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On this page we will provide advice and suggestions from our
instructors. Visit often; this page will always be under construction!
Purchasing Software:
Visit Academic Superstore
to save money on software needed for your courses. Students are eligible
for significant educational discounts. You only need the ACC tuition receipt
to prove that you have registered for a class, and students in Austin
can get free shipping with the discount code "ACCstudent." Most products are shipped immediately. When ordering, make sure to indicate that you are an ACC student and provide your phone number.
Online courses vs. the classroom:
The advantage to an online course is the convenience. You don't have to commute
to one of the ACC locations, the schedule is flexible, and the tuition is often
less. You can communicate with your classmates and your instructor via discussion forums and emails. When an online class is in progress, our instructors answer emails within 24 hours, quite often even faster.
However the advantages to classroom instruction are significant: you get immediate,
personal attention, without waiting for feedback. Demonstrations, explanations,
and group exercises often make the classroom a more engaging learning environment.
If you are good at problem-solving and enjoy working on your own, online courses
may be for you.
If you enjoy interaction with instructors and students, and prefer a high degree
of assistance, the classroom is often a better choice.
Graphics software:
Which of the many graphics programs should I choose?
- Adobe Photoshop: Photoshop is the industry standard image-editing software. It offers everything you could possibly need, but is the most expensive of the options listed here. Most professional designers use Photoshop, and there is a huge support community.
- Adobe Illustrator: Illustrator is used for creating line art (logos, charts, icons, etc.) rather than photorealistic images. Draw programs like Illustrator are used for charts, graphs, package design, logos, and web graphics, but cannot retouch photos.
- Adobe Fireworks:
Fireworks is a low-cost alternative to Photoshop. It works much like a basic draw program that also offers photo-editing features. One advantage to Fireworks is its tight integration with Dreamweaver.
- Adobe Flash: Flash is not a graphics program; it is used to develop interactive interfaces for web sites and web applications.
For comments and questions about this site contact
the mnouzovs@austincc.edu.
© 2002 - 2008 Austin Community College
This site was last updated November 2008
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