Applying Format and Hyperlinks to Curriculum

Applying Format and Hyperlinks to Curriculum-Mapping Text in Techpaths
CA Heidelberger—Montrose HS
Wednesday, February 28, 2007

By default, the Techpaths template offers only limited formatting. The interface separates all entries into bullet lists; however, text copied and pasted from other documents (Word, Excel, etc.) appear as plain text. This loss of formatting limits the effectiveness of the display of information.

To preserve the formatting of previously made curricular lists and materials and to expand the formatting available within the Techpaths interface, Techpaths users can incorporate basic HTML programming tags into the information the information they enter under the Essential Questions, Content, Skills, Assessments, and Lessons headings. Such HTML tags, properly applied, can optimize the functional capacity of the software for authors and consumers of curriculum outlines.

Example 1: Formatting Titles and Keywords

Titles of books are typically italicized. Techpaths includes no separate hotkey or toolbar function for imposing italicization on any text in any dialogue box. However, an author can impose this formatting through the use of HTML tags. HTML tags all take the form of a command -- sometimes a single letter, sometimes an abbreviation, sometimes an entire word -- enclosed in angle brackets. HTML tags always come in pairs with an opening tag that sets parameters and a closing tag that consists of the HTML command preceded by a slash and surrounded by angle brackets. Formatting is applied to all text between the opening and closing tags.

For instance, under American Literature (May), the author created a content entry consisting of the following text:

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The tag is the HTML code indicating the beginning of italicization. All text between this tag and the closing tag, , appears on screen in italics.

Other common HTML formatting tags:
 marks text to appear in bold characters.
 changes the size of the font, where X is an integer from 1 (smallest) to 7 (largest)
 changes the color of the text to that specified by the word XXX ("blue", "red", etc.)

Authors can use this formatting to emphasize titles and keywords for easier visual reference on screen. Authors may also impose such formatting on sections they wish to flag for future editing.

Example 2: Creating Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are a vital part of any online information tool. Readers seeking useful curriculum information about any class will appreciate and expect effective online curriculum tools to offer links to external websites and documents providing classroom materials and extension information. However, Techpaths offers no convenient hyperlink-creation hotkey or toolbar function, severely limiting its usefulness as an online curriculum clearinghouse. The use of HTML linking tags helps restore this basic level of Web-functionality to this software.
Consider the following text entered under American Literature (May), Of Mice and Men unit, Essential Questions:

online: <a href="http://ch095.k12.sd.us/English/Lit/OMAM/OMAMEQ.htm" target="_blank">Of Mice and Men Essay Questions</a>

The function of each tag is as follows:

<a href="XXX"></a> creates a hyperlink. All text between these two tags should display on any browser as clickable text that, when clicked by the user, will navigate to another web page. XXX may be replaced by any complete URL. that URL must be enclosed in quotation marks.
target="_blank" is an option that may be typed after the link address. This option within the <a> tag commands the user's web browser to open the specified link in a new browser window. If this option is omitted, the hyperlink, upon being clicked, will open within Techpaths, in the frame where the curriculum-mapping columns usually appear. The target="_blank" option offers a handful of user friendly advantages:
1. Opening a webpage in a window of its own better ensures that the page will have enough room to display properly.
2. The separate window for the external link allows the user to keep Techpaths open and work with both the web page and the curriculum map simultaneously.
3. Displaying the webpage in a new window allows the user to view in the address bar the complete URL of any further pages viewed from exploring links within the external page.
displays the hyperlink in the blue normally associated with hyperlinks online. Techpaths does not display hyperlinks in this color; this HTML tag makes external links appear more familiar to users. This formatting is not necessary for the hyperlink to work. Authors can format hyperlinks any way they wish.

The HTML code in this entry produces an entry in the Techpaths Essential Questions column that displays and functions as follows:

online: Of Mice and Men Essay Questions

Functionally, on most browsers, the complete line as entered displays "Of Mice and Men" in bold italics and "Essay Questions" in bold. This text, if clicked, will trigger the opening of a new browser window that will navigate to a webpage on the author's school website where the essay questions used in class for the novel Of Mice and Men are posted for students and teachers. The author regularly revises and updates essay questions, due dates, and assignment requirements on his web page. As long as the essay questions remain posted at the specified web address, the use of this HTML link in the curriculum map allows the curriculum map to remain constantly up to date without doubling the keyboard-hours that would otherwise be expended correlating duplicated text within the curriculum mapping interface.

One quirk revealed itself during experiments with this basic HTML coding within the Techpaths software: if the entire entry is made into a hyperlink -- i.e., if the entire line is enclosed within the <a></a> tag, the user will not be able to click on the entry to open and edit it within Techpaths. The entire entry will serve as a hyperlink to the destination URL, and a user wishing to edit the hyperlink will have to create a new entry and delete the old one. As the user will likely want to retain such editing access (to update/change the URL, add formatting, include explanatory information, extend a list of links within one entry to include newly discovered online material or added content, etc.), the user should include some text before the <a> tag to retain some text within Techpaths that, when clicked, will open the Techpaths editing window rather than the destination course content link. In the above instance, the author uses the word "online:" before the tag, not only to provide an anchor on which the user may click to edit the link itself within Techpaths but also to indicate to viewers consulting a printed version of the document that more information is available as a link on the original web version of the curriculum map.

These basic HTML tags open up a number of useful features for saving time and expanding the information authors can share on this software. Simple formatting tags can greatly improve the readability of the curriculum maps. Hyperlink tags can substantially increase the functionality, interactivity, and informative potential of the curriculum information entered. The insertion of a few tags can facilitate the incorporation of previously composed and constantly evolving online material into educators' curriculum maps. Instead of limiting users to bare outlines or brief plain-text summaries of classroom activities, assignments, and assessments, authors can provide colleagues with access to complete documents -- handouts, graphic organizers, rubrics, online texts, etc. -- archived and updated online in their original format, which other professionals can then download, edit, and implement in their own classroom activities. Instructors with more advanced knowledge of HTML and other online programming languages can surely find ways to incorporate graphic, audio and video files, and conceivably interactive forms and add-on applications to their curriculum maps. However, even users with no more knowledge of HTML than the rudimentary code explained here can drastically enhance the functionality, efficiency, and integration into their normal classroom activities of their curriculum mapping activities.