|
|
23.2 CourseBuilder InteractionsCourseBuilder interactions allow you to easily build a project from
basic elements. After installing CourseBuilder you can access the
full CourseBuilder documentation under Help If you are developing highly interactive courseware, you should consider using other Macromedia products, such as Flash, Director, or Authorware, in combination with Dreamweaver. Authorware is designed for creating computer-based training (CBT) and is bundled with Dreamweaver in the eLearning Studio (see http://www.macromedia.com/software/elearningstudio/). For an overview of eLearning solutions, see the eLearning product matrix at http://www.macromedia.com/resources/elearning/matrix.pdf. 23.2.1 Inserting and Editing InteractionsTo insert a
CourseBuilder interaction into an
HTML document use
Insert Figure 23-1. The Learning category of the Objects panel Inserting an interaction opens the CourseBuilder Interaction dialog box, shown in Figure 23-2. Click the Help button in the CourseBuilder Interaction dialog box to open context-sensitive help for the currently selected interaction. CourseBuilder requires that support files be installed in the folder
in which the HTML document is saved. To avoid redundant copies of the
support files, keep all your HTML
pages that use CourseBuilder in the same folder. If necessary,
Dreamweaver prompts you to copy support files to the needed location
automatically. (You can copy the support files manually using Modify
Select an interaction type from the Category list and then choose an
interaction in the dialog box's Gallery tab. By default, the
CourseBuilder Interaction dialog box shows interactions available for
4.0+ browsers. Targeting 3.0 browsers limits you to Multiple Choice,
Text Entry, and Action Manager interactions. Because CourseBuilder is
extensible, you can add your own interactions to the built-in ones
using Modify
Click OK to insert an interaction, which adds an
<interaction>
tag to your HTML document. You can select the
<interaction> tag using the Tag Selector.
You can open the Property inspector by double-clicking the
CourseBuilder placeholder icon that represents each interaction in
the Document window (the placeholder looks like the icon shown in
Figure 23-1). To edit the selected interaction, use
Modify Interactions automatically add HTML <form> tags to your document. There can be more than one interaction per page, each with its own <form> tag. An HTML page can contain both CourseBuilder interactions and standard HTML elements. As shown in the CourseBuilder tutorial, you can also augment an interaction with HTML elements from the Objects panel. For example, you might add a button with a link to the next page of a quiz. However, don't add more <form> tags to existing interactions and don't nest <interaction> tags. Use the "Insert in Layer (4.0+ browsers only)" checkbox in the Property inspector to place the CourseBuilder interaction within a layer, which allows you to position it on the page. If you insert an interaction within a layer, avoid nesting layers within the interaction, as NN4 doesn't handle nested layers very well. Let's take a brief look at each type of built-in interaction before covering the Action Manager interaction, which ties them all together. At the end of the chapter we'll describe how to configure interactions. 23.2.2 Multiple ChoiceMultiple Choice interactions, shown in Figure 23-2, create input buttons that are more attractive than standard radio buttons or checkboxes. Select a Multiple Choice interaction from the Gallery tab. Use the General, Choices, and Action Mgr tabs to configure the interaction, and click the OK button to insert it. See Section 23.3 later in this chapter for details on configuring Multiple Choice interactions Figure 23-2. Multiple Choice interactions in the CourseBuilder Interaction dialog box's Gallery tab
23.2.3 Drag and DropDrag and Drop interactions, shown in Figure 23-3, require the site visitor to drag an object to a target location. For example, you could use it to let students sort animals into herbivore and carnivore categories. Select a Drag and Drop interaction from the Gallery tab. Use the General, Elements, Pairs, and Action Mgr tabs to configure the interaction, and click the OK button to insert it. (The Elements tab configures the draggable objects and their targets. The Pairs tab specifies correct and incorrect pairings among drag and drop objects.) Figure 23-3. Drag and Drop interactions The CourseBuilder tutorial under Help 23.2.4 ExploreExplore interactions, shown in Figure 23-4, allow visitors to select among multiple hotspots in an image to access more information about an item. Select an Explore interaction from the Gallery tab. Use the General, Hot Areas, and Action Mgr tabs to configure the interaction, and click the OK button to insert it. Figure 23-4. Explore interactions The CourseBuilder tutorial under Help 23.2.5 ButtonButton interactions, shown in Figure 23-5, allow visitors to set a button's state. Choose between the two basic button styles on the Gallery tab, and then configure the button's appearance on the General tab. Use the Action Mgr tab to configure the interaction, and click the OK button to insert it. Figure 23-5. Button interactions The documentation under Help 23.2.6 Text EntryText Entry interactions, shown in Figure 23-6, implement single- or multiline entry fields. You can evaluate the accuracy of text responses by searching the response for chosen words or phrases. You can also provide a list of correct and incorrect responses to a question. Select one of the two Text Entry interactions from the Gallery tab. Use the General, Responses, and Action Mgr tabs to configure the interaction, and click the OK button to insert it. Figure 23-6. Text Entry interactions 23.2.7 TimerTimer interactions, shown in Figure 23-7, can limit the time allowed for a user action and provide a timer that counts up or down. You can choose between single- and multiple-target timers. Choose between the two basic Timer styles on the Gallery tab, and configure the timer's appearance with the General tab. Use the Triggers and Action Mgr tabs to configure the interaction, and click the OK button to insert it. Figure 23-7. Timer interactions The documentation under Help 23.2.8 SliderSlider interactions, shown in Figure 23-8, allow users to provide input using a slider bar. For example, slider bars can be used to rate how users feel about a specific test question or to set the volume of background music. You can choose between single- and multiple-selection range sliders. Choose between the two basic Slider styles on the Gallery tab, and configure the slider's appearance on the General tab. Use the Ranges and Action Mgr tabs to configure the interaction, and click the OK button to insert it. Figure 23-8. Slider interactions The documentation under Help 23.2.9 Action Manager TemplateAn Action Manager object can manage other CourseBuilder interactions on a page. It can collect the results of other interactions, such as multiple-choice questions, and submit those results to a computer-managed instruction (CMI) system. Don't confuse an Action Manager object, which defines actions regarding other CourseBuilder interactions on the page, with the Action Mgr tab, which defines the conditions and actions for each individual interaction Figure 23-9 shows the General tab of the Action
Manager interaction (a.k.a. the Action Manager template). The General
tab can be used, for example, to tell CourseBuilder to judge the
other interactions on the page when the user clicks a button (such as
a Submit button). The documentation under Help Figure 23-9. General tab of the default Action Manager interaction |
|
|
Using
CourseBuilder. The elaborate help files documents each interaction
type. Help buttons also appear in each tab of the CourseBuilder
Interaction dialog box (see 
