Greetings Class!

I'm Kathy Marrs and I'll be your prof for the next several weeks as you learn how to develop powerful web content in IT490 Multimedia Scripting starting on 2013-02-28

Currently I own Marrs & Beyond Technologies, a Web design and consulting company that specializes in database driven Webs using Flash, AJAX, MySQL and PHP. I am working on my PhD (ABD) and have an MS and EdS in computing technology in education.

Now that you know a bit about me, here are some tips to help you ace this course:

1. Read the unit material before seminar each week. This gives you a head start on getting any answers you need and helps you participate more meaningfully.
2. Practice the techniques thoroughly before implementing them into your projects. This will help reveal any gaps in your understanding and minimize the need to troubleshoot later on.
3. Practice some more!
4. Manage your time wisely. Do not let yourself fall behind. Though it is human nature to procrastinate, remember this is about your future and lack of planning on your part does not make an emergency on mine! Be sure to fully understand the late policy outlined in the FAQs.
5. If you cannot attend seminar, it is your responsibility to review the recording so you don't miss vital information relevant to the unit topic and project expectations.

Now please take a few moments to introduce yourself to the class by posting a brief bio in Unit 1 discussion board. It would be helpful if you let me know of any specific learning goals you may have related to the subject and help your classmates learn of any interests you may have in common.

Also be sure to read the syllabus and any announcements I’ve posted. As you do, jot down any questions or concerns you have and bring them with you to seminar or post them in the Virtual Office. Remember, too, I'm only a few clicks away via email at kmarrs@kaplan.edu .

NOTE: If you do not receive a response to an email within 24 hours (except Saturday and Sunday) check your junk or spam folder. If you can't find it there, let me know in the Virtual Office.

I've designed this weekly newsletter to help you ACE the course! In it you'll find tips and other resources along with answers to frequently asked questions and best of all, specifics about how to maximize your points on your weekly projects.

The frequently asked questions (FAQs) to the right provide you with details on course expectations as well as what resources and software you need to succeed. The project due dates section helps you plan your schedule, so be sure to mark your calendars.

We'll be discussing all of these things in our first seminar, so be sure to bring your questions and concerns with you.  Hope you can all attend!

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Q: When are office hours?
A: Saturday & Sunday 3-4 PM ET

Q: What software do I need?
A: Adobe CS4, CS5, OR CS5.5 Web Standard or Premium

Q: What is the late policy?
A: 1-7 days late = 20% penalty
8-14 days late = 30% penalty
No projects will be accepted after the last day of the term.

You MUST email me to notify me of any project submitted after the grading period for that unit has been completed. With rare exception, projects more than 14 days late will not be accepted.

Q: When are projects due?
A: See schedule below.

• Unit 1: 03-06-2013
• Unit 2: 03-13-2013
• Unit 3: 04-03-2013
• Unit 4: 04-03-2013
• Unit 5: 04-10-2013
• Unit 6: 04-17-2013
• Unit 7: 04-24-2013
• Unit 8: 05-01-2013
• Unit 9: 05-08-2013
• Unit 10: 05-15-2013

Q: How can I get help?
A: You have several options depending on what you need help with as follows:

1. Go to the Support Site. There you will find:
• Links to the weekly announcements, including newsletters and seminar recordings
• Seminar agendas
• Project demos and sample code
• Tutorials
• Help Ticket Application - use to get my help troubleshooting your code
2. Join me for office hours (see schedule above)
3. Post course related questions in the Virtual Office (I look there first and frequently)
4. For issues of a more personal nature, use email
5. If this isn't enough, check out Kaplan's Technology Center for tutoring options!

Greetings Class!

This week you'll learn the basic tools, menus, and panels in the Flash interface. This unit will also establish how the timeline and stage are used to present artwork and text in the final file posted online. The use of keyframes and frames will be explored to review how to place new objects on the stage and how long they will remain on it. You will have the opportunity to experiment with the drawing tools, transform graphics, creating graphics and linking text to external sites. Flash is a comprehensive tool; it contains everything you need to create, design, and test the interactive content.

