[Year 12 IT Apps] [Year 12 SofDev] Please thank Mark Kelly for all he has done for us
Mark
mark at vceit.com
Tue Feb 5 10:14:09 EST 2013
Thanks, Jarrod. My domain host has Softaculous which also offers automated
installation of all sorts of server-side packages, including Wordpress,
Joomla, Drupal, SMF, Moodle and others. Checking online, I've found there
are more CMSs available than I'd ever thought
possible<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems>
.
The problem is that I'm spoiled for choice of CMS, and choosing one CMS
would take a lot of study to become au fait with the strengths and
limitation of each option.
Naturally, most online reviewers tend to l-o-v-e the package they have used
for years.
And the people who do offer dispassionate reviews probably have not
committed to one product and they don't have a lot of deep knowledge about
what the alternatives have to offer.
It is as hard to find dispassionate comparisons of CMS as it is to find
people with open-minded opinions of programming languages, database
management systems or operating systems because each one requires so much
investment of time and effort to become proficient. By the time you are
qualified to give an expert judgement, you're already committed and are
reluctant to change horses mid-stream.
Recently, as an exercise, I tried converting my reporting package (Rupert,
developed in Filemaker over 13 years) into Access. I gave up after a few
hours as I realised how complex it would be. I was well and truly cemented
into place with Filemaker!
With choosing a CMS, I feel like I'm a computer beginner asking whether my
first OS should be Linux, Mac or Windows. Try getting a straight answer
from an IT person on that question :-)
In such cases, I tend to scout around, counting the number of users of each
offering and checking the amount of public support: I figure that other
more clever people have had to make the same decision in the past and even
if the most popular tool turns out to be a dog, at least I'll be be the
company of a lot of other people coping with the same problems.
Or, I just pick an option at random and see what happens.
At the moment, I'm tossing up between Wordpress (which seems pretty simple
to learn) and Joomla (which looks harder to learn, but may be more capable
or scalable.) It's hard to tell yet. I wouldn't want to invest time in
Wordpress only to find that it's basically just a blog with little to offer
in the way of full website capabilities. Actually, the decision may come
down to which tool makes it easiest to convert an existing static HTML site
into a database-driven site. Converting 250+ HTML pages one-by-one will be
a right pain.
As a side note, how many of you guys might be considering using a CMS for
ITA U3O1 - or even something basic like Google Sites - instead of using
editors like Dreamweaver?
With the massive rise of CMS use on the web, it's an increasingly relevant
question to ITA teachers.
The study design seems to assume students will use traditional web editing
software with certain mandated features...
*Web authoring software*
- cascading style sheet
- edit and format content
- links (relative and absolute links, internal and external links)
- navigation
- buttons
- screen layout
- tagging (metadata tags, alt tags)
- forms
- incorporate images/sound
How will this list cope with CMS use, I wonder, especially things like CSS
which is built into the CMS software and largely transparent to users.
Cheers (and apologies for rambling)
Mark
On 5 February 2013 09:22, Robinson, Jarrod J <
robinson.jarrod.j at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:
> Mark
>
> Thanks again for the brilliant work you have done in supporting
> countless teachers including myself.
>
> Having used both Joomla for our school website and Wordpress extensively
> for my own companies, Im more than convinced that wordpress is by far the
> easiest of the tool with a incredible amount of free and cheap themes
> available for immediate installation. Regardless of the direction you take,
> I strongly suggest you sign up at hostgator.com which has one click
> installation of wordpress/joomla and hundreds of other Open Source
> programs. I use it for all of my 30+ websites with unlimited storage and
> traffic
>
> http://www.hostgator.com/apps/wordpress-hosting.shtml
>
>
> *
>
> Jarrod Robinson
>
> Physical Education Teacher
> **
>
> Boort District School
> *
> *
>
> Malone St, Boort
> *
> *
>
> Victoria, Australia 3537
> *
> *
>
> T +61 3 54552201
> *
> *
>
> robinson.jarrod.j at edumail.vic.gov.au
> *
> *
>
> www.boortds.vic.edu.au
> *
> *
> *
> *
>
> Please consider the environment before printing this email
> *
> **
>
> From: Mark <mark at vceit.com>
> Reply-To: Year List <itapps at edulists.com.au>
> Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2013 09:03:33 +1100
> To: Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List <
> sofdev at edulists.com.au>, Year List <itapps at edulists.com.au>, Year 11
> Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List <yr11it at edulists.com.au>
> Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] [Year 12 SofDev] Please thank Mark Kelly
> for all he has done for us
>
> Many thanks Kevork!
>
> And thank you to all those who have fluffed up my self-esteem to
> embarrassing proportions recently.
> Nothing I provide comes from a vacuum: everyone here has helped feed each
> other with information, news and wisdom. I rely on you guys.
