Poor controls for flexible layouts

While new additions to CSS3 provide a stronger, more robust feature-set for layout, CSS is still at heart a styling language (for fonts, colours, borders and other decoration), not a layout language (for blocks with positions, sizes, margins, and so on). These limitations mean that creating fluid layouts generally requires hand-coding of CSS, and has held back the development of a standards-based WYSIWYG editor.

 

Selectors are unable to ascend

CSS offers no way to select a parent or ancestor of an element that satisfies certain criteria. A more advanced selector scheme (such as XPath) would enable more sophisticated style sheets. However, the major reasons for the CSS Working Group rejecting proposals for parent selectors are related to browser performance and incremental rendering issues.

 

Vertical control limitations

While horizontal placement of elements is generally easy to control, vertical placement is frequently unintuitive, convoluted, or impossible. Simple tasks, such as centering an element vertically or getting a footer to be placed no higher than bottom of viewport, either require complicated and unintuitive style rules, or simple but widely unsupported rules.

 

Absence of expressions

There is currently no ability to specify property values as simple expressions (such as margin-left: 10% - 3em + 4px;). This would be useful in a variety of cases, such as calculating the size of columns subject to a constraint on the sum of all columns. However, a working draft with a calc() value to address this limitation has been published by the CSS WG.^] Internet Explorer versions 5 to 7 support a proprietary expression() statement,^] with similar functionality. This proprietary expression() statement is no longer supported from Internet Explorer 8 onwards, except in compatibility modes. This decision was taken for "standards compliance, browser performance, and security reasons".

 

Lack of column declaration

While possible in current CSS 3 (using the column-count module), layouts with multiple columns can be complex to implement in CSS2.1. With CSS 2.1, the process is often done using floating elements, which are often rendered differently by different browsers, different computer screen shapes, and different screen ratios set on standard monitors.

 

Cannot explicitly declare new scope independently of position

 

Scoping rules for properties such as z-index look for the closest parent element with a position:absolute or position:relative attribute. This odd coupling has undesired effects such as it is impossible to avoid declaring a new scope when one is forced to adjust an element's position, preventing one from using the desired scope of a parent element.

 

Pseudo-class dynamic behavior not controllable

CSS implements pseudo-classes that allow a degree of user feedback by conditional application of alternate styles. One CSS pseudo-class, ":hover", is dynamic (equivalent of javascript "onmouseover") and has potential for abuse (e.g., implementing cursor-proximity popups), but CSS has no ability for a client to disable it (no "disable"-like property) or limit its effects (no "nochange"-like values for each property).

 

 

Advantages

Flexibility

By combining CSS with the functionality of a Content Management System, a considerable amount of flexibility can be programmed into content submission forms. This allows a contributor, who may not be familiar or able to understand or edit CSS or HTML code to select the layout of an article or other page they are submitting on-the-fly, in the same form. For instance, a contributor, editor or author of an article or page might be able to select the number of columns and whether or not the page or article carries an image. This information is then passed to the Content Management System, and the program logic evaluates the information and determines, based on a certain number of combinations, how to apply classes and IDs to the HTML elements, therefore styling and positioning them according to the pre-defined CSS for that particular layout type. When working with large-scale, complex sites, with many contributors such as news and informational sites, this advantage weighs heavily on the feasibility and maintenance of the project.

 

Separation of content from presentation

CSS facilitates publication of content in multiple presentation formats based on nominal parameters. Nominal parameters include explicit user preferences, different web browsers, the type of device being used to view the content (a desktop computer or mobile Internet device), the geographic location of the user and many other variables.

 

Site-wide consistency

 

When CSS is used effectively, in terms of inheritance and "cascading," a global style sheet can be used to affect and style elements site-wide. If the situation arises that the styling of the elements should need to be changed or adjusted, these changes can be made by editing rules in the global style sheet. Before CSS, this sort of maintenance was more difficult, expensive and time-consuming.

Bandwidth

A stylesheet, whether internal to the source document or separate, will specify the style once for a range of HTML elements selected by class, type or relationship to others. This is much more efficient than repeating style information inline for each occurrence of the element. An external stylesheet is usually stored in the browser cache, and can therefore be used on multiple pages without being reloaded, further reducing data transfer over a network.

Page reformatting

With a simple change of one line, a different style sheet can be used for the same page. This has advantages for accessibility, as well as providing the ability to tailor a page or site to different target devices. Furthermore, devices not able to understand the styling still display the content.

 

4. Architecture

4.1 Dbms

 

In my project there are 4 tables related with each other:

 

User:

first_name – first name of the user

last_name – last name of the user

email - used as username for login

password – password of the user

is_staff - field that allows user to create question

 

Question:

question – question text context

answer – answers list

correct_answer – correct answers list

 

Answer:

id – answer’s id

text – answer’s text context

 

 

Test:

question – questions list

list_of_students – list of the students allowed to pass the test

 

Pic.7 Database tables relations between each other

 

Working principle

 

· Firstly, user see the window with some about text and 2 buttons: Register and Login

 

· Pic.8 Main page

 

· Registered user can be either teacher or student.

