'EVALUATION OF HTML5 AND COMPARISON WITH HTML 4'

'Evaluation of HTML5 and comparison with HTML 4'

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Project

The World Wide Web has been described by Tim Berners-Lee, its founder, as “the universe of network accessible information, an embodiment of human knowledge.” More technically, it can be thought of as being all the resources, including Internet servers and users on the Internet, that use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and that are formatted in Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) (Haughey & Anderson, 1998). HTML supports links that permit users to hop from one document or Internet site to another by clicking on highlighted text or graphics known as 'hot spots' using Web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. The Web is not the same as the Internet. It is an information-sharing protocol that makes use of the Internet.

The World Wide Web's mark-up language has always been HTML. HTML was primarily designed as a language for semantically describing scientific documents, although its general design and adaptations over the years have enabled it to be used to describe a number of other types of documents (Horton, 2001). The main area that has not been adequately addressed by HTML is a vague subject referred to as Web Applications. This specification attempts to rectify this, while at the same time updating the HTML specifications to address issues raised in the past few years.

Because it consists of a vast network of storehouses of knowledge, the Web can be viewed as the ultimate learning tool. Computer-based training and the dynamic aspect of the Internet make non-traditional online learning (or e-learning) a very attractive prospect (Rosenberg, 2000). The World Wide Web is opening up opportunities for learning, opportunities for research, and opportunities for 'browsing' through enormous amounts of information. Through the Web, many educators and institutions are discovering e-learning and are building course material for learners who want to further their education without having to physically attend classes and disrupt a regular work schedule. Employers today are increasingly demanding that their workers possess not so much the ability to memorize facts, but the ability to learn new methods, new programs, and new skills (Rudestam & Schoenholtz, 2002). The new kind of self-learning fostered on the Web can enable learners with the necessary skills, while supporting and supplementing their ability to learn.

In the past, learners relied on print-based correspondence courses (with maybe a video- or audiocassette thrown in). Telephone tutors were available at restricted hours, and many times if the tutors had a large number of students assigned, they were difficult to reach. There was little synchronous contact or immediacy (Schank, 2001).  In contrast, learning on the Web can be immediate. The Web can be used either as a teaching tool on its own or as a supplement to other forms of instruction. Learners can Project from their own homes or their institutions. Alternatively, they can visit publicly accessible computer labs or work from a classroom with a teacher up ...