I just implemented a component to address a specific need for the SciQ project. They need to have the ability to have dynamic “magazine-like” pages within CAREO, so I whipped up the Template direct action method. This goes one major step beyond the previous Page direct action, which just spewed out text stored in the database.
Template will allow full access to the theming engine, allowing you to embed other CAREO components within the magazine pages (like, for instance, search results or repository objects).
Info on how structured/unstructured searches may help/hinder different types of users from finding anything useful. Could have implications for something like a Learning Object Repository…
Abstract: This research examines the pattern of Web information seeking in four groups of nurses with different combinations of domain expertise and Web expertise. Protocols were gathered as the nurses carried out information-seeking tasks in the domain of osteoporosis. Domain and Web novices searched breadth-first and did little or no evaluation of the results. Domain expert/Web novices also searched breadth-first but evaluated information more thoroughly using osteoporosis knowledge. Domain novice/Web experts searched in a mixed, breadth-first/depth-first pattern and attempted to evaluate information using general criteria. Domain expert/Web experts carried out depth-first searches, following deep trails of information and evaluated information based on the most varied and sophisticated criteria. The results suggest that there are distinct differences in searching patterns related to expertise. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are provided.
I’m working on a new theme for CAREO that is defined completely via CSS. No tables, no image spacers, no HTML hacks. This will provide yet ANOTHER layer of theming for CAREO - at the CSS/presentation layer.
It’s going to mean risking breakage on older, crappy browsers (like Netscape 4.7 etc… - which is still the institutional standard on campus here), but it’s an OPTIONAL theme, which can be used only if desired. That’s kinda the whole point of theming - you don’t even have to know the other themes exist.
I just implemented a “Discuss” feature in CAREO, that will let you (or anyone else) discuss a learning object. Currently, it’s quite simple (by choice, after taking to heart some of Joel’s thoughts).
It allows threaded discussions, sorted by date, and anonymous posting (we’re going to be using it for K-12 stuff, so we can’t make tracking user info mandatory).
It’s a bit quirky at the moment (like when you save a post, it takes you back to the main menu. It shouldn’t do that. I know that. I’ll fix that ASAP - but it WORKS!).
Just scanned the Rendezvous neighborhood in Safari, and it looks like Tim Bray is in the building (welcome to Calgary, Tim!). Must be meeting with Netera - Antarcti.ca has been doing some UI prototype work for them.
Cool, but it looks like he doesn’t have any actual websites on Vikram. Oh, well…
I’m guessing conferences like WWDC2002 will be a wee bit of a stress test on Rendezvous… Thousands of developers, all with Airport and Rendezvous, plugging the LAN. Could be interesting.
Finally, someone who seems to understand that community is not the same as “online discussion board”.
Joel talks about a “third place” that is important to people (in addition to places 1 and 2: home and work) to relax, share, discuss, whatever.
He goes on to babble a bit about how that might relate to software (he is a programmer, after all), but there are a couple of interesting points in there (like how posting rules may actually be a Bad Thing - hadn’t quite thought of that wrt software).
I just came across this conference, mentioned on EdTechPost. It runs August 13-14, 2003 at the University of Calgary.
Randy is going to be keynoting this with Terry Anderson. Should be an interesting show!
Summary: The focus of the conference is on the best practices in e-Learning in both education and training. The latest e-Learning technologies and practices will be used in this conference to make this event accessible to more people then a traditional face-to-face conference could be. Using the e-Learning technologies, we can also reduce the cost of running a conference such as this, as well as eliminate the costs that you would have to incur to travel to Calgary.
I’ve become addicted to NetNewsWire. The first step is admitting it’s a problem. I only realized that it had become an addiction, when I hit command+L in Safari to start going to a site, when it hit me.
I have already seen all of the updates on every single website that I care about. In NetNewsWire. In a couple of minutes.
There is no reason to surf aimlessly through the several dozen of websites that I used to view daily (or at least weekly). I have 81 RSS feeds in NetNewsWire, and they cover the entire range of sites that I regularly check.
I finally got around to updating the Featured Object in our themes in CAREO. The previous one had been there since October, and was waaay overdue to be changed.
The new Featured Object is the “Powers of 10” animation, done by Florida State University. VERY well done, and cool, too.
Oh, and through the power of hierarchically inherited themes, I only had to change 1 xml fragment, and all themes in our repository were automatically switched to the new Featured Object… Cool. We can override the default for any of the themes, if we want, but this works pretty well as is.
I just migrated a bunch of relevant posts from my personal weblog into this one. This is where they should have been put in the first place, except for the fact that this blog didn’t exist before February 2003…