 

· Students see the list of the tests to pass or which has been passed.

 

 

Pic.9 Student main page

 

· After he choosed the test to pass the test runs. Display only 1 question per page.

 

 

Pic.10 Student passes test

 

· Then after all the questions passed student sees his results

 

 

Pic.11 Student Test result

· If the teacher is logged in he see the same page as the student does, but the tests is listed are which has been created by the teacher, not should to pass

 

Pic.12 Teacher main page

· After he executes the test he can see the list of the students who passed and should pass the test. Also he can remove/edit(if not published) the test, or create a new one

 

Pic.13 Teacher test executed

· If teacher create or edit the test it see the same window as the student does but it now editable

 

Pic.14 Question edit page

· The last step in creation of the test is configuration: list of the students to pass, deadline and etc.

Pic.15 Test configuration

5. Conclusion

 

As I said in the preface, I want for our country have the standard system for any computer-based testing, with a big united database. In my opinion together me can do more, than separated, it always was like this, and should always be. Only if will join our ideas, power and knowledge, we can became the leader in educational state of the world. Testing is only the first step, if it will be go on, it should became a part of the great online educational system for distance learning.

 

This project is related to become a small part, a small step to become our country education system a little better and perspective.

 

I saw a lot of different testing servicesin my research, and the main disadvantage of all of them is was the database, fullfilling by a small group of people. Teachers should share their knowledge for a while, to became our education more qualified. And that was the main idea of the project. Online testing system for everyone.

 

6. References

· Abdulwahed, M., Nagy, Z. K., & Blanchard, R. (2008). The TriLab, a novel view of laboratory education. Innovation,

· Good Practice and Research in Engineering Education. EE2008 Conference. Engineering Subject Centre,

· Loughborough, UK, 14-16 July, P051. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from http://www.engsc.ac.uk/downloads/

· scholarart/ee2008/p051-abdulwahed.pdf

· Ablin, J. A. (2008). Learning as problem design versus problem solving: Making the connection between cognitive

· neuroscience research and educational practice. Mind, Brain, and Education, 2(2), 52-54.

· Aldrich, C. (2009). The complete guide to serious games and simulations. Somerset, NJ: Wiley.

· Allen, E., & Seaman, J. (2010). Learning on demand. Online education in the United States, 2009. Babson Survey

· Research Group. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/pdf/

· learningondemand.pdf

· Benseman, J., & Sutton, A. (2008). OECD/CERI Formative Assessment Project background report: New Zealand.

· Retrieved November 20 2011 from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/38/54/40015787.pdf

· Coppola, N. W., Hiltz, S. R., & Rotter, N. (2002). Becoming a virtual professor: Pedagogical roles and ALN. Journal

· of Management Information Systems, 18(4), 169-190.

· Crisp, G. (2012). Integrative assessment: Reframing assessment practice for current and future learning.

· Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 37(1), 33-43.

· Dalgarno, B., & Lee, M. J. W. (2010). What are the learning affordances of 3-D virtual environments? British

· Journal of Educational Technology, 41(1), 10-32.

· de Freitas, S. (2008). Serious virtual worlds. A scoping study. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from http://www.jisc.

· ac.uk/media/documents/publications/seriousvirtualworldsv1.pdf

· Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., & Marshall, S. (2009). A handbook for teaching and learning in higher education: Enhancing

· academic practice. Taylor & Francis, Third edition Routledge NY.

· Hobbs, M., Brown, E., & Gordon, M. (2009). Learning and assessment with virtual worlds. In C. Spratt & P.

· Lajbcygier (Eds.), E-learning technologies and evidence-based assessment approaches (pp. 55-75). AICTE

· Book Series.

· Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). (2004). Effective practice with e-learning. A good practice guide

· in designing for learning. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/

· publications/effectivepracticeelearning.pdf

· Keengwe, J., & Kidd, T. T. (2010). Towards best practices in online learning and teaching in higher education.

· MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6(2), 533-541.

· Kemp, J. W., Livingstone, D., & Bloom

· SQL for MySQL Developers: A Comprehensive Tutorial and Reference

· jQuery in Action

· jQuery Reference Guide

· Learning jQuery: Better Interaction Design and Web Development with Simple JavaScript Techniques

· CSS Cookbook by Christopher Schmitt

· Cascading Style Sheets by Example by Steven E. Callihan

· CSS: The Designer's Edge by Molly Holzschlag

· HTML & CSS by Nick Perrit

· jQuery & Javascript by Jim Hoskins

· Django Basics by Jim Hoskins

· Core Python Programming by Wesley J.