• Background
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• Technology
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• There are Limits!
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• CLASS Courses
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• A Bit of Dreamweaver
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Robust Technology Versus "Good Enough"

A decision must be made early in development whether to pursue and use cutting (sometimes bleeding!) edge, multimedia technology, or set a standard level of technology and not allow yourself -- or your technical partner -- to expand past that level. In the five years of the CLASS™ grant, there was a massive leap in technology. In keeping with the research and development nature of the grant environment, many features that utilized innovative technology were incorporated into the courses.

Establish limits for elements within the courses, then staying within those limits. For example:

• Few or no plug-ins
• No files--video or audio--over one megabyte in size
• Only .avi video file format

Above all, establish technology as of a certain date, and only deviate from that when a massive, easily tested technological change is introduced to the world.

Let’s use the example of the legal argument called "Logic of the Beard" to illustrate our point. The argument goes something like this: Let's say, for argument's sake, that you have one whisker on your face. Then, another one grows. But still, you think, well, that was only one more whisker. Soon, two more grow, then a few more. Still, you think, that was just a few more whiskers. (And so on and so on.) At exactly what point does it stop being a collection of whiskers and when does it become a beard?

Technology can be the same way. You might think, “Okay, Flash 5™ offers brand new, exciting possibilities. Let's upgrade our minimum requirements to demand that level. And while we're doing that, we should demand that everyone have the DivX™ video plug-in. After all we want to offer a multimedia learning experience and the DivX™ video codec makes it possible to have videos that are good quality, but small file sizes. And hmmm, if we have added the DivX™ codec, maybe we should add support for mp3 sound files…”

You get the idea. And this doesn't even address a perhaps more pressing concern with using robust technology--namely, whether or not the students will be able to use it. Will the new technology demand that the students install a plug-in? Does it work on all platforms, or is it slower on some? Remember: Most people will leave a Web page if it doesn't load quickly and easily, even if it's one that contains information for an exam. Robust technology or not, your course has to obey basic Web design fundamentals. It will save you a nearly infinite number of headaches if you establish a baseline for technology and don't deviate from that level.

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