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flash help: drag and drop

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  • 21-12-2007 5:41pm
    #1
    seand333
    Closed Accounts Posts: 56 ✭✭


    hi,
    im new to this forum, hope its ok to throw this question out there.
    im an arts student, one of my subjects is i.t., though my level of programming is pretty basic, and im getting pretty worried about a project i have to do and how im going to do it.

    for a project ive been asked to develop an application to teach kids programming concepts. ive came up with an idea of a website, whereby kids will be able to drag directional blocks (representing forward, repeat, left etc) to a flow chart, and this activates the movement of an animated car on a path - basically introducing young kids to the programming concepts of decisions, loops etc.
    anyway, while i have an idea of what i want to do, i dont know exactly how im going to carry out the actual application (i.e. im not that good at programming)

    i have been told that using flash would be the best way to do it, but ive never used it before; others have mentioned director, but i don't have access to that. i have basic levels of using vb 2005 and java.
    when looking it up, ive come across drag and drop programming.

    i guess i was wondering if this kind of applilcation is viable using flash, and how easy would it be (i.e linking the dragging of the blocks to one area of the website scree, which either moves an aniimated car, or gives an error message stating that the wrong direction blocks were put in place).
    i have three months to complete the project, would it take long to learn flash?

    any feedback or pointers to good forums appreciated


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    #2
    daymobrew
    Registered Users Posts: 6,499 ✭✭✭daymobrew


    Might be able to do it with Javascript. script.aculo.us and mootools both support drag and drop.


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    #3
    Evil Phil
    Registered Users Posts: 7,468 ✭✭✭Evil Phil


    I would say go with flash. I've seen stuff like this done before with flash, and while I've never worked with it I believe its very easy to use. Happily w3schools have a tutorial: http://www.w3schools.com/flash/default.asp


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    #4
    l3rian
    Closed Accounts Posts: 867 ✭✭✭l3rian


    hmmm that approach sounds very complicated...

    if I was you, i'd make a website that teaches javascript, its such a nice language to learn

    I'd make a series of flash video tutorials using wink, http://www.debugmode.com/wink/

    then after each video, you could get the kids to type the code they just learnth into a textarea, just like w3schools does: http://www.w3schools.com/js/tryit.asp?filename=tryjs_variable
    you wouldn't even have to submit the textarea, just use eval() on it


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    #5
    seand333
    Closed Accounts Posts: 56 ✭✭seand333


    thanks for all the pointers guys, i will look into the recommendations over the next week or so.
    as regards teaching javascript, i dont actually have to teach the kids a programming language, just the concepts of a programming language. the actual project overview is below, with an example given. thanks again, here's an early "Happy new year"

    "The objective of this project is to develop a software package that will allow children in aged 4-12 group to explore programming concepts in an intuitive and enjoyable way. For example, it could involve creating programs to control an on-screen car over a range of obstacle courses, by joining together flowchart elements representing movement commands, loops and decisions. The software must be attractively designed and colourful as well as functional, and may be web-based or a stand-alone application."


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