[Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity

[Kemp Johnathan]

Hello Julian,

There is always the possibility for people to create bad stuff. Some of the
worst "e-learning" material I have come across has consisted of a series of
pages of information with the odd quiz thrown in on the assumption that
this will somehow "test learning". I don't think there is an e-learning
development tool on the planet that can prevent people form creating "bad
stuff". However if a software tool is limited in its features it can
prevent the creation of more engaging learning objects.

The ability to offer branching (or connections if you prefer) can allow for
the development of learning objects that require users to think and make
decisions (including mistakes) and then learn from the results of those
decisions. But any development tool that supports this feature will also
require of the author that they think about how they set up their routing
through the project or learning object.

I don't think that this is about standalone Xerte V XOT in that the
connector pages do not require someone to have access to the structure of
the page.

   - The people who are happy with sequential projects simply won't bother
   with the Connector pages.
   - Other users will use the simpler connector pages to flag up pages of
   interest or provide sub menus, without actually defining specific routes
   through a project. I am thinking here of the menu connector page, hotspot
   image connector and plain text connector.
   - Those who want to set up specific routing will start making use of the
   tab navigator connector and the redirector connector.
   - It may take some time before anyone embraces the Scenario connector.
   But the reaction last September to the demo of the prototype page suggests
   that there will be some people out there who will be excited by it and will
   want to make use of it. I think that once a few working examples that use
   the Scenario page are produced, then interest in the page will grow.
   However initially people will have to get their head around what it does
   and how they can make use of it.

It seems to me there are a couple of issues that are causing the main
concern.

   1. The Navigation issue - i.e. the need for a historic back button when
   projects are being created that use Connector pages to set up specific
   routes through a project. Perhaps what might help with this is if the back
   button icon could change to indicate when a project was using an "historic"
   back button. This would avoid learner confusion caused by the back button
   doing something unexpected. Maybe a back arrow with three overlapping
   rectangles (a bit like the way the drag-able items stack in the time-line
   matching pairs page.) would be enough to convey the idea.
   2. The complexity of some of the pages, in particular the tabbed
   Navigator Connector and the Scenario Connector. There is documentation to
   support the use of these pages. There are already in Xerte and XOT pages
   that are not intuitive to use e.g. the Interactive Diagram (customHotspots)
   which works differently from any other page. The mapstraction page (I have
   still not figured this one out yet!) There is no documentation to support
   their use.


XOT has captured a large audience. Will it really frighten someone off XOT
if they can't cope with a particular page? Or will they just ignore that
page type in future and stick with what they are comfy with? Meanwhile
those who are eager for more features will start producing even more
interesting and diverse learning objects.

   - Is the XOT community best served by assuming a lowest common
   denominator and then rejecting anything that might rise above that level of
   challenge?
   - Will the learners who use XOT generated learning objects have a better
   learning experience if they are challenged more and have to engage more
   with their learning?
   - There is an awareness in the XOT community of the new developments.
   Expectations have been raised. Do we let down those expectations now?

It seems to me that like any group of people XOT users are a diverse group.
Just as there will be some who will only use the simplest of pages and may
panic at anything a little different, there will also be others who whilst
valuing XOT, would like to be able to do more with it. I remember Ron's
reaction when he saw that some of my pages included a "transition" property
for images - he thought it should be included with all pages that offered
images. Ron also, independently came up with an idea for a hotspot image
connector page.

We have discussed on prior occasions the merits of being able to set up
routing in a project or learning object. IMHO this is a significant feature
that currently XOT lacks and that is offered by some competing commercial
products.

At the end of the day it will be your decision whether to include the
connector pages. If you include them, authors will have the opportunity to
choose not to use them.

