Macromedia MX ELearning : Advanced Training from the Source

by Bardzell, Jeffrey

• ISBN13: 9780201795363
• ISBN10: 0201795361
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback w/CD
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Macromedia Press

Summary

With International Data Corp. projecting e-learning to be an $11.5 billion industry by 2003, the demand for interactive multimedia learning applications is on the rise. And Macromedia's Studio MX design tools--including Flash MX, Dreamweaver MX, and ColdFusion MX--provide the ideal solution. But figuring out how to combine these products to create the perfect active-learning applications for your purposes can be tricky--which is why you needMacromedia MX eLearning: Advanced Training from the Source.Using project-based lessons, e-learning specialist and veteran author Jeffrey Bardzell takes you through the paces of these solutions, demonstrating how you can use them to create e-learning applications for both academic and corporate environments. Moving at your own pace, you'll learn by doing through the tutorials and hands-on instructions that have become the hallmark of this popular series. By the time you reach the end of this volume, you will have built four e-learning projects: one in Dreamweaver, two in Flash, and one that uses ColdFusion, Dreamweaver, and Flash to create a front-end for a complete ColdFusion-driven Web application. In the process, you'll learn how to create drag-and-drop interactivity, fill-in-the-blank dynamic text, hotspots, and a host of other useful e-learning features, including how to track scores and provide on-the-fly user feedback by connecting to a database through ColdFusion. Whether you're a corporate or government trainer or an educator grappling with the challenges of distance learning, you'll find what you need to provide the training your people require inMacromedia MX eLearning: Advanced Training from the Source.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Preparing an Elearning Project	p. 6
Reviewing the Final Project
Defining the Site
Building a Reusable Page Template
Attaching a Style Sheet
Applying CSS Styles
Wrapping Up the Reusable Template
Authoring Web Pages	p. 30
Creating a Page Using the Template and a Script
Formatting the Page with CSS
Adding and Aligning an Image
Adding Hyperlinks
Naming and Saving the Page
Introducing the Branching Circlefinder Interaction
Exploring the Prepared Files
Creating the Virtuous File
Creating the Circle 1 File
Dynamic Learning Interactions	p. 56
Creating the First Branch Using Standard Hyperlinks
Creating a CSS Style
Creating CSS Rollovers with Pseudoclasses
Using Hotspots for Branch Navigation
Adding a Jump Menu for Branch Navigation
Interactive DHTML Quizzes	p. 80
Introducing DHTML
Preparing for the Question 1 Interaction
Programming Question 1 with the Show-Hide Layers Behavior
Programming Question 2 with the Drag Layer Behavior
Programming Quiz 3 Using Set Text of Layer
Introducing the CourseBuilder Extension
Building a Flash Video Simulation	p. 110
Introducing the Tutorial
Preparing the File
Creating the Pages
Adding the Directions
Animating the Cursor
Scripting the Interactivity
Interactive Simulations	p. 138
Introducing the Tutorial
Preparing the Timeline
Inserting Screenshots
Adding Main Page Elements
Creating Interactive Hotspots
Creating Input Text Fields
Checking Input & Displaying Errors	p. 168
Outlining the Problem
Building the Error Message Dialog
Adding Functioning OK and Close Buttons to the Error Dialog
Using Conditional Logic to Respond to User Input
Disabling the Hand Cursor over Hotspots
Flash Site Architecture	p. 194
Drawing Blueprints
Building a Container Movie Clip to Hold Loaded Movies
Loading Movies into the Container Movie Clip
Using a Toggle Variable to Control Loading Versus Unloading
Controlling Loaded Movie Timelines from the Main Movie
Setting Text Dynamically	p. 216
An Interactive Map of Dante's Inferno
Preparing Dynamic Text Fields
Adding the Scrollbar Component
Formatting Dynamic Text
Adding the Quick Tip Pop-Ups
Drag-and-Drop Interactions	p. 240
Drag and Drop Inferno
Creating Basic Drag-and-Drop Interactivity
Creating Drag-and-Drop Targets
Providing Dynamic Feedback
Adding an Originating Target
Resetting Drag-and-Drop Directions Using Global Variables
Assembling the Complete Project	p. 266
Creating a Divine User Experience
Connecting the Two Files
Initializing the Movie
Enclosing Script Blocks in Functions
Setting Up the Initialization Function and the Reset Button
Preparing a Preloader
Deploying and Testing the Preloader
Dynamic, Data-Driven Sites	p. 294
Planning the Web Application
Understanding Site Definition Requirements
Problems and Workarounds for Macintosh Users
Defining the Site
Passing Data Between Pages
Connecting to Data Sources	p. 322
Understanding Databases
Understanding Data Source Names
Defining a Data Source in the ColdFusion Administrator
Building the Registration Form
Using the Insert Record Behavior
Introducing SQL Queries
Restricting Access	p. 348
Planning the Authentication Component of the elearning Site
Finishing the Registration Page
Building a Functioning Log-In Page
Preventing Users from Accessing Pages Without First Logging In
Enabling Users to Log Out
Building a Web Survey	p. 366
Building Multiple-Page Web Forms
Maintaining State with Session Variables and Hidden Fields
Assembling the Data in the Survey_p2 Form
Inserting Data into the Database
Using Server-Side Form Validation
Building a Quiz with Components	p. 396
Using the RadioButton Component
Using the ComboBox Component
Using the ListBox Component
Collecting User-Entered Data
Catching Errors and Using the MessageBox Component to Display Them Calculating and Displaying the Test Score
Flash, Coldfusion, and the Database	p. 426
Understanding the Flow of Data
Embedding the SWF
Sending Data Using Flash's loadVars Object
Building the ColdFusion Layer
Retrieving the ColdFusion Output in Flash
Creating the Transcript Page
Testing the Application
Glossary of Elearning Terms	p. 456
Accessibility and Section 508	p. 460
Index	p. 467
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.