1) Welcome to Hyperscripting. Acquire and read the Course Syllabus and all other course materials from http://www.coedu.usf.edu/it/hyper/ . There are NO physical meetings of this class. All your work should be emailed to the instructor at vbmail@coedu.usf.edu.  See the syllabus for more details.  After you have read the syllabus, you should know how to proceed. Get your course text (if you haven't already) and get started on mastering the basics of Authorware. If any questions remain unanswered for you please let me know by email.

2) I do not intend to implement any portion of this course via the USF Portal with Blackboard.  Those resources are much more than we will need.  Email and the course web site will suffice.  However, please feel free to use the Blackboard course site to communicate among yourselves or to make use of the other resources there.  (Don't hesitate to let me know if I need to enable any features or make any other configuration changes to serve your needs.)  Just don't look for me there. Please send all messages to me at vbmail@coedu.usf.edu

FAQS -- LOGISTICAL

Q-5: How do I make real contact with you?

A-5: It is very easy to make an appointment by email to meet with me in my office or to speak with me by phone.  Other methods meet with much less success.

Q-3: Why is the AuthorWare textbook so old (1999 revision of a 1997 book)?

A-3: Because we have been able to find no other text written for instructional designers by an instructional designer.  It is still the best option and, except for some of the Shockwave details, it remains highly accurate and appropriate.  It also contains the AuthorWare 4.0 working model software.

Q-2a: We should have been given the up-to-date version of Authorware 7 with our textbook to use instead of version 4.  After all, shouldn't USF provide current materials for its students?

A-2a: Well, we didn't really give you version 4 -- you purchased it with your textbook.  The manufacturer tends not to give the current version away.  We had to buy our copies, too, and they weren't discounted as aggressively as software from some other manufacturers, probably because authoring isn't as large a market as those enjoyed by the manufacturers of other kinds of software.  Having said that, it really is all beside the point.  The KNOWLEDGE and SKILLS that you acquire using the version 4 working model ARE CURRENT, and absolutely no different from what we would want you to learn with ANY version, and the technical differences are so slight that you'll find yourself able to move quite seamlessly to using the AW7 trial version for your course project.  (See, we actually do "give" you the up-to-date version of Authorware 7 -- we just do it late enough that you won't exceed the time limit on it before the end of the course.)  If you still absolutely insist on using version 7 for the entire course, then be our guest.  Go right on out and buy it (if you don't already have it) and we will accept your course submissions that are written using it.

Q-1: May I use an email account for the course other than the one provided for me by USF or indicated in Blackboard?

A-1: Sure, just let me know what it is. (Also, any student who doesn't use their account at mail.usf.edu should at least configure it to autoforward.)

Q18: Do you accept preview submissions of the final project for feedback prior to the final submission date?

A18: Since the project evaluation is a summative one (as opposed to the formative evaluation of the activities), "previewing" a project is tantamount to evaluating it before I evaluate it, so I discourage the practice. The vast majority of all past "B" projects have been intentional. The "A" criteria are clearly defined and readily achievable for students who have completed the course activities successfully (again, the vast majority) and who consider the requisite effort worth the reward. However, I am always quite willing to do my best to help you address any specific questions, issues, or problems that you encounter as you complete your project.
 

FAQS -- TECHNICAL

Q-4: What is the difference between Restart and Play in the Control menu? When I select Restart my program seems to run correctly and when I select Play a blank screen is displayed.

A-4: The Hooper text doesn't really address this. Play will work if you use it first thing after you load the file. After that, you have to Control-Reset before Play will work again from the beginning of your file. Play plays from where you left off -- at the end if you already ran the program -- elsewhere if the program was paused. This feature can be useful for testing purposes.  Restart always plays from the beginning.

Q-2b: I have a Macintosh computer and wanted to know if I can take the class using my MacBook or will I encounter problems? If necessary, I could get virtual PC software for my computer.

A-2b: I believe that you can complete the entire class using your Mac, except for the final project. The CD in the Hooper text contains a Mac version, which I tested on a "late model" Mac and found to work just fine as far as I could tell.  However, many/most "B" projects and ALL "A" projects are impossible to complete within the limitations of the Authorware 4 Working Model software, so you will need to use the Authorware 7 30-day trial version for Windows. I believe that there is no Mac Version 7, trial or otherwise.