This and more in seminar!

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Q: When is Unit 2 due?
A: 03-13-2013

Q: How can I get help?
A: You have several options depending on what you need help with as follows:

1. Go to the Support Site. There you will find:
• Links to the weekly announcements, including newsletters and seminar recordings
• Seminar agendas
• Project demos and sample code
• Tutorials
• Help Ticket Application - use to get my help troubleshooting your code
2. Join me for office hours
3. Post course related questions in the Virtual Office (I look there first and frequently)
4. For issues of a more personal nature, use email
5. If this isn't enough, check out Kaplan's Technology Center for tutoring options!

Greetings Class!

Have fun!

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Q: When is Unit 3 due?
A: 04-03-2013

Q: How can I get help?
A: You have several options depending on what you need help with as follows:

1. Go to the Support Site. There you will find:
• Links to the weekly announcements, including newsletters and seminar recordings
• Seminar agendas
• Project demos and sample code
• Tutorials
• Help Ticket Application - use to get my help troubleshooting your code
2. Join me for office hours
3. Post course related questions in the Virtual Office (I look there first and frequently)
4. For issues of a more personal nature, use email
5. If this isn't enough, check out Kaplan's Technology Center for tutoring options!

Greetings Class!

This week your project is to add animation to your project.

As you do so you'll learn the importance of controlling the timeline with the use of layers, by understanding the frame rate (fps) and by practicing with tweens. As always be sure to post any questions you have in the virtual office.

Remember, if you're not having fun, you're doing something wrong!

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Q: When is Unit 4 due?
A: 04-03-2013

Q: How can I get help?
A: You have several options depending on what you need help with as follows:

1. Go to the Support Site. There you will find:
• Links to the weekly announcements, including newsletters and seminar recordings
• Seminar agendas
2. Join me for office hours
3. Post course related questions in the Virtual Office (I look there first and frequently)
4. For issues of a more personal nature, use email
5. If this isn't enough, check out Kaplan's Technology Center for tutoring options!

Greetings Class!

This Unit will introduce different kinds of animation you can create in Flash. We will review:

• Motion tweening
• Shape tweening, where one shape is morphed into another
• Shape hints can be used to attempt to control the shape tween.
• Tweening gradients and colors.
• Armatures and how these work with joints and poses

More on this and more in seminar. I hope to see you there!

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Q: When is Unit 5 due?
A: 04-10-2013

Q: How can I get help?
A: You have several options depending on what you need help with as follows:

1. Go to the Support Site. There you will find:
• Links to the weekly announcements, including newsletters and seminar recordings
• Seminar agendas
2. Join me for office hours
3. Post course related questions in the Virtual Office (I look there first and frequently)
4. For issues of a more personal nature, use email
5. If this isn't enough, check out Kaplan's Technology Center for tutoring options!

Greetings Class!

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Q: When is Unit 6 due?
A: 04-17-2013

Q: How can I get help?
A: You have several options depending on what you need help with as follows:

1. Go to the Support Site. There you will find:
• Links to the weekly announcements, including newsletters and seminar recordings
• Seminar agendas
2. Join me for office hours
3. Post course related questions in the Virtual Office (I look there first and frequently)
4. For issues of a more personal nature, use email
5. If this isn't enough, check out Kaplan's Technology Center for tutoring options!

Greetings Class!

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Q: When is Unit 7 due?
A: 04-24-2013

Q: How can I get help?
A: You have several options depending on what you need help with as follows:

1. Go to the Support Site. There you will find:
• Links to the weekly announcements, including newsletters and seminar recordings
• Seminar agendas
2. Join me for office hours
3. Post course related questions in the Virtual Office (I look there first and frequently)
4. For issues of a more personal nature, use email
5. If this isn't enough, check out Kaplan's Technology Center for tutoring options!

