This describes what is required for the first release of the eXe editor. This first release is intended as a development milestone and as a method to gain feedback from the user community. (Links off this page should be considered "non-authoratative", i.e. what is described there is for background, but does not define what must be delivered). AboutRequirements. See also FutureRequirements. Some rough notes can be found in the ExeBackground.
Overview
- The editor will allow creation and editing of a package consisting of a hierarchy of content objects
- This creation and editing is assisted through the use of iDevices
- Once created the package can be exported in different formats
- The package can also be saved internally so it can be worked on over many sessions
- Importing from any external formats is not a requirement for the FirstIteration
- We are not locking ourselves into backwards compatibility
iDevices
- An iDevice is a mini-template for the creation of content
- Content authored in the editor is "tagged" with attributes from the iDevice which was used to create it.... such that the content can be reloaded into the iDevice again, or transformed according to the structure imposed upon it by the iDevice.
- Editing an iDevice will not change the objects previously built with that iDevice
- An iDevice defines
- Structure => The collection of fields for the content
- Purpose => Brief statement what the iDevice is for
- Pedagogical tip => Detailed instructions how this iDevice can be used
- Instructions for completion = > How content should be entered using this iDevice
- An iDevice may have one instruction for the whole iDevice, or many instructions (upto one for each field)
- Author/contributor details
- Description
- For the FirstIteration there does not need to be any other Metadata captured
iDevices to be included
- It will not be possible to delete the supplied iDevices (in this iteration)
Free Text
- This iDevice consists of just a free area field
Objectives
- A free text area
- An icon
Reading Activity
- This iDevice consists of
- Reference text area
- URL hyperlink field
- Instructions text area
- Feedback text area
Image Activity
- This iDevice consists of
- an image
- a thumbnail image
- a question text area
- a feedback text area
- the presentation will hide the feedback until it is selected by the user
Content Package
- A Content Package is a collection of content e.g. a course
Package Properties
- A Package has properties
- Title
- Author
- Description
- Taxonomy
Package Taxonomy
- The user will have the ability to define the taxonomy for a package, this defines the structure for the package
- The taxonomy describes heirarchical levels the package content may be divided into
- Nice to have: the user may create as many levels as they like
- The user can change the settings for for each level and add extra levels, but cannot delete a level
- Must have alternative: three hard coded levels
- Nice to have: the user may create as many levels as they like
- The user can define for each level
- What is the name for the level (e.g. section, chapter, module)
- Nice to have: What are the recommended iDevices to be used in this level
- The user will be able to over-ride this recommendation and select from the complete list of iDevices
Presentation
- can preview what self-contained website will look like
- ability to have different styles (maximum three)
- These styles specify how a package is divided into separate pages
Pedagogical Templates
- A template is a Content Package where the content objects are not yet filled in
- Templates are used 1.#1 To provide a suggested ordering of iDevices (as a starting point)
- One template will be included with the FirstIteration
Content Objects
- content objects can be thought of as an iDevice with the content filled in
- A collection of content objects makes up the package
- A content object may depend upon resources such as an image file, these can be thought of as being part of the object
- For this FirstIteration multiple objects cannot share resources, but this is part of the FutureRequirements
- Any Unicode content must be able to be stored in a Content Object
Exports
SCORM content packaging
- Package Interchange File (PIF) - IMSmanifest.xml file plus zipped assets
- able to be imported into the Reload Editor, Moodle (utilising at first the Moodle implementation of SCORM;) WebCT; Blackboard, Cecil.
Self-contained website
- consisting of
- well formed XHTML (which passes the W3 validator test)
- CSS
- media
- Javascript.
- runs completely on the client side
- Should render in Firefox 1.0 Windows/Linux? and Internet Explorer 6
Environment
User interface
- All elements of the editor interface shall render on Mozilla Firefox 1.0/Windows
- No words will be used in graphical elements of the interface (This will simplify multi-language support in later releases)
- The interface will consist of
- a general editing/preview area
- a tree structure for viewing the outline of the package
- a tool box showing either the suggested iDevices or all the available iDevices
- Selecting an iDevice will add a content object to the bottom of the edit area
- A content object can be in one of two modes editing, or previewing
- It starts off in editing mode... on clicking done it turns to preview
- A content object can be moved up and down in its page
Free Text editing
*For editing free text the user will have an editor widget with buttons and formatting for
- bold
- italics
- bullet lists
- numbered lists
- links
- indentation
- sub-headings
Offline
- The editor shall run (meet the other requirements) on a computer with no network connection.
Runtime behaviour
- Once installed the editor must be able to be launched from a single command in a standard Windows 2000 environment (i.e. no need to set up services)
- Multiple copies of the editor shall be able to run concurrently
Packaging
- The complete editor system will be made available as a self-installing executable which will run on Windows 2000, no other files will be required
- A RPM for Linux may also be made available