Journal #1: Chapters 1-3 Reflection

Journal #1: Chapters 1-3 Reflection

Robbins, J. (2012). Learning web design: A beginner's guide to HTML, CSS, Javascript, and web graphics (4th ed.). Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly.

Summary/Reflection:

Robbins' first three chapters focus on defining and understanding the basic terms and functions that comprise the Internet as we have come to know it.  Chapter one begins with the division of career paths included under the Web Design umbrella.  She also discusses software packages and recommended hardware along with brief descriptions of HTML, CSS, Javascript and front-end vs. back-end development.    Chapter two discusses the history of the Internet, its structure and syntax and also provides examples of HTML/ CSS interactions.  The third chapter focuses on concepts such as accessibility and responsive design.  The countless resources available for learning these languages can be overwhelming, especially as someone who is new to the subject.  I appreciate the overview presented here which offers resources for further exploration, before jumping right into creating the actual markup.

I am especially  impressed with the development of CSS stylesheets.  I can imagine that this community was ecstatic when CSS began to take hold.  To be able to affect changes across multiple HTML pages from one source seems  like it would save countless hours in revisions.  

I also appreciate the fact that the web standards are not owned or created by any one entity.  There seems to be open dialog in the community about what the standards should be and how they should change.  While I am glad there is a centralized body for maintaining these standards, I am equally happy this body is not a corporation and that the standards are not propriatary.  Several companies maintaining propietary versions of the same product is usually a mess.


Q1: Robbins explores responsive design in Chapter 3.  In regard to elearning, is the desktop experience superior to mobile or tablet?  Should learning on the desktop be preferred and mobile/ tablet learning be used only when a desktop/laptop is unavailable?

A1:  My personal experience would lead me to initially say yes, as I would much prefer to preform any task on a desktop or laptop than a tablet or phone.  I will admit I have limited exprience learning in a mobile environment and am excited to find applications that I am not aware of.  I have watched tutorials on a break, for example and my phone is great in that instance but I would hate to have it be my only point of access for learning on the Web.  The primary reason for my view would have to be speed.  While I could accomplish many  things on a mobile device, the same things are so much faster on a  larger screen with a keyboard.  I do not have a tablet but I imagine that would be a better experience.  As I said I look forward to being shown what is available in mobile learning. 



Q2: Robbins mentions the trend away from Flash, and while I have no experience with it, I have certainly experienced it on the Web.  She states, "Although HTML5 is promising and rapidly evolving, as of this writing, it cannot match the features and performance of Flash."  What are the alternatives to Flash being developed at this time for use with HTML5?  What are the features of Flash that are unavailable in HTML5?

A2: One of the reasons I wanted to ask this question was to find the answer to another question: Should I learn Flash?  With no support from iOS devices my instinct was to say no.  I am not familiar with Flash or the HTML5 alternatives but here are some of the things I found:

The first method is to not use a software editor and code the content by hand.  As I understand it, this is probably the best way to create content as the software media creation tools apparently tend to create inferior code.

Software  packages for creating HTM5 content include:

Adobe Edge Animate - I spent about an hour tooling around with this and it seemed fairly easy to make a simple animation:

https://creative.adobe.com/products/animate

Tumult Hype - Much like Adobe Edge this product features the ability to animated and interactive content and there is a trial available:

http://tumult.com/hype/

Google Web Designer - Google's free software (in Beta):

http://www.google.com/webdesigner/  

Adobe Flash CC - This blog posting talks about exporting Flash elements to the HTML5 canvas:

http://blogs.adobe.com/flashpro/2014/01/23/adobe-flash-professional-cc-for-html5-animation/

I am not going to list the differences in features between Flash and HTML5, but they are listed in the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_HTML5_and_Flash

Here is a fun site that features a game written both on Flash and HTML5 for comparison:

http://flashvhtml.com/

So what is the right path? I have no idea at this point but it looks like this is a space being fought over and as I learn HTML5 and eventually Javascript this will be an important area to watch.  I do feel a solid familiarity with Flash is important as - according to the text, there is plenty of content out there still created with Flash.