>
> Regards
> Mark
>
>
> On 5 February 2013 08:04, Kevork Krozian <kevork at edulists.com.au> wrote:
>
>> Hi Mark,****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> I put together a Python and Raspberry Pi student workbook comprising some
>> 10 learning activities plus assessments ( lest we stray from teaching ,
>> learning *and assessing* ) for my Cert IV students last year. ****
>>
>> To begin the cycle of “Thank You Mark” it is coming your way in a special
>> gift wrapped package J****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Speak soon****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Kevork Krozian****
>>
>> Edulists Creator Administrator****
>>
>> www.edulists.com.au****
>>
>> tel: 0419 356 034****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au [mailto:
>> sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au] *On Behalf Of *Mark
>> *Sent:* Sunday, 3 February 2013 1:15 PM
>> *To:* Year 12 Software Development Teachers' Mailing List
>> *Cc:* Year 11 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List; Year 12 IT
>> Applications Teachers' Mailing List
>> *Subject:* Re: [Year 12 SofDev] Please thank Mark Kelly for all he has
>> done for us****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Golly. This is like watching one's own funeral ceremony, with special
>> interest from those at the back who turned up just to make sure I was
>> really dead. :-)****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Yes, folks, at 55 I have had enough of ethos, powerful learning, E5,
>> VELS, Australian Curriculum, immersion, curriculum review, "making a
>> profound difference in the precious lives of each and every student we have
>> the honour to teach", being accountable, jumping at the sound of bells like
>> a champion Pavlovian stunt dog, attending hour-long meetings that could
>> have been replaced by a one-paragraph email, dealing with adolescent
>> bush-lawyers who know only their rights and not their responsibilities,
>> settling disputes about which year 7 took something from another year 7's
>> pencil case, marking endless SACs, and driving to and from work with the
>> headlights on during cold, wet winters .****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Ah, the memories.****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> I will now have time to do stuff like writing "Buckets of Knowledge" for
>> ITA and SD (focusing on the tricky bits that everyone gets confused about),
>> and a Jumbo Collection of multchoice questions, perhaps as an app.****
>>
>> And for years I've been planning on converting vceit.com from static
>> HTML to CMS... now I have time to choose a platform (perhaps Joomla or
>> Wordpress - whichever is easier to convert to.) And learn MySQL.****
>>
>> And I want to play with Python on my Raspberry Pi... which sounds pretty
>> odd, if you don't know them both.****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> And if, on a Wednesday night at 10pm I suddenly get a craving to re-watch
>> an entire season of 'Breaking Bad' just so I can work out if Walter
>> actually poisoned Brock with ricin - I WILL. 'Cos I CAN. The thrill may
>> wear off after a while, so then I'll satisfy my lifetime desire to get a
>> part-time job at a hardware store selling hammers. Nothing else: just
>> hammers. Sweet.****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> But most of all while in my Gentleman Of Leisure mode, I will be
>> strolling down the sand at Bonbeach in the sun thinking kindly of you all
>> sculling your coffee, grabbing your laptops and whiteboard markers and
>> running off to double year 10 while you KNOW that it's a beautiful day
>> outside and that at least one person is CERTAINLY strolling down the sand
>> at Bonbeach thinking of you.****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> I do thank Kevork for his gracious message and noble sentiments. He
>> really is one of the nicest people in The Real World (TM) as well as the IT
>> community.****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Have a rich and rewarding year, everyone!****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Regards,****
>>
>> Mark K****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> On 3 February 2013 09:33, Kevork Krozian <kevork at edulists.com.au> wrote:*
>> ***
>>
>> Hi folks,****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> It may or may not be entirely in the public sphere that our very
>> special colleague Mark Kelly has decided to retire from the day to day
>> pleasures of teaching teenagers in the school system. He stresses this is
>> retirement from the Department and not from our community for which we are
>> grateful.****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> It would fill many pages to itemise all that Mark has done for us to help
>> with our VCE IT teaching, assessment and exam preparation. ****
>>
>> So how do we do justice to all this selfless giving, hundreds and
>> hundreds of hours of preparation to make available web content that we can
>> just lift and use in class ? We certainly cannot repay Mark for all he has
>> done but in our own way express our thanks for his assistance, moral
>> support and ever present community contribution to support everyone in
>> their day to day challenges of delivering a fast changing IT curriculum.*
>> ***
>>
>> ****
>>
>> Please feel free to express your thanks here and also detail how Mark’s
>> help has influenced and supported your work as a teacher. ****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> Kind Regards****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> Kevork Krozian****
>>
>> Edulists Creator Administrator****
>>
>> www.edulists.com.au****
>>
>> tel: 0419 356 034****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> -- ****
>>
>> --****
>>
>> Mark Kelly****
>>
>> mark at vceit.com****
>>
>> http://vceit.com****
>>
>> --
> Mark Kelly
> mark at vceit.com
> http://vceit.com
>
> --
Mark Kelly
mark at vceit.com
http://vceit.com
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