Stacy's Stuff

Completed!

2006-05-04T13:01:00.000-04:00

I truly feel a sense of accomplishment after this project! This project opened a lot of doors for me in how to organize a large Web project and taught me new techniques in building Web pages with CSS. I am probably most excited that I learned how to create QuickTime movies! This is something that I will certainly explore more...there is so much I could do. Newport was definitely a fun topic for me to learn more about....there is so much information. One of my big challenges was keeping it simple and manageable.

CSS Positioning Problems

2006-05-03T06:47:00.000-04:00

I am playing around with my CSS for my project and cannot get the three columns to act the way I'd like them to. I have the middle column stretching and the two side colums are a fixed width but I can't get the height of the side columns to stretch to the same height as the middle column. Any advice?

Home: http://homepages.nyu.edu/~smm438/newport_index.htm

CSS: http://homepages.nyu.edu/~smm438/newport.css

Storyboarding

2006-05-01T20:59:00.000-04:00

Not sure if anyone else had this experience, but I really found the storyboarding helpful in putting my site together. It did a good job of keeping me organized. I kept a table for each page of my site in Microsoft Word and would add to it as I came up with more content, images, links, etc. Then when I actually built the pages it was pretty easy to pull the content since most of it was in my storyboard. I'm definitely still tweaking it, but I think this is a method I would use again!

Lynch and Horton

2006-04-29T20:53:00.000-04:00

I'm back to reviewing Lynch and Horton's Web Style Guide while working on my final project. Earlier in the semester I had printed out various chapters of this site to review. Now that I'm back to the site and reviewing it online, I am amazed at how much more effective I find it as a Web site rather than a printed document. I am really surprised by this discovery of mine since I usually have a hard time reading too much content online. However, I love how they use the table of contents on the right that expands when selected. I am finding it useful to explore different topics in different chapters by just clicking around. This is something I couldn't do while reviewing the printed chapters. I hadn't realized I was missing out!

Designing in CSS

2006-04-29T19:19:00.000-04:00

This class has opened me up to designing in CSS. All previous HTML and CSS I've done has linked to external or internal style sheets but the layouts have all been based on tables. Now I realize how wrong that is (or old-fashioned) and I am quite thankful this class has brought me more up to speed on things. It is not an easy transition though! I am very used to using HTML a certain way and designing my final project is a great exercise in getting me to do things differently. I have found the sites listed in our class "Interesting Links" very useful. Especially Zeldman, Little Boxes and Glish!

Recipe for a succesful web site

2006-04-15T00:51:00.000-04:00

I really like the "recipe" content of Nathan Shedroff's site Recipe for a Successful Website. I can't help but comment on the choice of background color and background images though. Green with white line images of food are not what I'd consider a successful design for being easy to read with black text on top of it. Then on top of that background there are even black line art images. I guess I just find it funny based on what the site advocating. I definitely like how there is an option to download a PDF version and I did that. Makes it much easier to read! One thing the PDF lacks is the use of hyperlinks to examples. I like how the site makes use of those, where the PDF does not.

DRAFT PROSPECTUS

2006-03-21T21:33:00.000-05:00

Final Project Overview

Learning objectives for the site
The site is going to give an overview of Newport, Rhode Island both as a tourist destination and a town with great history. There will be an interactive learning aspect on the site, possibly in the form of an online quiz. There will also be a form users can fill out for more information on Newport.

The audience
The audience is 25 - 40 years old. They are interested in coming to Newport for a weekend getaway, but also interested in learning some history about the destination.

Audience background knowledge of Newport
The audience has some basic knowledge on Newport, enough to have sparked interest in a weekend getaway there. Most come within driving distance so would have some basic knowledge, but not a deep understanding.

Audience level of their technological proficiency
The audience has moderate experience with technology. They can use a computer to surf the Web but are not power users.

Design Principles
This site will follow principles of Don Norman, R. Mayer and others TBD.

Class and ID Question

2006-03-09T19:24:00.000-05:00

I'd still like some clarification with CSS classes and IDs. Do IDs get used in style sheets the same way as classes or are they for one document only since they are to be used once?

The Design of Learning Environments

2006-02-21T20:03:00.000-05:00

I definitley see paralells between the design theory of user-centered design and this article's explanation of learner-centered and assessment-centered learning environments.

I can appreciate how learner-centered environments focus understanding the level each student is at and building upon that. This reminds me of how it is important to know your target audience when designing a Web site or online environment so that the design is relevant and understandable to the user.

Assessment-centered learning reminds me of the best practice of iterative testing. This involves testing something while it is in development, then taking the feedback to make improvements to the design. This can be repeated until a strong design is accomplished. I can see how a similar method can be applied to teaching and lesson plans.

Comment on blogger comments

2006-02-20T22:21:00.000-05:00

I'd like to mention one slight design issue I've noticed with how blogger posts comments. The comments have no date associated with them! I find I'd like to read the comments and know when the date they were posted. They do list a time, but not a date. Does anyone else find this annoying, or is it just me?

Design Issues for Learning Environments by Allan Collins

2006-02-08T12:43:00.000-05:00

I think Collins is on the right track by considering costs and benefits for design decisions. I am particularly torn with the cost/benefit of students using spell check. I see his point that by using spell check students who have more trouble with spelling can easily get past that to learn other things. But I still feel like it is important to know how to spell, and not just get away with correct spelling because of dependence on spell check.

Also, when thinking about designing a learning-related Web site I feel that knowing the learning style of students is important (Collins discusses learning style on pg. 6-7). This would help us determine how interactive the site should be in order to benefit the student. I agree that there should be a mix of interactive and non-interactive components. I would have liked a little more definition around this from Collins, perhaps letting us know how we would know characteristics of students who benefit from more interactivity vs. less interactivity.

Thoughts relating to "The Design Challenge"

2006-02-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

I completely agree and am intrigued by Donald Norman's chapter called "The Design Challenge". The issues he brings up are things I deal with nearly daily as a designer who is concerned with usability issues.

"Creeping Featurism" reminds me of something that's been in the back of my mind about computer software. I use many different software applications daily ranging from Microsoft Word to Photoshop. However, often times I feel like although I use them a lot, I may not be using them to to their full potential. Even though new versions exist which I may upgrade to, I don't necessarilly take advantage of new capabilities. This may be my own doing, or it may be an ease of use issue, I'm not sure. But thinking about this in relation to Norman's chapter, there must be a better design for many of these programs to bring new features forward, or to even help a user use the programs to their full potential. It seems like Norman refers to what I am experiencing as "Creeping Featurism" and he even calls it a disease! So it sounds like I am not alone in my use (or lack of use) of software features.

Theories of Learning and Their Application to Technology by Richard E. Mayer

2006-01-24T21:01:00.000-05:00

This article presents a lot of new information for me as my background is in design, not education or psychology. I am not used to thinking from the perspective of how the mind works to facilitate a learning experience, but I think it is extremely valuable to know when creating a design for a teaching purpose.

I liked how the author used learning scenarios that I could picture such as lightning and paralellagrams, which helped me better understand the described types of learning.

One question the article leaves me with is: Do these learning methods/theories apply to both children learning and adult learning? I'd be curious to know how adults would learn similarly or differently with techology applications as young students.

This is my first blog

2006-01-24T08:30:00.000-05:00

Just trying out my new blog...