Tips, web design book reviews, resources and observations for teaching and learning web development.
Projectseven.com: Tutorials: PVII Write Styles is a free tutorial and extension that “allows you to write a style sheet dynamically – before your page content loads.”
Project Seven says, “This tutorial will show you how to take a popup Layer controlled by Dreamweaver’s default Show-Hide Layers behavior and make the contents of the Layer accessible to all browsing devices by using the PVII WriteStyles Command to style it dynamically.”
Macromedia – RoboDemo for Higher Education is a new product which is meant to help you create interactive instruction, tutorials, training, demonstrations, simulations and other online material in a Flash-based technology that requires no knowledge of Flash.
I have long used card sorting with students as a method of organizing material for a new site. Now Boxes and Arrows: Card sorting: a definitive guide this guide appears to explain the technique. It is also a good method of sorting through the existing material on a badly organized site for a site makeover.
When all the students in a classroom sort and explain their thinking for a set of cards, you get some idea of what the results might be in a real-world situation where the salesmen, the managers, the programmers, and the support staff organize cards for a company site. It gives a dramatic example of the idea that different users have different goals when they visit a site and designers must organize material and navigation to anticipate those scenarios in their preliminary site planning.
This Dreamweaver Log In System tutorial from Swanilda’s Studio is one of several tutorials by Sheri German. Sheri German teaches at Trinity College and is a certified Macromedia Dreamweaver Developer.
Macromedia Breeze appears to be a product a teacher can love. I haven’t actually touched the software, but I have participated in seminars presented with Breeze, and don’t think Macromedia’s tagline for this product, “Collaborate, communicate and train online with ease,” is off the mark or overstated.
Breeze takes presentations prepared in Microsoft Powerpoint and converts them to Flash, where they are combined with the ability to use video streams, chat, phone conferencing, surveys, and tracking to communicate in both directions between teacher and students.
If you are required to do any or all of your interacting with students online, this product is worth checking out. It also screams “guest expert” to me, because teachers could easily prepare Breeze presentations by guests or outside experts to augment class materials.
Admittedly, I’m coming at this review from a student’s perspective, never having tried out the software. I think students will love the results. And, in my opinion, it would be worth your time to get your local Macromedia representative to come to your campus and give you and your colleagues a hands-on look at this software.
Curb Cut Learning is a new blog concerned with the issues of accessibility, universal design and distance education. It is just getting started, so we wish them well and hope they grow to be a great resource.
Creation Engine: Academic Discounts on Software provides educational prices on software from all the major makers such as Adobe, Microsoft, Macromedia, Corel, Ulead and Wacom. It is easier to shop there than at the clunky online store available through my college bookstore and prices are comparable. You must be prepared to send in proof of your academic affiliation.