My thoughts on FLASH AUTHORING SYSTEMS:

This class was both challenging and rewarding, as it was one of the most difficult classes that I completed during my enrollment in the masters program. I had no prior familiarity with creating Flash documents, so all of the information I learned to complete the exercises was new. The class started out with some easy exercises that became progressively more difficult and time consuming. During the class I learned how to work with symbols and images to use with motion and special effects created with filters and blends. I also learned how to use action script to create buttons for interactive use with animation or movie clips. I had to work very hard to accurately create the Flash documents so that they were functional and displayed correctly once they were transferred to the server. Though tedious at times, it was always fun to see the completed exercise and it usually left me with a sense of accomplishment. The final project was an expose of all the elements studied in prior lessons and it gave all of the students a chance to present what they had learned.  The testing used on my final was valuable because parts of the design that needed revision were pointed out to me. I did the same for some of my classmates.

I feel that what I learned in the class was very worthwhile because of the countless web sites that use Flash to forward all or part of their content. Learning how to use Flash to create animations that give action and interest to a site is valuable to me because I feel that I can use it in future web sites for classes that I may teach. I think students will pay special attention to class web pages and lesson plans with interactive learning that uses Flash action script in the user interface. If given the opportunity, I feel that I would like to include Flash as part of my curriculum so that my students can benefit from the training I received. When more time becomes available to me, I would like to explore action script further and advance my programming skills.

	ARTIFACTS
Unit 4	Unit 6	Unit 8
Evaluation - .rtf (163kb)	Final (loads very slowly)