A lovely project for a great client.

We’ve been working with The Open University to develop some accessible, interactive content about the periodic table of elements for its Open Learn site.

Open Learn exists to provide free access to Open University learning materials. It is effectively an interesting, useful and “gentle” introduction to the world of Open University.

This periodic table content was developed to coincide with the International Year Of Chemistry. As with all Open Learn content the brief was to be interesting and informative and not to assume too much prior knowledge on the part of the target user.

Rather than develop a single interactive environment our approach was to break the learning objectives down into a series of single topic applications. These include an introductory video piece about the history and importance of the periodic table, “elements that changed the course of history”, “elements of the world”, and “body chemistry”.

To the extent that it was possible we wanted to recreate the immersive experience of the best science shows, where learning is achieved through interaction with single-topic experiments and displays.

We used rich imagery and illustrations to bring the periodic table to life and capture the imagination of the user. The navigation and hierarchy were both kept very simple and intuitive to allow easy access to the different applications. This simple approach allows the user to lightly browse topics or, if they prefer, delve deeper into the hard facts and data of the periodic table.

The following technologies were used to develop the apps…

HTML5 Video – By using the HTML5 <video> tag we made sure that the multimedia content in the application would be 100% compatible with the iPad and other mobile devices.

CSS3 – CSS3 was used to create interactive elements on the pages like the buttons – allowing us to reduce the number of assets (images) on the page. It was also used to create new animations and transitions supported on modern browsers

jQuery – jQuery was used through the site to allow users to interact with the data on the pages, and provide support for older browsers that don’t support CSS3 animations. Plugins such as jQueryUI and jQuery Reflections were used to add these effects. jQuery Scrollpane was used to support iPad style page scrolling.

It was a joy to work with the OU team on this project. The teaching staff should definitely write a book on this stuff if they haven’t already. Most of the really interesting content and periodic table facts that “make” these apps came from them.

Have a play. And learn.

It was a privilege and an education to be part of the judging panel for the 2011 Social Buzz Awards.

Reading, discussing and interrogating the papers with a very high calibre panel of fellow judges was a real eye-opener.

The results will be announced at a dinner at Wembley Stadium on 1st December. (Book now!).

Meanwhile here are some general, non-confidential observations arising from the judging process. If the award entries are a reliable indicator, what do they suggest for the near future of social media? And what suggestions can I make for writers of future Social Buzz papers?

These are personal views, not necessarily those of the panel as a whole.

Blonde is five years old today.

We shall be partying tonight (#nopartyforoldmen).

Meanwhile, there is barely contained anticipation for the pre-party speech that Blonde MD, Pete, will be giving to celebrate this important anniversary and to fire us all up for the evening.

Pete is best known as a caring husband, a loving father, a talented musician, and a digital heavyweight. But he is also a great orator.

We share herewith the contents of this morning’s internal all-staff email thread. (Which was NOT an attempt to wind Pete up).

Phil : Don’t know about you but I can hardly concentrate because I’m looking forward to Pete’s pre-party speech so much.

Rob : Been looking forward to it for weeks.

Andy : Heard it was amazing. Really can’t wait.

Phil : 96 Karma on EdTwinge (Tearjerker league table). Good job he’s not childish enough to pick on people who try to wind him up eh?

Emma : How is he going to top last christmas?

Ricky : Rumour has it, it’s much better than this:

Nick : I reckon it will be as powerful and inspiring as this:

Rob : Might be a little more shouty, I’d say.

Matt : More like this I reckon….

[Embedding of *that* Gwyneth Paltrow speech "disabled by request" unfortunately.]

Ricky : I’d rather it was like this:

Nick : We’ll be so psyched up afterwards the the bar tab will be destroyed in under an hour!!

Nick (again) : I think we’ll have a change of tack from Pete today actually. Usually funny and caring, I reckon we’ll see a new approach to motivation:

[Embedding of *that* Full Metal Jacket sequence also disabled by request.]

Jen : My maiden name is Pyle. This scene has always had a particular resonance with me, particularly as I used to get bullied for having such a silly surname. I really hope Pete doesn’t ask me to choke myself on his hand on front of everyone tonight.

So no pressure then Pete.

And, no, we won’t be sharing Pete’s speech in public. It will barely be safe for our work. Which means it certainly won’t be safe for yours.