Re: [Fsfe-uk] BBC digital curriculum service in England

[MJ Ray]

On 2004-10-12 13:14:15 +0100 Alex Hudson <address@hidden> wrote:

> [...] streaming and scripting are the two
> main features that you might reasonably need in an online course that
> these tools don't support.

How are these carried out? Are they both Flash-specific methods, or do 
they pull in better-known standards?

> > How does SMIL http://www.w3.org/AudioVideo/ compare to Flash for 
> > e-learning?
> Flash is installed on 99% of home machines (Flash 5+, IIRC); SMIL is
> installed on a lower base, isn't as capable and doesn't have the same
> tools.

Is that "99%" a figure from a study, or your estimate?

I'm aware SMIL is a few years behind in terms of installations and 
applications, but they're not show-stoppers for a long-term direction. 
How isn't it as capable?

> The main thing lacking is scriptability (I think SMIL doesn't have it;
> only sequences, etc.). That would limit interactivity; or at least
> increase round-trips to pick up new files and things.

Maybe I've not understood SMIL: can one link to other fragments of a 
SMIL file, jumping around between parts of a presentation which need 
not be used otherwise? Not full scripting, but what typical Flash 
tasks cannot be done declaratively in combined SMIL, XHTML and SVG 
today? Examples like the lip-synced animation seem theoretically 
possible already, although probably not easy with current tools.

[...]
> http://courses.learndirect.co.uk/providers/tasters/sfl/cashcrescent/

That will have to wait until a non-free system is nearby or some kind 
soul records a suitable demo video of it.

--
MJR/slef    My Opinion Only and not of any group I know
 Creative copyleft computing - http://www.ttllp.co.uk/
Speaking at ESF on Sat 16 Oct - http://www.affs.org.uk/