Tuesday 30 October 2007

Of HTML and CSS

Well past couple of days I've been coding the front page to the VSC. For now I've named it "mySC"... dunno if that will hold haha. Still, the design of it looks really nice. I'm very pleased with it. Works with the Uni's marketing guidelines but it has a Web 2.0 touch as well which is quite nice.

Taken me ages to code it though as I haven't worked with HTML or CSS for a while. The PHP side of it is going to be fun when I eventually get around to that. But we need to set up a server for it all before I get into server side stuff. For now you just hit the login button and it automatically goes straight to the VSC.

I'll try and post a picture of the design in the next couple of days, I need to rework the slices a little so I'll export a full preview at the same time. I may even try and rework the entire site to use div's instead of storing the layout in a huge table. I know it's bad practise but it's quick and easy at this stage.

I'd also like to state how bloody annoying it is that IE* and FF render sites so differently. Why can't MS just render the code normally like most other browsers? Causes such huge discrepancies in the site that you can't get it to look right in both browsers without some bad coding practise! Sometimes I guess your tools force you to do bad things eh? For a change, it's not my fault! Yays!

Thursday 25 October 2007

Of Reflection and Growth

Well now that I've had time to think more about yesterdays meeting I've realised a few things. The criticism we received yesterday is actually a good thing. It shows us where they aren't picking up on the key points. Which means that we can now go away, talk to the people that are definatly up for using the VSC and pull together something that will blow them out the water!

So next on the agenda is to start to get together some content and putting up within the system. Then we can demo, in context, what we can do with it.

For the future we are going to be looking at a Visual Editor for the content. So basically it would be a static version of the site that you would use to navigate to the area (room) you wanted to add or edit content in. Then you will be able to edit text and upload vids, etc. We also want to look at making it dynamically build itself. So the users would choose where to build a room and then add content to it. When the site is loaded it would run through a system of checks that gives it the info it needs to build itself. Should make for a very interesting and fluid site. I wonder if we could get an award for it somewhere? haha. At the moment though our ideas are pretty bluesky so plenty of research is going to have to go into them!

But it's definatly going to be an exciting project to work on! And will probably take up alot of my time...

Wednesday 24 October 2007

Of Fools and Disappointment

First, let me get the disappointment out the way. We can't get hold of a Surface machine. Damn shame! Still, the multitouch meeting I had on Friday went really well and we are all defiantly looking forward to working together on it. As it allows us to put together plenty of material through the final year student (Tim) ready for looking at doing a proper research project on it next year. So I should still get to play with some homebrew multitouch stuff this year!

On to fools. There are many of them. Some were gathered in the meeting I have just come back from. Andy and I were demoing the Virtual Sports Centre we have been building to the sports lecturers. By 'we' I mean 'me' (Sorry Andy :p). There are a couple of them that think it's a great idea and hopefully they grasp what it is we are trying to do. Which is give them another tool to teach with that promotes independent learning in not only a visual way but contextual (in a virtual world sense) as well as begin to link the different subjects under Sport together. More so than what happens now.

However. The previously mentioned fools... oh dear God. Narrow minded are not the words. They couldn't grasp that we want to provide a tool that allows students to see more than just their field of learning. To allow them to see across different subjects, to relate and see how what they are learning applies across many different things. We got asked questions like "Well what can we do in this that we can't in blackboard?"... how about everything we've just shown you. They think that just because that they can upload their own files to blackboard and link it to what the students can see it compares to the dynamic system we demoed today. Er... no I don't think so. They also seemed to think that we are developing this tool because we don't think they communicate or use blackboard as their sole teaching tool. No. We are developing it to aid in the teaching of students. We are developing it because at some point Virtual Learning Environments like blackboard are going to evolve in to a visual area more than the point and click text and folder based... thing that it is. We are going one step (or more) than the game is at the moment. Unfortunately some of them seem to be under the impression that blackboard will get features like this and that this will happen soon. A system where you have to pay over a grand just to have a collapsible directory tree put in and has only just allowed for things like Blogs and Podcasts will not be getting functionality like that any time soon.

Wednesday 17 October 2007

Of Swish and Script

Been completely forgetting to blog recently. Really bad of me as I'm using this as my log book for work placement! Ah well.... not much interesting has gone on recently!

So what's happened in the past week or so? Not much. More myBU problems, more admin work and not a lot else! So not had anything to blog about really. All interesting things have happened in the past couple of days.

