 
Glenn Hoyle's Distance Learning, and AT&T's Virtual Classroom: Both sites are great fun and info!: One comment I would like to make about Mandel's Golden Rules is that not ALL of it is readily applicable to the Web, but rather to authored environments that perhaps "pull" from the abilities of a user's own PC and installed software or plugins, or from a CD. For instance, his section on allowing the user to define and change their environment ... most Web sites, even online courseware, don't include, for instance, the ability to pull up a creative or text software. There are many Web TOOL pages that now allow for this ... but even those sites experience a real drag in the operation of these tools. The most common is a text editor, and the setup feels similar to the online email boxes, for constructing written items. But I don't see this happening right away in course design ... although I sure have considered it, which is why I've checked out the new offerings in web-based tools such as this. For instance, I think that to be able to have the option for a "drawing center" in a web course, would be delightful. The closest I've come to be able to actualize this, would be to set up a link to one of these sites. AT&T's Virtual Classroom was intense fun for me! Their site is clean and easy to navigate, and does pull from Mandel's Golden Rules, quite a bit. My one complaint was the download time ... but, this is coming out of Asia, so that may be the reason. I was impressed with their recent contest, and I thought the layout and design for perusing the data on the contest, was quite well done. Just the listing of 100 participating schools and the websites, was a daunting job. I liked that they designed the pages to pop up in separate pages, so as to not lose your way with the Virtual Classroom page. I've adopted this theme in my own web site, and my Space Artist online course. Once the user recognizes this tactic, it makes navigation much easier, I believe. As for Hoyle's site! I thank Bev for including this link, as I've not gone to his Distance Learning site since some papers in my Master's Degree. Although I despise the use of frames ... his site is more organized and easier to navigate than it used to be. I liked the new layout as it gives a well organized path to an INCREDIBLE amount of information. I had to laugh when I read his note that he'd started a discussion/bulletin board section where folks can post all of their links to ED and DL sources ... kind of an implied admission that the amount of information is HUGE ... let the users do part of the work! Again, I feel that Hoyle's site sports much of the layout and user interface rules, as described by Mandel. One thing I did notice, and have really started paying attention to, since our Forum has talked so much about font size .... many sites are using smaller fonts (mine included). However, to be fair, many of us are using vastly upgraded monitors from a year or two/three ago ... and the resolution has a lot to do with it. On both sites, I did some surfing around. One thing I am noticing on the ED related sites, is that you are seeing more and more from very distant places. A couple of years ago, most of the links were U.S. based, and that certainly isn't true anymore. One thing I found delightful on the Virtual Classroom site, was its link to their page in Japanese. I don't have the fonts installed, but I was amazed that much could be gleaned from the existing layout. In the future, I am certain that more designers will begin to design to the global audience. On my own community web site, I've got links for translation software and web tools ... and eventually will have many items in different languages. This is in the same league as designing for special abilities, in my opinion. It's my experience in web development that, once a main site has been designed ... to take it to a bare-bones, simple links type of page, is not that difficult. The same will probably be true of translating and construction of "companion sites" to one's main web site. I think that the actual construction won't be the challenge ... the real problems will reside in the MANAGEMENT of so many pages.
WebSpinner@refuge-earth.org ( that's me — Leanne! )
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