PHP and databases

Tuesday's lecture was really helpful to me since I'm planning of having quite a bit of changing content on my site- which makes use of databases- which makes use of php. It was great to understand how it fits into the bigger picture. I've spent quite a bit of time this week looking into registration pages, blogging and forums to see how I can possibly integrate them into my site. I'm not sure whether I'm allowed to use it (from a course point of view), but I've managed to get wordpress up and running on my server, and phpBB- for blogging and forums. Even if it doesn't get used in the end, it was great to have the practice creating a database on the server, uploading the files, editing the php files to link to the databases I've created, and look at how I can create my own templates to integrate with the blogging/ forum technologies. It's obviously really important that I have a lot of control over the way it looks and its functionality- so I've been playing with that. I've also been trawling through the web and studying php codes that allow a user to register for a site, then log-in. I haven't quite got up to using it yet, but I feel I have a pretty good understanding of how it works. It's been a productive week for me!
The beginnings of a forum on my site:
http://www.tracyr.comlu.com/phpBB3/
The beginnings of a blog on my site:
http://www.tracyr.comlu.com/wordpress/
References:
http://wordpress.com
http://www.phpbb.com/
http://forum.codecall.net/php-tutorials/2014-simple-register-login-logoff-system.html
http://www.olate.co.uk/articles/185
http://www.swish-db.com/tutorials/view.php/tid/601

Web 2.0

http://www.fuelinteractive.com/blog/800px-Web_2.0_Map.svg.png




I've been doing research about Web 2.0 in order to get an idea of what works on the web today, and to see how I can harness web 2.0 principles in my own site. The main thrust of my site is to connect home English tutors with each other in order to help them become better tutors- this can be done by sharing lesson resources, motivating through personal stories and messages, and reducing the feeling of isolation by facilitating the organisation of events. So how can I use 2.0 principles to make this work. Here are a couple of ideas...

All quotes taken from: O'Reilly, Tim (2005) What is Web 2.0: Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software. http://oreilly.com/pub/a/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html?page=1

http://blogs.voices.com/thebiz/web1vsweb2.png

"The central principle behind the success of the giants born in the Web 1.0 era who have survived to lead the Web 2.0 era appears to be this, that they have embraced the power of the web to harness collective intelligence"
"The competitive opportunity for new entrants is to fully embrace the potential of Web 2.0. Companies that succeed will create applications that learn from their users, using an architecture of participation to build a commanding advantage not just in the software interface, but in the richness of the shared data"
I really like this. In fact I see this as integral to my site. I want my members to share their experiences and skills with each other. I'm worried I don't have the skills to make a site that will effectively do this. I'd love some suggestions!

"At its most basic, a blog is just a personal home page in diary format. But as Rich Skrenta notes, the chronological organization of a blog "seems like a trivial difference, but it drives an entirely different delivery, advertising and value chain.""
I can definitely see the value in blogging on my site if all members can contribute to it- or perhaps if they had their own pages. If they can't I'm not sure it will be relevant to my site.

" Database management is a core competency of Web 2.0 companies, so much so that we have sometimes referred to these applications as "infoware" rather than merely software."
While this article refers to major websites with sophisticated data, the concept of compiling and supplying useful data to my users is quite important. The potential to collate and share lesson resources, possibly even using the idea of a 'folksonomy' with user generated tags is worth exploring.

"Operations must become a core competency." and "Users must be treated as co-developer". Ultimately, the success of the site lies in its ability to be a service, not a product. Along with this, the content has to constantly evolve.

"substituting a simple pragmatism for ideal design"
Keep it simple- simple, light weight technologies are successful. Ultimately, I don't think this will be a problem since I will only be capable of developing simple technologies. However, the principle of keeping it simple (for the user) will be useful.

"One other feature of Web 2.0 that deserves mention is the fact that it's no longer limited to the PC platform."
At this stage, it is not a primary goal to develop my site for an exhaustive list of platforms but it is worth thinking about the scalability of my site.


