all. With that over, I
bookmarked all the links on my computer and began to realize I had to face what
I had been avoiding: the actual construction of the page. Sure, it sounded easy
enough. But having never created a web page or used Front Page at all, I really
didn’t know where to begin. I ended up typing each link in by hand and then
later figured out how to rename the link, replacing the html address with other
text. This sounds basic, but each step in the process was like stumbling around
in the dark – it was literally trial and error. After thirteen tries I had a
working page that I submitted to Dr. Leighton. He had never tried his hand at
web design either, but after a few complications was able to transform the
initial project into the streamlined vision it is today. I’ve learned a lot
about the trials and triumphs of web design!
More important than the technical aspects, this project has given me a new
perspective on social problems. Instead of feeling disconnected and helpless, I
take pride in knowing that our class has created something useful and positive
that will continue. The links my fellow students came up with are an impressive
collection of valuable information and inspiration that speak to the compassion
and concern of each of them. I realize that justice and peace are not just
topics to discuss – they are our responsibility and call to action. This
project is a first step in that direction.
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