Kind regards

Johnathan


On 30 July 2012 10:49, Julian Tenney <Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk> wrote:

These issues are making me seriously question whether to release the
> connectors as part of toolkits. For standalone developers, then fair
> enough, the result is up to you, but there is the possibility for people to
> create bad stuff here, and toolkits shouldn’t let people make bad stuff.
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Kemp Johnathan
> *Sent:* 27 July 2012 19:28
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> The functionality would not change depending on the page you were on, the
> functionality of the navigation would apply to the whole learning object.
>
>
>
> If connector pages are being used to set up specific routes through a
> project than a historic back button is essential. We can probably manage
> with a linear next button as the connector pages can be set up so that the
> navigation is disabled when on a connector page.
>
>
>
> Where connector pages are being used to set up routes through a learning
> object then a project wide menu is counter productive. I would anticipate
> any project that is using connector pages to set up specific routes through
> a project to be implemented using the linear option as it is the only
> option that does not implement a project wide menu. Perhaps there needs to
> be a new option "Historic" so that all current Linear projects perform as
> they always did, but authors can have an option that presents an LO with no
> start menu and a historic back button.
>
>
>
> The user interface will probably appear a little different as the
> connector pages will disable the navigation and when non-connector pages
> are used the option to set navigation on exit of a connector page should be
> taken to only provide next and back (i.e. historic back) buttons.
>
>
>
> If a menu is required the connector menu will provide the capability to
> implement a menu that only offers selected pages, thus restricting access
> to only appropriate starting points for different sections of the LO.
>
>
>
> I can appreciate the concerns that are being expressed.
>
>
>
> Connector pages present a new paradigm. LOs that use Connector Pages to
> set up routes through LOs are going to provide a different experience for
> Xerte users. However since there would normally be limited use of menus the
> fact that the back button is historic may pass largely unnoticed by the
> user.
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
>
> Johnathan
>
>
>
> On 27 July 2012 10:58, Julian Tenney <Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk>
> wrote:
>
> > if the behaviour of the forward button changes depending on what you do
>
> That would get us onto interfacesfromhell.com. If we ever have to explain
> how this works to a user, we have failed.
>
>
>
> What worries me is that at present, you can set the navigation style with
> rootIcon.setNavigationStyle(style), but to our users, the functionality in
> what appears to be the same interface changes between different LOs. This
> troubles me.
>
>
>
> In linear pieces, I agree: it should do linear next / prev; in menu
> without page controls, it works fine too: there are no buttons! When you
> use the menu with page controls setting, currently it does the back /next
> (as opposed to prev / next).
>
>
>
> The implications are very much with the connectors I think, as it would be
> possible for people to make some really terrible decisions if they start
> changing the functionality based on the type of page you are on. That MUST
> NOT happen.
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Fay Cross
> *Sent:* 26 July 2012 08:55
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> I think this is really tricky to get right.  I can see the argument for
> historical forward and back working really well on projects with connector
> pages but think it could get confusing if the behaviour of the forward
> button changes depending on what you do.
>
>
>
> For example, a LO is set up as Menu with controls.  The user reads the
> first few of pages in a LO using the forward button to navigate to the next
> numerical page. They then decide to use the menu the skip ahead several
> pages.  They realise they have skipped some important information so use
> the back button to return to the page they were previously on.  Now they
> try to continue navigating through the LO as they had previously by
> clicking the forward button – but using the historical forward button this
> will skip them past several pages again.  The only way for them to get to
> the pages they missed is to use the menu again.  I think this could be
> confusing, especially as there’s no indication on the menu what pages you
> had visited.
>
>
>
> Not sure what the answer is but I don’t know if historical forwards is
> necessarily what people would expect to happen, especially when mixed up
> with linear in certain circumstances.
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Kemp Johnathan
> *Sent:* 25 July 2012 19:45
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> If you go down the two separate types of navigation approach then you
> would not necessarily  implement the mix of historic and linear next button.
>
>
>
> What you are suggesting is that if history.length = 0, then go next, else
> go forward?
>
>
>
