CALT Home Page ( http://www.aacc.cc.md.us/calt )
Tour E: The Interactive Web
(A sampling of interactive web design links from CALT)
Launch Pad: Any Internet computer
Liftoff Date: 6/2/00
Same Mostly Confused Navigator: Bruce Bird
For those who are reading the printed text for this tour
it can be found on the Web at the CALT News page or
http://www.aacc.cc.md.us/calt/interactive_web.htm
Commercial Site Watch
Rich Media Entices a Wealth of Customers Web Techniques (June, 2000) . "But what differentiates rich-media ads from their predecessors is their ability to engage the user with something eye-catching, interesting, or entertaining. Even I found myself stuck on Tanqueray's fourth hole, and frustrated because I couldn't correctly answer some of CDNow's music trivia questions. These experiences surpass simple brand recall or awareness, offering the customer a much deeper level of involvement and identification."
ActiveAds "ActiveAds is Thinking Media's Java-based system of creating rich media applications that delivers unrivaled power over any bandwidth. ActiveAds enables multimedia like animations and streaming audio, transactive features like scrolling forms and SSL-secure credit card clearing in-banner, and dynamic live media like newsfeeds and auctions -- in an initial download of only 7k."
www.defytherules.com This is an experimental Web site that features extensive use of DHTML. The site consists of one HTML page but over 100 layers.
IBM Site Revamp Gives Insight Into Design Priorities Internet Week News (5/31/00) "Research revealed an important first step for the new site: reduce the number of clicks. User feedback told IBM that different levels of information on the same product sometimes were unnecessarily displayed on separate pages. Other products' pricing information wasn't directly linked to prices of similar products for comparison purposes. Rifling through the site for information was troublesome for a good number of customers."
"The new ibm.com site, which was launched in five countries in late May, makes generous use of menus similar to the pull-downs in a Windows environment. More product data is available on single pages. And the search capability is based on keywords favored by site users, not Webmasters."
"IBM bulked up the live interaction capabilities on the site's shopping portion, which the company integrated into its main site last week. The site uses both live text-based chat help and "call me" buttons that automatically prompt a call to the consumer from a customer support rep. That help is customized by the category of shopper IBM is dealing with."
"IBM's site also lets customers segment themselves into their appropriate group immediately after they hit the front page. "Resource" links to the side on the main page invite users based on who they are-consumer, small business owner or executive in a large business, for example-rather than what they want."
Interactive Delivery
INTERVU Netpodium "INTERVU Netpodium technology creates a complete Web-centric environment for involving hundreds -- or even thousands -- of audience members, and delivering your message live via streaming audio and video alongside rich and complementary multimedia content. Real-time messaging and advance polling capabilities also afford an opportunity to facilitate meaningful interactions with your audience, beyond what's possible via traditional conference call or video conferencing services."
Zaplets "Zaplets are the new way to communicate that turns your email into a live, shared place. Want to set up a meeting? Share an idea? Make a group decision? Zaplets get everyone on the same page with just one email. And less inbox clutter. Send a Zaplet to your friends and watch it come alive, collecting responses and keeping the group up to date."
Gizmoz The ViralCasting Networks " ...is a content distribution service that enables content owners to increase their customer base, create relationships, drive traffic and generate revenues by virally distributing their rich content through Gizmoz."
Nothing But Web?
AT&T to turn on interactive TV by year end CNET News.com (5/9/00) ' "Streaming video and audio for our interactive TV platform later this year, we think there's a big demand for that," Jim Wood, AT&T Broadband's vice president for advanced technology, said in a panel session discussion. '
PocketPC.com Commentary, reviews, Help, How-to, and news about the PocketPC
Mobile Devices "Let a Microsoft® Windows®-powered Pocket PC lend you a hand. The Handheld PC and the new Pocket PC let you surf the Web*, read e-mail, open e-mail attachments, record written and audio notes, play your favorite tunes, read your favorite novel and much more!"
Distance Education
Authors Argue That 'Distance Education' Is an Oxymoron (6/2/00) "Distance education earns mostly low marks from John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid in their new book, The Social Life of Information."
'Mr. Brown and Mr. Duguid argue that online learning and research add value to campus learning, but that they are no substitute for learning on a college campus, where students gain more than "information" from their social relationships with teachers and other students. From mentors and peers, college students learn "distinct ways of judging what is interesting, valid, significant, and so on." '
Intellectual Property
Distance Education and Copyright Apple Learning Interchange - Resources
- "More and more universities are offering courses using distance learning technology, but are their courses legal? The 1976 Copyright Act was not written with today's technology in mind, and many professors are finding that their online courses violate the law. An attempt to remedy this situation may be found in the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, but will law-makers promote education or will they opt to protect the interests of copyright holders? Ten of the best resources exploring this issue are presented here."
Resources
- EOE Home Page "The Educational Object Economy (EOE) is a community of Educators, Developers and Businesses working together to use, create, and collaborate upon Educational Java objects on the web. Currently, there are over 2400 educational Java objects in the library, covering virtually every subject area. These interactive simulations, illustrations, and exercises are available at no cost for anyone with web access to use."
- MERLOT "– an organization made up of leading higher education systems, consortia, and institutions – provides high quality digital learning materials to faculty members who are using the world wide web for both traditional and distance learning courses. It is a "gateway" to modularized learning materials that faculty can incorporate into their own courses. Learning materials posted in MERLOT are primarily interactive simulations, animations, and tutorials that will be peer-reviewed and tested in appropriate educational settings. MERLOT is envisioned as the premier web "portal" for faculty members to contribute to and search for learning applications within their disciplines. It will be the "place faculty come" to find credible resource materials and a community of their peers enhancing teaching through technology."
At the Edge
Ananova Site of the first virtual newscaster.
- Ananova presents the daily news
- A-Files "Ananova's personal pages, where you can find out what's happening behind the scenes and really get to know the world's first virtual newscaster."
project40 - Hyper Island design event (May 27-30, 2000)
"The 27-30th of May, Hyper Island,
School of New Media Design, Sweden.
32 participants. 8 Speakers. 96 hours.
Project40 is an international design event for 40 unique new media designers and creators. Through workshops and lectures the participants will explore creativity and design process in new media.
Project40 is founded to inspire the medium.
Define creativity and work process."