eLearning with Dreamweaver MX: Building Online Learning Applications (Paperback)

by Betsy Bruce (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Learn how to create compelling online learning applications with Dreamweaver MX. When designing online learning applications, concepts such as interactivity levels, user tracking, and audience level must be understood before a developer can start coding a single web page. eLearning with Dreamweaver MX: Building Online Learning Applications begins by teaching readers the basic instructional design concepts that they will need to know to create successful online learning applications.

Bruce then walks you through the development process step by step, beginning with planning and prototype creation. Then, she shows you how to add content, emphasizing methods that take advantage of Dreamweaver's templates and libraries. Next, the book delves into the CourseBuilder extension to add quizzes and actions. The next step is to track user progress with Learning Management Systems. Finally, Bruce shows users best practices for collaboration and optimization.

From the Back Cover

Learn how to create compelling online learning applications with Dreamweaver MX. When designing online learning applications, concepts such as interactivity levels, user tracking, and audience level must be understood before a developer can start coding a single web page. eLearning with Dreamweaver MX: Building Online Learning Applications begins by teaching readers the basic instructional design concepts that they will need to know to create successful online learning applications.

Bruce then walks you through the development process step by step, beginning with planning and prototype creation. Then, she shows you how to add content, emphasizing methods that take advantage of Dreamweaver's templates and libraries. Next, the book delves into the CourseBuilder extension to add quizzes and actions. The next step is to track user progress with Learning Management Systems. Finally, Bruce shows users best practices for collaboration and optimization. The web site (newriders) will provide code and extensions referenced in the book.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (November 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735712743
• ISBN-13: 978-0735712744
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #557,407 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing. A few sparks of light., February 18, 2003

By	John Harpur (Trim, Meath, IRELAND) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had expected great things of this book when I settled down to reading it. In particular I expected to hand it to one of my postgrads and say 'Now, get on with it'. Unfortunately, I'll have to pass him a few more supplementary texts before I can say that. The book has a very broad coverage, as indicated by the table of contents, but the actual content only intermittently rises to the challenge of quality. For a start, there is a lack of print space balance between the various sections. For instance, the sections on Flash are very short - too short and really of very little value. In a elearning book of 556 odd pages approximately 14 are devoted to Flash.

The sections on Dreamweaver are reasonable and will get most users started. The chaper on Cascading Style Sheets was good but long winded and I have read better in Frontpage texts. The section (and it barely merits the name) on cookies was deplorably brief and vague. Interestingly Javascript is also introduced here (here is a piece of Javascript that does X) which will be about as helpful to the average reader as inserting a piece of Chinese.

The section on Coursebuilder, which I haven't used, I found useful but vague. I would not be confident that I could assemble a course based solely on what's in the book. Again there was a digression on how Coursebuilder works with 3.0 and 4.0+ browsers. What year was this wriitten in I asked myself? The main server options (ASP, JSP, Cold Fusion, etc.) are coverd in six pages, which allowing for the big window graphics is actually three pages of text, maximum. There is no mention of ASP.NET.

The chapters on user and site tracking really could do with large technical dollops of content as much of what is there is vague, wishy-washy, and you'll say to yourself after reading this far I expected better. You'll kick yourself when you read that the tracking system uses proprietary software that you can download on a demo basis. Bizarrely one the last chapters deals with commands and macro recording - why isn't this a very early chapter (not that it would make a huge difference).

There are a few useful tips and points in the book. The author is right to focus attention on the value of reusable software components. The sections on interfaces bring a few HCI principles together. However, overall I found the book a very great disappointment. It would clearly benefit from much more technical editing as it seems to tire and run out of steam in many places. There are neither downloadable files nor a CD accompanying this book which strongly suggests a vacuum somewhere.

Being candid, this book was not a worthwhile purchase by me and I regret buying it as firstly I had to read it, and secondly it will force me to read yet another elearning book for evaluation.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "eLearning with Dreamweaver MX", January 2, 2003

By	Patrick Cordova (Singapore) - See all my reviews

Most books by Macromedia Press are well written and aimed towards the beginner. This book is neither well written and is aimless.

I bought the book to learn more about coursebuilder and although i know quite a bit about dreamweaver, I found this book of little help. There are no files to accompany the book, even though the author (once in a while) refers to them.

The biggest problem I found with this book is that it fails to explain with examples, often refering to files you were supposed to create without telling you what file or providing a file for those of us that don't want to start from page 1.

The other major drawback is that the book appears unfinished. With a bit more effort and polishing it could be a great book, but as it is, it is difficult to read and very hard to learn with.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dreamweaver MX and CourseBuilder Extensions explained, December 23, 2002

By	Susan Brown Zahn (Champaign, IL United States) - See all my reviews

If you're developing online training or elearning, Betsy Bruce's explanation of Dreamweaver MX should help you get more out of this powerful application. You can read this book cover to cover or dip into it and read those chapters that address your current problem.

Bruce uses the ADDIE approach to creating elearning. She doesn't spend a lot of time discussing instructional design, but refers her readers to some excellent resources. The bulk of this book is a step by step description of how to use Dreamweaver MX and CourseBuilder extensions to implement learning activities. Dreamweaver MX incorporates the dynamic Web page creation that was previously available in UltraDev. Bruce discusses how to create and track a dynamic Web site and describes how to use Learning Site to track and administer your elearning application.

The book concludes with several chapters on collaboration and optimization. Dreamweaver MX provides reports that will help you manage your elearning application. These reports are invaluable when assessing the quality of the application or making plans for updating or revising the site.

This book won't tell you how to teach what needs to be taught, but will help you implement an instructional designer's vision for an elearning application. The downloadable files should help the novice developer explore the power of Dreamweaver MX.