VIEW / E-SKILLS / 14-19 DIPLOMA

Getting Started

The e-skills VIEW is provided on a DVD. The application contains four full VIEW applications and a series of content links.

The resource is licenced to each participating school for the duration of the pilot programme and will install onto multiple single PCs or networks or both. The DVD is not required to operate the software. Once installation is complete the DVD should be removed and stored away securely.

A computer operating the e-skills VIEW application should be operating under;

Windows 2000, XP or NT4 Although VIEW is supported under Windows 98, you must have the latest service packs installed for a successful installation and operation.
64Mb RAM and at least 2.5Gb of hard disc space available.
DVD ROM
Audio capability (headphones are recommended)

To run the VIEW application correctly you must have the following installed on the client PC: -
Apple QuickTime 6 or greater
MDAC 2.7 or greater
JET 4.0 or greater

The installer provided with VIEW automatically installs the required components (supplied on the DVD) on installation into your programmes. If you don’t remove the DVD after installation it may try and reinstall.

If you have any problems with installation or other technical issues contact FutureVu on Tel 01908 246720 info@futurevu.com

Any further technical notes concerning the pilot programme and the VIEW software application, will be posted here throughout the duration of the pilot.

Known problems with VIEW applications

Maps

The four VIEW applications in e-skills VIEW, were developed in the early stages of the VIEW project. Over time the maps/plans provided have become more important in helping the user navigate around.

Originally the maps simply indicated where each rotary image was to be found in a location. Over time, dotted lines were added to indicate which points were connected together to form the network of points the user could navigate.

More recently, the maps for VIEW applications have included dotted lines which, not only show a connection, but represent fairly accurately the direction the map arrow must face for the user to find a route forward on the rotary image.

Over time all past VIEW applications will be upgraded to this standard. The maps will be improved through:

A consistent design,
All rotary points numbered for ease of reference,
Improved representation of the shape of a building or room,
Dotted lines showing ‘routes’ between rotary points,
Dotted lines helping establish the direction to face to find a route forwards,
Some labelling of critical areas,
North as always ‘up the page’ (regardless of true geography).

As the new maps appear, users wishing to take advantage of the new maps will be able to download the set of maps for any one VIEW application together with a new version of the VIEW database.

Any downloads will be accompanied by instructions to help users upgrade their VIEW applications.

Quicktime

VIEW currently uses Quicktime to display a rotary image. Most VIEW applications were provided with Quicktime 6.4

Versions of Quicktime released by Apple after 6.4 were known to be causing problems with hotspots. VIEW would run, but hotspots would not function.

Quicktime 7.0.4 and later include a fix for this problem and work satisfactorily with VIEW. Some testing shows that this later version does not load Quicktime rotary images as quickly as the older 6.4 however. We would be interested in any experience of using a later version of Quicktime with VIEW applications, particularly over networks.

The installation for VIEW includes an opportunity to cancel the installation of Quicktime 6.4 if the school has the software installed already. Please be aware of the problems with hot spots post version 6.4 however. If VIEW appears to run but students cannot get hotspots to respond then the problem is almost certainly the bugged version of Quicktime installed on a PC. The solution will be to upgrade to Quicktime 7.0.4 or later or to revert back to version 6.4.

e-skills VIEW

This application installs 4 x VIEW applications presented through a common interface. This represents more than 2 Gb of data. That is;

More than 300 rotary images,
Over 2000 single images of which 900+ are zoomable as documents,
36 video sequences,
Over 100 interviews, containing audio answers to more than 1,700 questions.
In excess of 80,000 words of narrative.

Before installation the user should check to ensure that sufficient room is available on the PC hard disc (or network drive). Installation should not leave the hard disc too full as this may impact on the performance of VIEW and most other applications.

e-skills VIEW is provided on DVD. When installing, make sure the drive being used can read a DVD and is not simply a CD drive. If a school cannot transfer the software from a DVD to their PCs and require the e-skills VIEW application on multiple CDs, they should contact FutureVu on techsupport@futurevu.com

Audio interviews

The interviews for many employees were taken in less than ideal conditions in the workplace and students should listen carefully to ensure they hear the answer that is given. In a typical classroom the audio provision made by a PC is rarely sufficient. Ideally, students should be provided with headphones and the ability to adjust the sound levels to meet their own needs. Headphones provide a clear presentation of the audio interviews and serve to help the student concentrate on the answer being provided.

Web links

In some areas of each VIEW application, web addresses are suggested for further information. In some cases if these are clicked the internet browser on the PC running VIEW, will start-up and the website loaded. Where an internet browser is not provided this will not happen. Some schools may not permit access to websites that have not been registered within their own network systems, and in this case the website will not be accessible.

PowerPoint applications

In a few cases the hyperlink offered refers to a resource provided within the VIEW application itself. This is usually a PowerPoint presentation. If the default web browser is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer the PowerPoint application will be presented to the user. The PowerPoint presentation does not necessarily require the Microsoft PowerPoint application to be present and it can therefore be viewed, though not edited.

The web browser ‘Firefox’ will not support this function however.

Screen resolution

e-skills VIEW will run within a window enabling students to access other applications on their PC, eg a word processor.

The user can, if permissions are granted, change the screen resolution to 800 x 600. Some students may find this easier to view. In this case, the VIEW application will use all the screen space available. The user can still access other applications but screen management is more difficult.

The window in which e-skills VIEW runs can be moved around the screen to suit the user and can be minimised.