Where do we start?
Leave a CommentHi Hartmut! I like the idea of us combining these software programs we find.
Perhaps we should put up a Wiki, add to it a mindmap with links to our various projects (blogs, etc) and also links to any online ‘chat’ groups (like the Yahoo group).
One real problem remains getting lost out here! If we have too many channels going at once, then people don’t know where to start, or how to join in.
So many choices.
Anyway – I took your suggestion of Mind42 – and started a node for us to work from. (maybe)
More and more new software!
Comments (1)Contact with fellow students has led to a flood of links to pursue, software to sample, etc.
I find it easy to resist any that cost money…I sometimes go for 30 day free trials, but often not (I’ll either hate it and have to uninstall again, or love it and be tempted to spend money I don’t have).
I don’t want to link to anything I haven’t tried…but may stick them into these posts, and only ‘graduate’ them to my permanent links after sampling.
[and no, I have no idea why my links appear in both columns at the moment, a consequence of the bug that made me go back to blog format, when the recent update messed with the static Home Page, etc - oh you really don't want to hear about it!]
One of Hartmut’s that looks really interesting, however, is the Circle of Excellence. Even if you don’t feel sure about NLP, you will find a lot more and different tools there.
So far, so good
Comments (1)
Collaboration
I have enjoyed the stimulus of working on this e-learning course. It has already steered me to several collaborative tools, as well as some free web resources I can use for my own projects.
Although I figure several of the students work either in the corporate world, or education, we seem to have a mixture of strengths and weaknesses that could typify a student group we might have to confront – complete with the limitations of access for some (or not enough free time), and different degrees of ability with computers, or with educational models, etc.
Hartmut and I study on different courses, but Net-Trainers has a forum for cross-over between the national study groups, and he and I agree that we don’t learn enough ‘just doing enough to pass’ – because we want to get into these tools in a bit more depth. As the course is not equipped to provide such detailed technical support and training, we intend to co-operate and play (and perhaps draw a few more people in).
This is partly ‘learning by doing’, as well as networking. I consider it really important to face and deal with all the difficulties that could turn up later, if this turned into a job. I also prefer to try everything on offer, even if I do choose favourites later.
Integration
I personally think that Hartmut’s suggestion of a Wiki, containing a mind-map which lays out some elements of the course with hyperlinks to useful resources would be excellent. As we don’t own the course material we might want to keep it low profile, but it seems important to create something more substantial than simply drifting through the projects, ticking them off a list…
And a course index or map designed this way might prove easier to navigate…
Lots of new toys and tools
Online Learning
As part of the Net Trainers course we have to do various collaborative projects, so have just completed a set of synchronous (chat) and asynchronous projects. We also used new search engines to search for useful online software for e-learning – and the ones I consider the best examples will migrate to my permanent links on the right.
e.g. TONIC – The Online Netskills Interactive Course – a slightly ‘dry’ (text-based) set of resources, but very thorough.
Mind-Mapping
The next batch of learning involves co-operation in the use of online software – so initially I have to use some mind-mapping software, and later we will do some shared document editing.
I have tried
- Bubbl.us - I found this fun and flexible (can’t access from library public PCs)
- Mindomo - A little more ‘formal’ in presentation
but I have also tried the flashier
- ‘Personal Brain’ freeware…as I like the Java interactivity and dynamic presentation.
Document-Sharing
We have had recommended
Very quick to make (no registration) but rather simplistic, and needs simple coding for formats. This is a test one I set up for us to try out…
Share documents with something like Word formatting options. As an early-uptaker on Gmail, I use a few of their products, but don’t use iGoogle as a desktop, for instance…
It may grow on me.
I did look at this from home, but can’t access it in the library. More later. Odd that the pop-up should link to Horus Falcon Cult as Astronomy, however (?)
Miscellaneous
While meandering, I came across WizIQ - some kind of virtual classroom
As part of my work I have started using the Learning Pool software to create an induction package for the libraries.
I have started scouring the library for resources – currently looking in Dewey under 371.334 – with books such as “e-moderating” “effective teaching with internet technologies” and “e-tivities”
Of course, not all of that relates to what I find interesting. For a start, I have so few qualifications that I can’t really take up teaching kids to pass exams (for instance).
I assume that if I find any work this way it would be in the realm of getting people into internet and computing (an extension of my current work), or helping design learning tools. (or something!)
Why do students like online learning?
Net Trainers
I have started a course on tutoring online, etc – Net Trainers from the Online College – studying with a small group for the next few months.
As well as my fellow students (scattered around the UK, Ireland, Portugal and Thailand!) this gives me access to parallel courses going on across Europe, so I have the opportunity to communicate with a wide range of people with the same interests. Many with far more high-powered jobs than myself.