Greetings Class and Welcome Back!

Wow, what a fantastic break! I'll admit it's been years since I've had such a glorious time off - from ALL work. I hope you didn't miss me too much and that all of you were able to take time to enjoy your families and rejuvenate as well.

I acknowledge I have many help tickets in the queue and assure you I will be processing each request in order received, so please be patient as I strive to get caught up.

I know many of you no doubt are behind as well and as a result, I will be flexible with assignment due dates and requests for extensions. If you have any pending help tickets, you may wait for a response from me before submitting your projects without penalty.

I will provide additional details in unit 8 seminar on Thursday, January 5, 2012 - so I hope to "see" you all there. Now let's rev up and make 2012 the best year ever!!

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Greetings Class!

This Unit will explain how to incorporate video into your sites. There are two different approaches for implementing video.

1.     The first is to encode the video in an external FLV file. FLV are flash video files, and they need to be hosted on a server. These can either be streamed or set to progressive downloads.

2.     The second approach is to embed the video right into the swf file. The timeline extends to accommodate the video, and it will add considerably to your overall file size. Weigh your options for both approaches to decide which method is the best for you.

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Q: When is Unit 8 due?
A: 05-01-2013

Q: How can I get help?
A: You have several options depending on what you need help with as follows:

1. Go to the Support Site. There you will find:
• Links to the weekly announcements, including newsletters and seminar recordings
• Seminar agendas
2. Join me for office hours
3. Post course related questions in the Virtual Office (I look there first and frequently)
4. For issues of a more personal nature, use email
5. If this isn't enough, check out Kaplan's Technology Center for tutoring options!

Greetings Class!

We're almost there! It's time to start winding down on the development process and focus on polishing.

This Unit will introduce you to loading external content and the use of masking. Loading external content dynamically is a modular approach to creating a file. Individual sections of a movie are created in movie clips and published as SWFs, which are then loaded into the main movie at runtime based upon user interactivity. This results in updating individual movie clips; which can result in a more efficient workflow and a smaller file size to playback online. Also in this unit, the use of a mask is used to hide/reveal content on a stage will be explored. Masks can be used to create animation effects as well.

We'll be discussing these things in our last seminar this week along with:

• Final project requirements
• Troubleshooting techniques

Hope to see you there!

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Q: When is Unit 9 due?
A: 05-08-2013

Q: How can I get help?
A: You have several options depending on what you need help with as follows:

1. Go to the Support Site. There you will find:
• Links to the weekly announcements, including newsletters and seminar recordings
• Seminar agendas
2. Join me for office hours
3. Post course related questions in the Virtual Office (I look there first and frequently)
4. For issues of a more personal nature, use email
5. If this isn't enough, check out Kaplan's Technology Center for tutoring options!

Greetings Class!

This is the final unit - WOOHOO!! It's been a pleasure helping all of you achieve your goals and I hope you found it a great educational experience.

Your goal this week is to add one more bit of functionality to your database project. Though I encourage you to do both you may choose to either allow the authorized user to:

1. Delete a record from the contacts table OR
2. Edit a record in the contacts table

I'll admit the second option requires quite a bit more code, but is a really great technique to learn. I will demo them both in seminar and leave it up to you.

Besides adding one of the above functions, you should focus also on polishing the final product into something you can be proud of!

Best wishes to all of you!

Warm Regards,
Kathy

Q: When is Unit 10 due?
A: 05-15-2013

Q: How can I get help?
A: You have several options depending on what you need help with as follows:

1. Go to the Support Site. There you will find:
• Links to the weekly announcements, including newsletters and seminar recordings
• Seminar agendas
• Project demos and sample code
• Tutorials
• Help Ticket Application - use to get my help troubleshooting your code
2. Join me for office hours
3. Post course related questions in the Virtual Office (I look there first and frequently)
4. For issues of a more personal nature, use email
5. If this isn't enough, check out Kaplan's Technology Center for tutoring options!