Introducing the pipwerks e-learning development forum

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

I decided to create a simple forum dedicated to e-learning development. I’m not saying I have the answers, but I’m hoping I can at least foster some good conversations and maybe get some of my peers talking and helping each other out. I’m also hoping to use the forum to promote web standards in e-learning development (as Martha says, “it’s a good thing”).

Flash demos for SCORM ActionScript classes now available

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

Finally got around to making some Flash files that demonstrate the pipwerks SCORM ActionScript classes. I’ve created examples for both AS2 and AS3. You can get them here.

Both of these examples have been successfully tested using the latest ADL test suites for SCORM 1.2 and 2004.

Building eLearning courses: Should we use eLearning authoring tools?

Sunday, January 20th, 2008

Buckle your seatbelts, you may not like this statement: Most eLearning tools do not promote the creation of effective courses, do not promote web standards, and do not promote accessibility; they merely make cookie-cutter course development easier for technically inexperienced course developers.

There, I’ve said it. Please don’t hate me.

Loading Captivate files into an AS3 Flash SWF

Monday, January 14th, 2008

Update April 7, 2008: I’ve written a new AS3 class named LegacyCaptivateLoader that uses ExternalInterface to bridge the AS3 SWF and the Captivate SWF. Check it out.
I guess I’m late to the party, but I only recently realized that although a Flash Player 9 SWF can load an older Flash Player 6/7/8 SWF, it [...]

Vertical centering — without using tables!

Tuesday, May 8th, 2007

Every now and then, a developer will come up against something that was SOOOO easy with table-based layouts and winds up being a royal pain with CSS-based layouts. One of these “d’oh!” moments is when you try to vertically center an element on your web page. Umm… hang on, let me rephrase that: One of these “d’oh!” moments is when you try to vertically center an element on your web page when using Internet Explorer 6.