A1: I had this problem too.  A quick web search indicated that this problem may occur when the total of RAM + virtual memory exceeds 2 GB.  The proposed solution, which seems to work for me, is to reduce your virtual ram so that your total no longer exceeds 2 GB.  In Windows XP, you do this at Control Panel-System-Advanced-Performance Settings-Advanced.  For Vista, try Control Panel-System and Maintenance-System-Advanced System Settings-Advanced tab-Performance-Settings-Advanced tab-Virtual Memory.  For additional Vista information, see: http://www.windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/89ca317f-649d-40a6-8934-e5707ee5c4b81033.mspx

Q2. Would you clarify for me what you mean by "shocked"?

A2. "Shocking" is the process of preparing your Authorware programs to run within a web page.

Q3. I tried to access your website that had the sample "shocked" tutorial and it appeared as though it was not there. I did verify I have the Shockwave plug in installed.

A3. The "Shockwave Player" probably still isn't installed correctly.  I recall having to install it more than once before it started working correctly. Get it at http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi

Q4A. I am also curious what specifically we need this for, is it for Authorware to run?

A4A. The purpose is to make your Authorware programs run within a web page

Q4B.  I did everything correctly to install the shockwave player, test it, "shock" my project, and test it on my computer, but it still doesn't work after I upload it to the myweb server. After a few seconds an error message appears reporting that the aam file was corrupted.

A4B. It appears that shocked files don't work properly for users of Mozilla & MSIE7 when they are placed in the root web folder (public_html) of a myweb account. The files have to be placed in a subfolder. You should have no problem if you follow Hooper's example on pp. 330-331, place your files in a folder named "shocked" (or other name of your choice), and then upload the entire folder to myweb. Note, for example, that I placed the awtutorial program in a folder named "aware" in my account. Then I simply inserted the folder name into the url, as in the following: http://jwhite.myweb.usf.edu/aware/awtutorial.html
Use of folders like this is a generally good practice in any case because it helps you stay organized.

Q10: I've successfully installed Authorware onto my computer, and I have read and completed chapters 1-3. However, my computer doesn't seem to want to run the videos. I've already installed quicktime. When I click on RunA4W16 and then click on one of the chapter numbers, my computer says: Unable to load external movie driver.. not enough memory or missing drive. Do you know what this means or what I could do to fix it?

A10: I get the same problem. This is probably an issue that arises because the textbook programs predate current versions of Windows, but I haven't studied it closely because, since videos.a4r appears to be little more than a superfluous menu program, most people just run the video files directly. For example, just double-click on chap1.mov

Q12: I got carried away with using lots of hi-res images in my activity and now it is too big to attach to an email message.  How can I submit it?

A12: If you have activated your USF student email account, then USF has also given you a web site at http://yourid.myweb.usf.edu/, with a default page of instructions for using the site. This site is ideal for posting just about anything to download, so why not post your activity there and send me the url? (You are going to need this site later for your course project anyway, so you'll just get a leg up on using it.)

Q13: I wanted to change the "continue" button to a different color. I couldn't figure out how to do that...is it possible?

A13: Yes, but it is not as simple as it should be. If you select Modify>File>Properties and then select the Interaction Tab, you'll see where you can easily change the text Label that is displayed on the button. There could have been a color change option there, too, but there isn't. Instead, you have to add a new button to accomplish a color change.  Open the Button Editor (the button with the three dots ... ) to the right of the wait/continue button graphic and then use the Add option to import your new button images (that you have already prepared) to replace the default button. (*.gif format seemed to work fine for me.)

Q15: I am unable to import *.pct (*.pict) format images as described in the Hooper text.  What gives?

A15: I have had that problem with *.pct files, too. When I need one, I open it in something else first (Quicktime PictureViewer), then copy & paste into the Authorware display icon, and that seems to work OK.

Q16: Is there a way to lock the graphics so that a user cannot move them around?

A16: I think that this can only happen before the program is packaged/published, which you learn late in the course.  They don't seem to be moveable after that.

Q17: How do I make my images have transparent backgrounds?

A17: Dr. Kealy created a Powerpoint presentation to address this (Thanks, Bill!): transparency.ppt