Assignment 10a: Using JavaScript Templates

Objectives

In this assignment you will create an annotated reading, multiple-choice comprehension questions, and a written exercise (or fill-in) using the Javascript templates which were demonstrated and discussed in class. This assignment is intended to

Clarify the way in which templates can separate program structure from data
Teach you the procedures and techniques needed to develop template-based materials.

As you work throught this, you may find it interesting to keep track of the time it takes to do this, and also to make note of the limitations of this rather simple template design and ways in which it might be improved. What kinds of instructional operations do you want to do that you can't do with this software?

Procedure

First, plan the content of the three activities

The annotated reading activity should be at least three paragraphs of moderate length in the target language. The multiple-choice and written exercises will be based on this reading passage. Make sure it is appropriate for this purpose: it should have fairly complex vocabulary and grammar. You may want to annotate those grammar and vocabulary items which will be used below.
The multiple-choice activity should be a series of comprehension questions based on the annotated reading. There should be at least five questions. Each alternative of each question should have feedback.
The written (or fill-in) exercise should exercise the vocabulary and morphosyntax introduced by the reading. Question/anwer, translation, or transformation activities are possible, but you may opt for something else, depending on your instructional design and content. There should be at least five items.

Due to bugs in the way that Navigator 4.x handles fonts and encodings for FL input, your target language should not use a non-roman writing system. Use the "fill-in" format to present the written questions.

Then put the three activities on-line. .

Writing a data file for each of the exercises. Put all three data files in a folder in your Hum382 personal folder. The folder should be named "Assignment10a".
Write a menu page named "menu.html" which has links to the three activity templates (including information about name of the data file). Put that page in the "Assignment10" folder also.
Add a link to your personal home page which links to the menu page you just wrote. Label the link as "Assignment 10a: Using Javascript Templates".

The template folder is at HumWWW/newTemplates. COPY the templates to your personal folder. DO NOT MOVE THE TEMPLATES FOLDER from HumWWW!

REMINDER:

If you use FTP to move your files back and forth from your student folders to IBMs or to home Macintoshes,

MAKE SURE THAT THE TRANSFER MODE IS SET TO "TEXT"!!!

If you transfer the files as binary, I cannot edit them on the Mac (without going thru some needless busy work), but more seriously, end-of-line character sequences will not be converted properly, and this may keep the templates from working.