I also had a look at another site that deals exclusively with 2.0 graphic design. It has quite a bit of food for thought, and I may use it quite a bit when I get to the design stage:
http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-design/web-2.0-design-style-guide.php#simplicity


So all of this raises some questions for me that you may be able to help with:
- What will it take to create a blog that all site members to contribute to? Can you rss a blog that requires registration to read it? With very basic skills, can I learn them quick enough to do it?
- What about users uploading lesson activities- how hard will this be? Format?
- Can I embed delicious links in my site and can other users update this- what form??
- Forums? How does that work?
- What other suggestions have you got for 'easy' and 'simple' (but useful!) user contribution and interaction?
I'd love your help!!!!

My Learning Proposal

See below for my Learning Proposal!
http://www.tracyr.comlu.com/LearningProposal-template.html

Periodic Table of the Internet

Networks- Schmetworks

This week has been a pretty extensive learning process for me as I am so utterly unfamiliar with networking and the whys and hows of it. It has, in the past, been a topic I avoided because there is a lot of associated jargon and some abstract ideast that have confused me. My attempt, this week, has been to lock down some jargon and try to get a solid understanding of how it all works. I've listed my 'ramblings' about networks and my discoveries here.

Servers
"A server is just a computer that sits on a network waiting for clients to ask for things." (http://digitalfire.com/dreamsite/whatisaserver.html). Servers are essentially normal computers. There are different types: mail, web, file servers. A file server is like the one I use at work, where we log on and access shared (or private) files. My desktop PC is the client.

A web server is a web host- servers around the world that rent out web space. They all have IP addresses. So does my PC, assigned by my Internet Service Provider (ISP). (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-web-server.htm). When I type in a URL, it sends a request to the website server's IP address, which in turn sends a response to my IP address. This allows me to download web pages from these servers.

LANs compared to WANs.
A Local Area Network is a series of computers joined together- either peer-to-peer or client-server architecture. A WAN is a series of connected LANs. (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/L/local_area_network_LAN.html).

An Internetwork
Is simply connected networks (ie. The Internet).

Protocols
"There are rules governing how data is transferred over networks, how they are compressed, how they are presented on the screen and so on. These set of rules are called protocols." (http://voip.about.com/od/voipbasics/g/protocoldef.htm)

IP: Internet Protocol, defines a set of rules governing the way computers use IP packets to send data over the Internet or any other IP-based network. Along with addressing, routing is one of the main functions of the IP protocol.
TCP:Transmission Control Protocol, used for the reliable transmission of data over a network.
HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol, used for transmitting and displaying information in the form of web pages on browsers.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol, used for file transfer (uploading and downloading) over the Internet
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, used for email
Ethernet: Used for data transmission over a LAN.
Wi-Fi: One of the wireless protocols.

TCP adn IP work together to create smooth internet transmissions- TCP ensures reliability- no loss of packets, correct ordering, acceptable delay and non-duplication of packets.

Packets
Data split in to bits for easy transmission. "These packets contain not only the data, but the sender's identification, the destination, and a little error-control information to make sure the data was not damaged." (http://library.thinkquest.org/C007645/english/1-networkcomm.htm)

ISPs
"The client typically connects to the Internet by calling the host computer of the Internet Service Provider (ISP). This computer is directly hooked up to the Internet; thus it is actually the real client." (http://library.thinkquest.org/C007645/english/1-networkcomm-1.htm)

Ports
"A server provides services on separate ports. eg. telnet www.unsw.edu.au 80" (lecture- Viveka). There are standard ports for particular services and a firewall restricts access to ports protocols.

How Smart is the SMART Table?

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=79920&title=SMART_Table___An_ideal_interactive_learning_center