> What I am suggesting is that if you have a historic back button then it
> makes sense to offer a historic next button so that the navigation remains
> within a single paradigm. The idea of providing a linear element to the
> next button, only when the user has no legitimate historic next value, is
> really to accommodate the difference between Xerte and a web page. Web
> pages have links in them to enable you to exit them. Standard Xerte pages
> do not.
>
>
>
> If people are going to use the Connector pages they will need the historic
> back button. The type of project an author will want to be selecting will
> be one that does NOT offer a menu of all the pages. The author is unlikely
> to want to provide the end user with a means of bypassing the routes
> through the learning object that the author creates by using the Connector
> pages. Giving them access to a menu of all the pages will do just that.
>
>
>
> I’m finding it hard to get straight in my head (whether your suggestion
> provides a simple, predictable navigation system), and that tells me
> something is wrong:
>
>
>
> Then it is my description that is at fault. The simplest way to describe
> the navigation I am proposing is that it works just like Internet Explorer
> or Opera, with the additional feature, if deemed appropriate, that in
> situations where IE or Opera would show the next button disabled, then in
> Xerte the next button could remain enabled by offering a link to the next
> page in the project's linear sequence.
>
>
>
> The hard part is describing the specific details and rules that apply that
> enable the creation of such a navigation system. In use it is intuitive -
> it is just the way a web browser works.
>
>
>
> The current combination we have in Xerte of a historic back button and a
> purely linear next button is what is likely to throw people.
>
>
>
> We need the author to be able to implement as a minimum, the current
> historic back button navigation without also implementing a project wide
> menu. Better would be to also have a historic next button, so that the
> historic navigation would be consistent.
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
>
> Johnathan
>
>
>
> On 25 July 2012 16:38, Julian Tenney <Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk>
> wrote:
>
> I think the problem is as you say, the mix between a historical back
> button and a linear next button. The two (strong) mental models people will
> bring are the digital book (linear, prev and fwd); or the browser (back in
> history, forward in history); we are kinda mixing them up. In a browser you
> navigate with links; here we are navigating with the fwd button.
>
>
>
> What I’ve done is put the navigation back to the old way for linear
> projects; either of the menu options give the back (in history)
> functionality. Next always goes to the next page.
>
>
>
> What you are suggesting is that if history.length = 0, then go next, else
> go forward? I think we are screwing with people’s mental models here? I’m
> finding it hard to get straight in my head (whether your suggestion
> provides a simple, predictable navigation system), and that tells me
> something is wrong: this shouldn’t need explaining, we will be doing
> something wrong if anyone ever asks a question about the navigation system.
>
>
>
> Hmm.
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Kemp Johnathan
> *Sent:* 25 July 2012 16:29
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> Hi folks,
>
>
>
> I'm sorry that it has taken me a while to respond to this thread, I have
> been otherwise engaged for most of yesterday and today and before I could
> respond adequately I needed to check a few things.
>
>
>
> The standard Xerte project has to date been treated as if you are reading
> a book. No history just turn to the previous or next page relative to the
> one you are currently viewing. When you use the TOC you are just opening
> the book at a new page. Back and Next are then relative to that new page.
>
> The Connector pages introduced a different paradigm for the project. This
> paradigm required a historical back button. As an example consider a
> multiple choice connector page. Each of the answer options can link to a
> sequence of none connector pages, i.e. If the connector page is P1 then
> option 1 may go to P2 which leads to P3 to P4 and P5 is a redirector page
> to P10
> option 2 may go to P6 which leads to P7 to P8 and P9 is a redirector page
> to P10
>
> The historical back is needed to ensure that if you traverse backward from
> P8 to P7 to P6 that the next backward action does not take you to P5 but to
> P1.
>
> This inevitably clashes with the book paradigm when you use the TOC which
> is what Julian found. It will inevitably feel a little strange to Xerte
> users who are used to the book paradigm. However it does mirror the way a
> back button works in a web browser, so in a sense it will be what will be
> expected by anyone opening a Xerte project for the first time.
>
> However browser users will be confused by the Xerte next button, as
> browsers that offer a next button base their next on the browser history.
> Such browsers (IE, Opera) appear to operate by building a history and
> maintaining a pointer as the history is navigated. Whenever a link is
> followed (rather than a back or next button) the "next" half of the history
> is deleted, so that on page exit the current page is added as the most
