It's been a couple of weeks since i last posted , besides being busy with my work another very irritating reason for the delay is that the wz_dragdrop library i wanted to use for image placement and re-sizing just wouldn't work for me ... that javascript library requires for the webpage to load fully before it can initialize properly, this i 'learned the hard way'...
So i am coding the javascript whiteboard feature myself, using the Object-Oriented techniques i learned while coding the 'live webcam' and 'Live Presentation' features that are now fully functional.
The basic concept of my 'whiteboarding' feature is still the same :
- give all chatters their own 'whiteboaord' : a transparent background 'div' container overlaying a 'base image'
-the 'base image' is selected before the live chat session by the teacher to represent the topic or to give chatters a common point of reference. At minimum the 'base image' can simply be a blank placeholder, it is needed to anchor and size all chatters whiteboards.
- allow chatters to place via drag/drop and to re-size multiple graphic and text elements within their own whiteboard 'div'. Font-face and size can be set for each text element. Images for whiteboard-use are listed in preview mode and additional images can be uploaded through the wysiwyg editor's image interface, the wysiwyg editor can be accessed from within a live chat only by the teacher, uploading images in advance is best but new images can be added as needed.
-allow any or all other chatter's whiteboards to be displayed or hidden on demand, other chatter's whiteboard contents are read-only but any element of your own whiteboard can be edited as you go,
so far i have 'planned my attack', started with the Object definitions for whiteboards and their elements, layed out the management for log-in/out of chatters, defined the structure of the 'commands' to allow whiteboard sharing between chatters ....etc...
Since the image elements can be sized on-demand i will not be adding a vector-like 'draw line/rectangle/oval' feature, it is not really needed if appropriate images are provided:
if this whiteboard session is to be used for 'flow-chart brainstorming' then transparent background gifs or pngs representing the various lines/rectangles/diamonds/arrows/right-angle/left-turns etc.. should be prepared in advance for the chatters...
if this whiteboard session is to share imaginative or original imagery , for example a beauty-makeover, then you can have the students prepare images in advance as an assignment : have them prepare gif/pngs of 'the latest' wigs/glasses/accessories along with this season's makeup colors and shades in the shape of eyeliner/blush-strokes/lipstick. etc.... etc.....
i also decided to create an actual moodle mod for this enhanced chat so that the code and the database tables are seperate from the existing chat module , to that end i am calling it " V_Chat " to differentiate my mod from the existing chat. this will allow moodle users to have both chat modules installed and/or run at the same time (shoulda' done this as the first step but i'm not a programmer eh?! )
V as in Visual, Video, Virtual , Voice ... your choice .......
this means a CALL FOR BETA-TESTERS is on the horizon, i would appreciate hearing from anyone that would like to test-install this module at your own moodle site , it's not ready for release yet but i would like to hear from you now ...
please post your reply here , i will create an account for you so we can 'V_Chat' about this at my moodle site ( this will also help me test the code i have so far! )
Thanks to all ;
PS: i also realized that the slide show feature is kinda lame , i will be adding a scroller for the text transcript display, this will make it a lot easier for people that are 'converting' an existing slide presentation ..
originally the slide presentation was meant for multiple graphic files to act as individual slides of a presentation with a text description displayed under each slide , this works fine for jpegs ...
BUT if you have a video file that you want to use as your 'slideshow' you would need to 'chop it up' into individual slides, and if you are converting a powerpoint slide show to flash format you will end-up with only one flash file containing all of your slides.... either way this would require for all slides' text transcripts to be displayed on the same page below the graphic content... so i will add an auto-scroller to the text display area below the graphic , that will make the whole presentation easier to follow since scrolling down was pushing the actual slide out of view. The chatters wont have to scroll-down to keep-up and adjusting the speed of the auto-scroll will create a 'tele-prompter' for the presenter.
PSS: thank you Art Lader , i was really hoping i could use that lib but nogo ...