http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Products/SMART+Table/

This is the new SMART Table- just recently out in Australia. It's put out by the same people who made the first interactive whiteboards, who are also the most common brand. It's multi- finger touch, uses cameras to locate position and requires only power. To control the applications on it, you can use a syncing software or USB stick. At the moment, there's a limited number of applications that can be modified with selected curriculum material on a PC, saved and loaded onto the table.
This is where I see digital technologies going in the next few years in schools. Why? Collaboration is the answer. More and more, collaboration is the fundemental learning mode in the classroom. More and more research comes out that collaboration is the key to successful learning. So how does IT and collaboration happen? Well, it's true that more and more collaboration online is going on for educational purposes- forums, blogs, chat, pages that allow group contribution, and these modes of learning are becoming more popular. However, many teachers find these types of learning modes confrontational because they are not digital natives. They can become quite complex and overwhelming for teachers who are at much lower technology user levels than their students. And I think it's not hard to make a case for face-to-face collaboration as a useful learning mode.
So how else can we collaborate with IT in the equation? Well interactive whiteboards can facilitate class collaboration, but only one or two students can touch a board at a time.
Students can sit next to each other on one computer and discuss their work- but we all know the drawbacks of that-only one student can control the computer at once.
That's why I can see a future with the Smart Table. It's all about collaboration. Lots of kids can have their fingers on it at once. A group of kids can easily see the activity in front of them, discuss it and all students can see the other student's progress.
So what about applications? I'd love to get my teeth into designing some great learning tools for this. At the moment, the main drawback is the limited set of activites you can do on it and (in my opinion) the lack of imagination for the activities the have created. I think they need to get their head around the fact that a different learning mode means completely different activities (not the old-fashion mulitple choice question). The other limitation is also, of course, the price. At $10000 a pop (in Australia) it's going to have to come down in price before it's benefits can justify it's costs.
I'd be interested to know what others think of it...

Criticism- Ahh

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/03/02/web-design-criticism-a-how-to/

The above article got me thinking about feedback, criticism and and assessment in different fields. As a teacher, feedback is easy- you know you're not doing a good job because your students react to it. As a primary teacher, it's not hard to know a lesson isn't going well. Children let it all show- the body language is clear, the behavour is clear. And as a teacher, you can respond to it. Adults are harder- much more controlled in their reactions. You can't necessarily read an adult and gauge how they are reacting. They won't tell you the whole truth unless they want to. And adults can be embarassed about giving (much needed) negative feedback. In my experience, most adults will avoid giving criticism unless they can absolutely help it. Which makes it hard if we want to grow, learn and develop. The web is even worse for this. You develop a site, it goes live. You don't see your user, you don't exactly know how they're using the site, you don't know what they think of the content. Of course you can do some formal research, but we rely on informal feedback most in our daily lives. I run online training sometimes from my office. I hate it, because I have no idea how it's going because I can't see my audience or share their experience.
I'm really looking forward to taking this course because I want to learn, develop and grow as a designer. I don't enjoy getting negative feedback, but I'm looking forward to being a better designer. The article was a good reminder to me about how to take criticism, to put it all in perspective and also how to be a better judge of my own work. I plan to come back to these guidelines and read them again as I'm working so I've got some more objective tools from which I can judge my own work. It's very easy to focus on the look of the site and forget the usability and content. Particularly in a field where response is not so easy to gauge, it's good to have some tools and guidelines to try to work out whether something works or not.

What did Berners-Lee get us into?

I came across this interview with Berners-Lee from BBC today- the creator of the first website. It got me thinking not just about how the web has changed, but also how people have changed because of the web. Can people be changed by one piece of technology in the space of 14 years? And to what extent are we better off?- as the interviewer so clearly keeps asking throughout the interview.

I'm not old enough to really talk about what life was like 'before' and 'after' because I'm a digital native (Prensky, 2001)- I essentially grew up with it. But for most people not much older than me, there is definitely a sense of 'before the web' and 'after the web'.

So have they actually been changed by it? In my humble opinion, there are those who use it to do the old things in new ways and those who use it to do new things in new ways. Those are the people who have actually been changed by it.

Let me illustrate with an example from my field: I teach interactive whiteboards. One of the features is a screen shade- you black out the screen and drag a handle to revel parts of the screen at a time. It always amuses me that the older teachers particularly 'Ooo' and 'Ahh' at this bizarrely simple, and I think useless feature. Until I realised that it looks exactly like the old overhead-projector-with-the-piece-of-paper-covering-up-text trick. The teachers want to do old things with new technologies- it's familiar and comfortable, but not new.

It's worth remembering, though, that a vast number of people still live in the 'before', either by choice or circumstance. We all know those that live in 'before' by choice- who refuse to set up an email account, use online banking, order their travel tickets or find out the movie session times online- usually our grandmothers, who can be forgiven because they are our grandmothers. But what about those people who live in the 'before the web' by circumstance? Whole nations and societies are still there, and it worries me that the already vast gap between rich and poor is driven even further apart by those that live 'before the web' and those that live 'after the web'.

References:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4132752.stm, 3.3.10
Prensky, M 2001 ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants’, On The Horizon, vol. 9, no. 5.