How to build a VISITview Lession

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Anthony Mostek NOAA National Weather
service and Tom Whittaker
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Todays training

• Objective prepare and teach teletraining lessons
  using VISITview
• background
• overview
• hands-on
• Requirements
• basic DOS experience
• Power Point, Corel Draw or something similar
• Windows 98, 2000, NT, or XP computer (LINUX or
  MACS can be used)

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VISITview ProjectVISITview teletraining /
distance-learning / collaboration software aimed
at the meteorological community

• History
• Initiated 1998-1999
• Four programmers have contributed
• Feedback from instructors directs changes
• Goals
• Complement other training aids
• Continue to evolve as needs are identified

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VISITview Overview

• Modes
• pre-loaded lessons
• via a browser (VISITview RAMSDIS Online)
• Participants
• master (instructor)
• student
• listener
• Client/server
• Not a slide preparation tool

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VISITview Terminology

• Lesson a collection of pages
• Page one or more frames
• Frame a single image (GIF or JPEG)
• Client/server commands are initiated by the
  client the VISITview server redistributes
  commands
• http//www.ssec.wisc.edu/visitview/terminology.htm
  l

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VISITview Client-Server

• Training Sessions
• the Lesson is downloaded to your local computer
  before the scheduled session
• the server is used to distribute the small
  commands to everyone (move pointer, turn to next
  page, draw text and animations, etc.)
• VISITview RAMSDIS Online
• all images are downloaded in real time from the
  server
• the server is also used to distribute the small
  commands to everyone (move pointer, turn to next
  page, draw text and animations, etc.)

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The Students view

• Download a lesson
• make a directory, ftp the file, run it
• (use a browser for VISITview RAMSDIS Online)
• Voice connection - set up a conference call via
  phone or yahoo messenger
• Basic mechanics (knobology)
• Starting up a session
• convenience batch files

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Features for students and instructors

• On - screen help
• open (ALT?) (in English)
• close (any other key)

• Big Red Pointer
• positioning (click)
• drawing
• drag for line
• SHIFTCTRLdrag for box
• change color using choice box

Help pop-up
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Annotations drawing and text
To draw free-hand, just drag mouse press
button and hold while moving when you release
button, drawing is sent
To draw a box, hold SHIFTCTRL and drag the
mouse
To do text, click ALTT. A cursor will appear.
Type your text. Move it around. Change color.
Press enter to send it to everyone (press ESC
to abandon)
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Animation Controls
Animate or stop
Loop or Rock mode
Change color
Change animation speed
Manually set frame or fade
Erase all
Fade mode on/off
Toggle between last two frames
Single step back ()
Labels are dim example of disabled controls
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User ID and chat
To initiate a chat window ALTC Enter a user
or site ID and hit the submit button
Chat client window resizable. All chatting is
public everyone sees everything.
Write here.
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Other features

• Zooming pixel replication
• Enhancements colorizing images on-the-fly
• Portals - frame within a frame
• 4 panels emulation
• showing large frames
• Overlays available

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From the Instructors viewpoint

• Creating a lesson your slides and the Builder
• Packaging and testing
• Distribution
• Doing a lesson

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Page and Enhancement Controls
Shows frame number and label / Select page to show
Load the selected page
Get client/student status of last load
Load next page
Choose an enhancement to apply to the current page
Load previous page
Appears red when you have NOT loaded a selected
page yet
When beginning, hit Next to load first page
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Creating a lesson

• make your slides
• use the VISITview Lesson Builder
• check your lesson
• distribute your lesson
• run a session

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Make your slides

• Use Power Point
• Pages consist of one or more frames
• Each frame is a single GIF or JPEG image
• Image size determines VISITview window size
• 640X480 is good
• Portals and other issues

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Use the VISITview Lesson Builder

• Start the builder (visitbuild.bat or from
  start/All programs/VISITview Lesson Builder)
• Use browse to gather and organize your pages
• Put labels on each page
• Use file move to move things around
• Use save lesson to save it into a ZIP file

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The builder interface
Edit menu
File menu
URL for linked text or audio
Labels for pages
Initial Big Red Pointer position
Page and frame thumbnails
Slide through page or frame
View pages, frames, portals, or overlays
Insert
Append
Append all
Browse directory and files
Browse thumbnail
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File menu
Open an existing lesson in a ZIP file
Start a new lesson
Save the work as a zip file
Browse for images in a directory
Make an image from a URL
Import Presentation
Make a Windows .EXE file drom a .ZIP file
Unzip File
Exit (if changes, ask to save)
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Edit Menu
Undo previous Move or Delete or Insert or Append

• To move page or frame
• select page/frame to move
• click this Move item
• click on destination page/frame

Copy/Delete secected page or frame
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Browse for images
Browse directories to find file names
Insert thumbnail at selected position
Filenames appear here when you browse. Click to
select one file CTRLClick to toggle one or
more image files. SHIFTClick to select a range
of files
Append thumbnail to end (of pages or frames)
Append all
Current directory
Hints, cues, messages
Thumbnail of last selected file (click so see
original size image)
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Organize Pages and Frames
Page selected (magenta border)
Initial red pointer position
Type in linked URL or audio filename
Type in page label
frames on this page
If there are frames for a loop, check to have
them looping upon startup and set the speed
Original filename
Select page or frame view
Slide through pages/frames
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Save Lesson and Set Parameters
Choose Save Lesson under file menu
Directory name
Directory contents
Specifiy filename (name.zip)
Save
Cancel
Essentially, accept the defaults.
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Parameter details

• Height height of window (frame size 120 lines
  for controls (e.g. 480120600)
• Width width of window (frame size 20 for
  borders (e.g. 64020660)
• Server hostname name of machine running
  VISITview server you want to use as a promary
  server (e.g. www.ssec.wisc.edu)
• Alternate servers name(s) of other machines
  running VISITview servers you use as backups
  (e.g. visit.cirs.colostate.edu) Entries here
  make alternate batch files.

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Getting assistance with VISITview

• Home page on the web (in English)
• http//www.ssec.wisc.edu/visitview
• Contacts ?