As it happens, with my work for Cardiff Libraries, I do a fair amount of training material for staff, and have just started looking at Learning Pool (I took a two day training in developing modules, but the whole thing represents a pool of training modules that people can share, modify, and re-use). We are also developing the Library’s online presence, digitalising the Local Studies material and making e-reference resources available to members remotely, as well as access to their own accounts, etc.
Real Life examples
Sophisticated websites
Although I have been asked about making websites from scratch, using Dreamweaver, GoLive, Photoshop, etc – and will happily do some research – I have more interest in content, and always have recommended blogs to people who don’t like code, and learning new software, etc.
Simple websites
Now the same simple methods that blogs developed have become available for website building (like this one!) Rather than the linear format of blogs, with a long string of posts vanishing into the archives (even though searchable), you can now make a cluster of interdependent pages (a website). Easily.
In terms of changing the ‘look’ I offer these examples.
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For this WordPress site I have chosen a clean, bright, neutral look.
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Similarly, my cv /resume online as tutor, using Google’s Page Creator (beta) .
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For my film work I have stayed with a characteristic blue-green range (Google Pages) as my ‘theme’.
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Likewise with my creative writing site (Google pages).
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The house style of my late night / world wide persona seems darker – a blog I contribute to chose black – so when I made a website to go with it I chose a dark tone – Only Maybe so that cross links don’t seem too jarring…(Google Pages)
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I then chose red and black for the anarchic persona’s own ‘night site‘ (Word Press)
I don’t claim any of these as well-designed – but I can make and edit them quickly, they look fairly slick and professional, and I don’t have to think too much about it, but spend more time on the content, and intent…
Complex Systems
Where Do You Start?
Putting a website together from scratch seems really difficult. Where to start? Learn this or that or the other?
I did a fair bit of work with Front Page 2000, before getting into blogs (where the bulk of the work seemed done for you) and these kind of web-pages (I can use a template and get on with the content writing).
Still, what little HTML I know has come in handy for tweaking and fixing things the WYSIWYG systems don’t do right…so I have added a useful link to the Blogroll, for either finding just that one code you need, or for learning the basics.
Where do you store it?
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Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) may include some webspace in your package
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Blogs and online webpage makers like this already provide the storage space
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You can pay for storage space, and an elegant domain name, etc
Note: If you want to find out whether a domain name is available, you can easily check at a site like this
Uploading Files to your website
If you have either paid for (or been given by your ISP) some webspace, you will need to learn just a little about how to upload and download files using FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
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They may provide software to do this, or
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recommend something (perhaps with a 30-day free trial) – but
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you can also find freeware online which will do the job fine.
Just me, I guess
I should make it clear that these posts represent an ‘ordinary person’ trying (struggling) to get to grips with web presence, the options available, and explain it to friends – and fellow lifelong learners.
I leave the door wide open for comments, advice and assistance – and polite corrections to my misunderstandings (or to my expressing something in a misleading way).
In no way do these notes claim to be definitive.
I consider this a ‘learning by doing’ experiment. I will try to leave a trail of what I learn in the next few months, for others to follow.
More musings on web-building
Looking back I don’t think I was very clear, so I’ll steal someone else’s words to clarify a little:
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Themes define the look of navigation buttons, page banners, fonts, font colors, styles, horizontal rules, bullets, and a few other features. By applying a theme to your web, all of these features will be changed.
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Page Templates, on the other hand, specify a specific page layout. They may incorporate Theme elements (for example, navigation bars), but have a pre-defined page design. It is then up to you to add your own content and create a web site with more pages.
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Web Templates help you to create a new web. Using a Web Template will create a web that has a certain navigational structure in place already, with several pre-designed pages. Using the Web Template will help you to get started; it is then up to you to add your content and add or delete pages.
Home Page
Your Home Page will probably receive more hits than any, and may be the only thing people see before they surf on.
It needs to
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load quickly (not too many big images, etc)
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be welcoming (so they know they have found the right place)
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be easy to navigate from (if they want to dig deeper).
I like the sheer clarity of Google’s first page (which hides huge complexity, and assumes people mostly want just one thing).
For an example of a complex but well designed front page (which assumes you WILL want to dig deeper), I guess Amazon is good.
Consistency or surprise
Of course, if you aren’t selling anything then a website can be an art piece, and can have quirky attitudes (for instance, generally when you click on a thumbnail you see a larger version of the same picture – I occasionally break that rule for the element of surprise…for instance, if you click on the picture of me at the age of 4, you get a morpher image – 4 to 58 in a few secs!)
Links to external sites open in a New Window, so that it is clear you have left my site, and can wander OFF, but when you finally close that side-trip window you’ll find mine still waiting where you left off. Just my own idea.
