Genee World ClassComm 5 User Manual

ClassComm 5

Interactive Response

System Software

User Guide

October 2011 – Rev. 3

Contents

CD Contents: ................................................................................................................................. 3

Minimum System Requirements: ................................................................................................... 3

Phase 1 - Installation and Hardware Setup ..................................................................................... 4

Phase 2 – Adding and mapping a PowerPoint Presentation. ........................................................... 6

Phase 3 – Creating and Adding Teachers, Classes and Students ................................................... 10

Phase 4 – Presentation/Class Settings in ClassComm ................................................................... 20

Phase 5 – Running a Presentation ................................................................................................ 29

Phase 6 – Viewing Reports and Charts in ClassComm ................................................................... 35

ClassComm Application Preferences ............................................................................................ 41

Custom Tests ............................................................................................................................... 47

Group/Team Allocation ............................................................................................................... 52

HOCKEY GAME ............................................................................................................................ 61

CRICKET GAME ............................................................................................................................ 62

Text and Drop within ClassComm ................................................................................................ 66

Personalised Learning Test – Quick Guide .................................................................................... 82

Interface Editor for Corporate Mode ........................................................................................... 93

Pebble Pad (5g Hardware) – Quick Guide ..................................................................................... 98

Appendix A – Troubleshooting Flowchart .................................................................................. 109

Appendix B – FAQ ..................................................................................................................... 109

TROUBLESHOOTING FLOWCHART .............................................................................................. 110

FAQ ........................................................................................................................................... 111

CD Contents:

 ClassComm 5.exe – Main Software  Sample Content – Includes educational content for Genee Pads, IQ Pads and Pebble Pads.

PowerPoint Plug-in (Slide Mapper) – Plug-in that adds a “Slide Mapper” module to MS PowerPoint. You can then map your quizzes/presentation directly within MS PowerPoint ready for use in ClassComm.

 Backup/Restore tool For existing customers upgrading from an older version of ClassComm.  Quick Start Guide

Minimum System Requirements:

 Processor: Pentium III 450 MHz processor (1 gigahertz (GHz) Pentium processor

recommended)

 Memory: 512 MB (1 GB or above recommended)  Display: 800 x 600, 256 colours (Recommended: 1024 x 768 high colour, 32-bit)  CDROM Drive: 4x or faster  HDD: 300MB free hard drive space for basic installation – 500 MB hard drive space required

for curriculum sample content

 Microsoft.Net Framework 4.0 (Full version)  Microsoft® PowerPoint 2003 or above  Adobe Flash player version 9  Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 - 32 and 64 bit Compatible

Phase 1 - Installation and Hardware Setup

NOTE: For the rechargeable GeneePads, a 7 – 10 hour full charge will be needed before they can be used with ClassComm.

1 – Insert the disk and double-click ClassComm.exe. This will open the ClassComm installation menu screen:

2 – Click the “ClassComm Installation” option to install the main application. Follow on screen instructions to complete the installation. Note – You may get a message stating that you need .net Framework 4.0. If so, please click the Pre-requisite button to install it.

3 – Click “Sample Content” to select and install the required sample educational content which contains fully mapped PowerPoint presentations. (Optional)

4 – Install the “Power Point Plug-in” module. This will add the Slide Mapper module to MS PowerPoint allowing for presentation mapping.

5 – The “Backup and Restore” option allows users to take a Backup from older ClassComm installations and then restore these settings into the latest ClassComm software. (Optional Step).

6 – Launch ClassComm from the Desktop icon...

7 –Connect the Receiver to an available USB port. The drivers will automatically install and a message will appear in the bottom left of the ClassComm software interface stating “xyz receiver connected” where xyz represents the type of hardware purchased.

8 – Once the receiver connected message appears, open the Communication tab of ClassComm. Now test handset communication to the receiver by pressing some keys on the handset and then pressing “send”. The corresponding cell ID’s will light up in the grid.

The following image shows the communication grid. In the left panel it shows the number of active handsets and responses received. Note that cells 1 – 4 are lit up to indicate that those are the active handsets. Also note that cell 255 is lit up. This is the Teacher Handset which is a different colour to student handsets and is set to ID 255.

The software is now installed and the hardware is configured correctly and has been tested in the communication area of ClassComm.

Phase 2 – Adding and mapping a PowerPoint Presentation.

Question Types in ClassComm

The next step is to get the PowerPoint presentation “mapped” so that ClassComm can treat it as an activity/resource. To do this, you need to associate each slide in your PowerPoint activity with one of the following slide mapping options:

1. INFORMATION – Information slides have no question data associated with them. They are used

for informational purposes only.

2. TRUE/FALSE – Use for True or False type question slides.

3. YES/NO – Use for Yes or No type question slides.

4. MULTIPLE MARK – Use this option for multiple choice questions that have more than one

correct answer.

