Why MLEX? Answer: To assist online Instructors in delivering content to all Internet devices with a single web page file. The goal behind the MLEX web page tool is to create a Microsoft Windows application that will create a single web page that is readable on a mobile device as a PC. It has always seemed to me unproductive to have to create one HTML page that was readable from a personal computer browser and a different HTML page created for a mobile device browser. The process to create a single web page readable from both environments is largely understanding what web page elements will and will not display on a mobile browser (largely due to screen size). To simplify the process for the average online Instructor, I thought a software application that was largely WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) would be ideal if it could somehow shield the author from learning all the "what doesn't work" HTML and CSS elements. The MLEX tool is not for a novice web page designer. I saw the typical MLEX user as an Instructor who had already delivered content from a web page and has a fundamental knowledge of how to apply HTML tags for text and image formating. For me, this Instructor would be the most likely to be interested in delivery content to a mobile device today. To that end, the MLEX tool is still undergoing development. It has a basic feature set that will hopefully get richer as more users develop pages with it. Although the delivery of learning content exclusively via mobile device is still in the future, the secondary delivery of course resources via mobile devices is very doable today. Understanding what history tells us about technology, it only stands to reason that there is great promise for mobile devices in teaching and learning in the future.. Gary... ScreenCast Demo of MLX1 Tool (Windows .wmv file) (Note: Some of the screen capture is distorted later in the screencast)  Screen shot ML1 Tool (click on image to enlarge)  (Emulation using Adobe CS3 DeviceCentral (Motorola Razr emulation ) Description of Design Environment I found that for most of my work it was easier to work in native html which meant TextPad was my editor of choice. I used the Tidy HMTL add-on and the page tester at ready.devmobi.com to help my format the html. CSS editing was done using TopStyle Lite. I used some DreamWeaver but limited. Firefox 3.0 is my primary browser but testing was also done on IE and Opera. I used the MS Device Emulator and Manager, Adobe CS3 Device Central and the Opera Mini products for cell phone emulation. Documentation was kept using Google Docs, Google Notebook and Google Site. The mlx1 tool was designed using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 in Visual Basic.net return to homepage |