Navigation
As well as some kind of navigation bar, or tabs, or buttons – it helps if the page has a name (I also add a note of when the page was last updated).
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A page name here means that if people save a Link/Bookmark/Favourite, then it has the title you have given it. It is also the name that Google will display.
<title>Toby Philpott’s Home Page</title>
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A page description (which Google will display). If you don’t do that, Google samples the top of the page, which might be boring buttons, etc.
<meta name=”description” content=”Toby Philpott never settled for a straight job or a simple life, and made his living as a comedy juggler, then later as a film puppeteer“>
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‘tags’ with keywords people may search for. They got so misused (with people putting sex sex sex sex , to climb the Google charts) that they aren’t crucial, but I think they are still useful.
Contact
Site Counter
The (free) site counter is there because it amuses me to know where people come from (by countries, as well as by referring links that led to me. It tells me the commonest browsers, screen sizes, etc that people use (if you can’t control all layout issues, you can favour the majority at least) It can imply business, although you can start the clock at (say) 2000, so don’t trust them! A useful tool, though.
e.g. On my website
69% of visitors use Internet Explorer, another 18% Firefox
Most people use Windows XP, and have Java enabled (for fancy effects I don’t yet use)
They usually look through either a 1280×1024 resolution screen or 1024×768
People visit from all over but don’t (in my case) always come in the front door (the Home Page is always called Index, by the way) but they often find the Star Wars Jabba page first (when I am active doing interviews, for instance)
Miscellaneous
Get a free website! (chatty but helpful)
Dreamweaver Templates (some free, some you pay for)
Another Dreamweaver tutorial
Dry but realistic assessment of users, and site usability
Lots of things to think about – making a website
I have not focused entirely on the project I will use as a sampler for my studying to work as an e-trainer.
A friend has recently asked about setting up a website, and my partner, Julie, probably wants to make one, too, so currently I am thinking about what I have learned by making my own website with a Front Page 2000 template. It grew and grew, but now looks quite old-fashioned, so I have to make a new one for myself, too, maybe.
I will paste the notes I have compiled and emailed – although they could still do with a bit of organising.
Using Dreamweaver
I like this set of free tutorials online (have used their Office stuff).
I hope to look at Dreamweaver soon (Julie is a Mac enthusiast, and needs a web page) so we could probably learn in parallel. Their Dreamweaver module could be a good place to start.
CSS and HTML
In the old days you made each page separately, or you had a simple ‘theme’ (like my website’s navigation bar on the left) but people use CSS these days (Cascading Style Sheets). This simply means you make one file which contains all your colour schemes, button styles, etc – and when you make any new page you can refer to that one file to make all the pages consistent (as I understand it). This means that if you wanted to change the look of the site you simply edit that one reference file, rather than have to change each page. I don’t know much about this, yet.
When I first made my home site, I saved a Word Document (my cv) in HTML format, and it was ready to publish! All I needed was somewhere online to store it. Honestly, that’s how easy it is.
WYSIWYG
Since then they have improved ‘webpage makers’ so you don’t need to look at code much (though a little knowledge turns out useful for tweaking) – and can just use WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) software. Unfortunately you don’t always get exactly what you wanted (hence the tweaking).
Design and Planning
To make a sophisticated website (with several pages) could take a bit of planning and designing and thinking through (on paper), about how easy you want the navigation, how quickly the pages should load (for people on slow connections), use of thumbnails, etc.
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I like the ‘Don’t Make Me Think’ principles for page layout.
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And Web Writing That Works is influencing me to stop savouring all my precious words, and get terse / laconic for screen skimmers.
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Note websites that you like (as models).
Blogs and WebPages
Having used Blogger (a rather linear publishing system) for so long, I have learned quite a lot (it lets you use WYSIWYG or edit the HTML). The difference between webpages and blogs is blurring…a non-linear navigation structure seems the main difference. One Home page, with various satellite pages, which can in turn have second-level satellites (two clicks ‘deep’). A mini ‘web’ of pages, in fact.
Free online resources:
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My WordPress experiment uses one of their templates (you can tweak the HTML, but no need, to start with).
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My GooglePage experiments (still in a testing mode). If you have a Google Account and look at the extras (more…) and in Labs, you will find Page Creator.
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With both, you have the limitations of other people’s templates, of course, but they are great sketch pads, even if you go on to make a ‘clever and personal’ one with Dreamweaver.
Online storage for free (and no FTP needs)
I would suggest experimenting with one of the freebies (WordPress, GooglePages, or whatever – there are plenty about) as you don’t need to upload files, etc.
How others see you
You can never completely control how people will view the site. They may have fast or slow connections, look through the different prisms of Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera – they may use a large or small screen, etc.
It’s worth checking out your work on as wide a variety of channels as you can.
