Question: Which Web authoring software do you suggest using?
The IT Guy says:
My favorite Web development software tool is Macromedia Dreamweaver, now available as “Dreamweaver MX 2004†for both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Dreamweaver generally writes much cleaner code than Microsoft Frontpage, and is used by a large number of professional Web site developers (myself included.)
Microsoft’s FrontPage is now in its 2003 version, and is popular with many educators because it is either available in their district, or because their familiarity with other MS Office software applications makes Frontpage seem like a friendly choice.
Adobe GoLive is now in a “CS†version, and is used by many fans of other Adobe applications, like Adobe PhotoShop.
Each of these 3 applications are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Web page authoring programs, which do NOT require you or students learn to write actual HTML code. The program creates HTML code for you, but it is possible to still view and edit HTML code in all these programs.
The skills students learn creating Web pages with any of these tools should be readily transferable to another program or operating system. If you have older Windows computers, you might consider using the dated but free and still available program AOL Press. This basic program will let students create Web pages with formatted text, tables, graphics, and links. If I were in a computer lab still using Windows98 and had limited school funds for software purchases, I might use AOL Press to teach basic Web design.
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