First, Andy and I have set up a meeting with a HCI (Human Computer Inter(face/action)) teacher here at BU as she has a final year student working on multitouch displays. So hopefully we are all going to work together on that. The really cool thing with that though is that Linda Hole (the teacher) is actually meeting up with Microsoft at the end of the month about multitouch. So I may even get the chance to work with MS on this! So I'll defiantly blog about that after the meeting.

Other than that I've been working on the Virtual Sports Centre again. Starting to look pretty good now. The preloader was giving me problems until I decided to do it all a different way. Originally I wanted separate files that got loaded into one main one and have them all preload at the start. However, I couldn't get that to work so I'm doing it a different way which is to have the separate files load only when they are called. Which to be honest, is a better way of doing it as not every user is going to want every part of site. So they will only load what they need.

Just need to get hold of a few photos so that I can create the virtual environment now.

Friday 5 October 2007

Of Relief and Colours


Well I walked out of the last induction at 1.20pm today! No more to do! The last couple of groups were returning students and a bit moody. I think I caught a couple of people making comments about me. But maybe just my imagination and a little bit of nerves mixed in? The annoying thing is that it makes you even more nervous if you clock onto something like that!

I've also been playing around in Photoshop today. Stumbled across this tutorial and rather liked the result so I gave it a whirl. Then Andy asked me to start designing some headers for a couple of our websites and I asked if I could try coming up with some new logos for Bournemouth University. He said I could and that he would pass it on to the Marketing guys too! Anyways, you can see my result at the top of this blog post!

I really like it, captures a Web 2.0 feel as well. Anyways, the ideas around it are 6 tiles, one for each "school" that is within the University (Media and DEC (Design, Engineering and Computing) for example), each with their own colour. It also represents an arrow, giving it the feel of movement. But also, and this is marketing not me, it's an arrow pointing to you with BU on it, initials of the Uni but also.... "Be You" thing going on. *Sigh*. So, not just a rip of the tutorial, but a large rework that happened to be a wee bit similar. Naff reasoning I know, but that's the way it is none-the-less!

Comments on it welcome :)

Other than that, it's the end of the week! That means pub time!

Wednesday 3 October 2007

Of Problems and Unknown Solutions

Done loads of inductions today, and behold my calmness! Not gotten nervous at all today, I knew I wouldn't after the first one but as I said before, it's just getting over that initial fear. The first induction I did today though, completely by myself (go me... <_<) was for some first years and I've now had a small complaint that it was "too short". Well it can't be any longer than it takes to show the students what they need to know! I know that I covered anything and if the students don't know anything they should have asked questions and they didn't! It's not my problem if they don't listen. Besides, the guy that said it to me obviously doesn't realise that it was my first one to a group that size and if I did miss anything it was because of nerves and at the end of the day the students can work it out! When myBU came into use my course didn't get any sort of induction to it!

We are also starting to see cracks in the software. Teaching materials aren't displaying properly and the guys that look after myBU are blaming it on the teachers. It's possible yes, but it could also be myBU espically as the system is breaking anyways! Ah well... blame has always, and always will be, pushed around until it lands on someone unsuspecting!

Tuesday 2 October 2007

Of Inductions and Realisation

Well I've just done my first induction... to six people. Who seemed to already know what I was talking about. Which, in a way, I guess made it a little harder as what I said my contradict what they've already been told.

However, it really wasn't that bad. I knew it wouldn't be once I got in there but it's that initial fear. I may do the next induction as well, however thats to a lecture theater. If not, then I'm forced to do some tomorrow. Which may be better as at least then I know theres no way out!

Thinking about it, I need to slow down a little. I talk way too quick when I'm nervous and I may skip over things. Or miss them out completely. I think I covered everything though so it's all good.

Monday 1 October 2007

Of Nerves and Bricks

Today was the first day of the uni term. It's amazing how busy the uni gets pretty much over night. Lots more staff and a hell of a lot more students.

This week also finally means inductions. That means demonstrating myBU to large groups of students. Joy. I sat in one that Andy did today and just sat at the front watching him do the induction made me fill my pants with bricks. I have to do my first one tomorrow and I just know I'm going to mess it up hahaha. But, I guess what's the worst that can happen? Andy will be there in case I do anything completely wrong. At the end of the day it's only going "This does this, this doesn't work, this is pants, this allows you to email every bugger in the university so don't press this button... crap... I hope everyone likes that blank email..."

I guess I'll be fine after my first one but it's getting over that first one... first. So handful of readers, wish me luck and pray with me that I don't destroy something in the process of making myself look like a complete idiot as I stammer over my words, shake like a leaf and generally feel like I'm losing my sanity out of my arse.

EDIT: Thought some people may find this amusing.