[Year 12 IT Apps] [Year 12 SofDev] Please thank Mark Kelly for all he has done for us

Tue Feb 5 21:18:14 EST 2013

Re Joomla, there is now an amalgam with Bootstrap. Joomla 2.5/3.0 is now venturing into responsive design partly using Bootstrap. This caters for desktops, smartphones and iPads etc. Bootstrap is a new environment which works on HTML5 and CSS3 without the need for a server.
In my opinion Joomla is by far the most useful CMS to engage with. It is still problematic within the school environment and this is where Bootstrap comes in because it doesn't need a server to function. Very modern and encompasses everything that is new in web construction and design. Worth a look.

http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/

And this is a very clean and basic template that provides a very good teaching environment for Joomla – if you can configure Joomla to run in your school:

http://www.blankjoomlatemplate.com/

I too have used Mark Kelly's resources to very good effect. A mighty effort in anyone's language. All the best to you.

Cheers
George

University High School
77 Story St
Parkville 3052
phone: 93472022
mobile: 0412934782

From: Mark <mark at vceit.com<mailto:mark at vceit.com>>
Reply-To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List <itapps at edulists.com.au<mailto:itapps at edulists.com.au>>
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2013 10:14:09 +1100
To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List <itapps at edulists.com.au<mailto:itapps at edulists.com.au>>
Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] [Year 12 SofDev] Please thank Mark Kelly for all he has done for us

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<mailto: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<http://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

[X]Jarrod Robinson
Physical Education Teacher
Boort District School
Malone St, Boort
Victoria, Australia 3537
T +61 3 54552201<tel:%2B61%203%2054552201>
robinson.jarrod.j at edumail.vic.gov.au<mailto:robinson.jarrod.j at edumail.vic.gov.au>
  www.boortds.vic.edu.au<http://www.boortds.vic.edu.au>

Please consider the environment before printing this email

From: Mark <mark at vceit.com<mailto:mark at vceit.com>>
Reply-To: Year List <itapps at edulists.com.au<mailto: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<mailto:sofdev at edulists.com.au>>, Year List <itapps at edulists.com.au<mailto:itapps at edulists.com.au>>, Year 11 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List <yr11it at edulists.com.au<mailto: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<mailto: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 :)

Speak soon

Kevork Krozian
Edulists Creator Administrator
www.edulists.com.au<http://www.edulists.com.au>
tel: 0419 356 034

From:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au<mailto:sofdev-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto: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<http://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<mailto: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<http://www.edulists.com.au>
tel: 0419 356 034

--
--
Mark Kelly
mark at vceit.com<mailto:mark at vceit.com>
http://vceit.com

--
Mark Kelly
mark at vceit.com<mailto:mark at vceit.com>
http://vceit.com

--
Mark Kelly
mark at vceit.com<mailto:mark at vceit.com>
http://vceit.com
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