> recent page in the history.
>
>
>
> If there are to be on offer in Xerte a choice between the original
> navigation or historic navigation then the historic navigation would be
> improved if it also was reflected in the operation of the next button.
>
>
>
> I have performed some tests in opera to figure out what is going on and
> have attached a pdf file to explain everything. The pdf file opens with a
> worked example  of how a historic navigation that accommodated a back and
> next button would operate. The last page identifies the rules that would be
> required in Xerte to implement such a navigation in the xerte navigation.
>
>
>
> I hope this helps. The example can take a little effort to get your head
> around, but the actions that need to happen with respect to each button
> are, I think pretty straight forward to implement for someone who knows
> there way around the appropriate Xerte flash file.
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
>
> Johnathan.
>
>
>
> On 25 July 2012 10:41, Julian Tenney <Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk>
> wrote:
>
> I’ve done that, need to play around with it and see if it feels better.
> Opinions welcome.
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Julian Tenney
> *Sent:* 25 July 2012 09:29
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> OK. I think I’m going to put the default back to the way it was, and add a
> method to the interface calss to allow the developer to chose: that way it
> can be linear for linear navigation, and use the history if navigation is
> menu.
>
>
>
> Does this sound sensible?
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Fay Cross
> *Sent:* 25 July 2012 08:27
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> I only realised it did the back to previous page viewed rather than
> numerical back when doing the testing a couple of weeks ago so I did find
> it a bit odd. I think it’s because I thought of the LO pages to be like
> pages in a book rather than web pages so history back was unexpected.
>
>
>
> So at the moment does a linear layout have numerical forward and back and
> menu layout have history back and numerical forward?  If the linear one has
> history back I do think this could confuse users when they’ve changed page
> using table of contents.
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Julian Tenney
> *Sent:* 24 July 2012 11:35
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> Ah, but then back would have taken me just one page back, and I could go
> one page forward again…
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Ron Mitchell
> *Sent:* 24 July 2012 11:29
> *To:* 'For Xerte technical developers'
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> But you weren't able to do that previously either?
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:
> xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] *On Behalf Of *Julian Tenney
> *Sent:* 24 July 2012 11:16
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> Has it felt right to you whilst testing? Mostly it does feel OK, but the
> time it gribble me out is when I use the TOC to jump to a page, hit back
> (go back to page one) and then can’t easily (without re-opening the TOC)
> get back to the page I was just on (cos there’s no ‘forward’). It somehow
> doesn’t feel quite right
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [
> mailto:xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>]
> *On Behalf Of *Ron Mitchell
> *Sent:* 24 July 2012 11:08
> *To:* 'For Xerte technical developers'
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Re: Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> I think it's fine the way it is now with back being history back and next
> being next numeric page but if you've found inconsistencies with the
> history back perhaps it would be better to revert back to what it's always
> been. Not sure about author control wouldn't that lead to confusion where
> sometimes it's history and sometimes it's linear?
>
>
>
> *From:* xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [
> mailto:xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<xerte-dev-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>]
> *On Behalf Of *Julian Tenney
> *Sent:* 24 July 2012 10:49
> *To:* For Xerte technical developers
> *Subject:* [Xerte-dev] Back / Next Functionlaity
>
>
>
> What do you think: we made the back button in the interface go back in
> history, rather than back in pages: this seems to work well in some
> situations, but whilst testing, I have hit back several times and not gone
> where I expected to, and can’t go forward: do you think we should have it
> so that the developer can chose which way it works?
>
>
>
> So, for a linear interface, it works as it did before, going back and
> forth on page numbers; if it’s a menu driven piece, it goes back in history?
>
>
>
> I think the problem I found in terms of inconsistencies is that forward
> always takes you next, rather than forward in history when back goes back
> in history rather than pages (read that again carefully).
>
>
>
> Next can’t be forward, as it’s the main way of getting to the next,
> unvisited page.
>
>
>
> This should do what the user expects because it grates when you don’t go
> where you wanted.
>
>
>
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