5. MULTIPLE CHOICE – Multiple choice slides can have the choices set as text or numeric with a

single correct answer.

6. SEQUENCE – Sequence slides are used when you have a slide that has a number of phrases,

words or numbers that need to be put into the correct order by participants.

7. NUMERIC – Numeric answer question slides.

8. TEXT - Text answer’s up to 87 characters from genee pads and IQ Pads.

9. LIKERT SCALE – The Likert scale slide type is used when there is no right or wrong answer. They

can be used gather opinion/views on a subject and as a type of survey research tool. Choose the

default scale or create up to 5 custom likert scales. Also, a Text(essay) option is available for

opinion type questions.

10. E-Vote – Voting slide that accepts 3 responses only – YES, NO or ABSTAIN.

Adding a PowerPoint Activity into the ClassComm Resources Section

Whilst in the Resources area of ClassComm, select File > New > New Activity > New PowerPoint

Activity. Now click browse and choose the location of the PowerPoint Activity you wish to add and

click open in the “Please select a presentation” window.

By default, any un-mapped presentations added to ClassComm will set all slides to Information type. A previously mapped PowerPoint presentation will retain its previous mapping only if the associated XML mapping file is stored in the same location as the original PowerPoint.

Mapping a PowerPoint Activity – Method 1 - MAP ACTIVITY WINDOW

Select the PowerPoint presentation that has been added to the Resources window from the previous

step by clicking on it once. The presentation slides will appear as thumbnails in the right side of the

screen as shown in the following image:

Go to Settings > Map Activity from the top main menu bar. The “Map Activity” screen will appear as shown in the following image. All the slides will be numbered and listed in the Map Activity window. Using the drop-down boxes next to each slide number, select the appropriate options in order to map the slide as required for the selected activity/presentation. Note that depending upon the type of Slide Type selected, certain options may be unavailable. For example, for True/False, Yes/No, Text and Numeric type slides, there will be no option to select response type or numbers of choices as these options are only relevant to Multiple Choice, Multiple Mark, Sequence and Likert slide types. Click OK once mapping is completed.

Mapping a PowerPoint Activity – Method 2 - POWERPOINT PLUG-IN (Needs to be installed from

ClassComm software CD prior to following the steps below)

Select File > New > New Activity > New PowerPoint Activity as described above in the Adding a PowerPoint Activity into ClassComm Resources Section. Now double-click the newly added resource.

This will open the presentation within MS PowerPoint. The Plug-in appears on the left side of the screen and is called “Slide Mapper” – Note that the plug-in shown is version 2.2.2. If you are using an older version, please contact technical@geneeworld.com and request a link to download the latest software.

The slide Mapper is a convenient way to map your slides within PowerPoint. Follow the steps below to map a presentation slide:

1 – Select the Slide Type.

2 – Select the No. Of Choices if the slide Type is Multiple Choice/Mark or Sequence. For other slide types this option will not be available or set by default in the case of Likert Scale.

3 – Select Response Type – Option available for Multiple Choice/Mark and Sequence. Select Text to label choices with alpha characters and Numeric to label choices as numbers. (Max 6 choices available i.e. A-F or 1-6).

4 – Enter the correct answer – (optional in Plug- in 2.0.0 and above for SURVEY presentations where right/wrong answers are not needed)

5- Highlight the question text from the PowerPoint slide and click the Q+ button to add the question. This will then appear on the reports in ClassComm.

6 – The Text Answers option allows you to highlight the correct answer in a different colour when running a presentation/quiz in ClassComm. First choose the answer colour from the Answer Colour (For Text Answer Only) drop-down box. Now highlight the correct answer on the slide

and press the “Add” button under Text Answers”. Press reset to revert back to no

answer colour.

7 – The “Answer Slide” option allows object’s e.g. image, text box to be revealed and/or hidden when the presenter shows the answer. Once an object has been added, select it and then press the “Show” or “Hide” button to show an object or hide an object when the answer is revealed. The Reset button will cancel the show/hide effect.

8 – The “Chart Object” option adds a chart container to the slide. This container can be used to embed charts during a live presentation for review later whilst viewing the instant charts.

Repeat the above steps for each slide in the presentation. SAVE the changes before closing PowerPoint and re-entering ClassComm.

Phase 3 – Creating and Adding Teachers, Classes and Students

When running a presentation in ClassComm, the students must be added into the ClassComm software before they can used with the “Existing Class” presentation This can be done either by data entry or via import of a CSV or excel file.

Method 1 – Data Entry

1. Enter the STUDENT area of ClassComm. The following screen will appear:

2. Create a new teacher by clicking the >> symbol next to the teacher drop-down box. From

the pop-up menu, select Add Teacher.

3. Enter the new teacher details and press the SAVE button. At this point, the Cancel button

will change to a CLOSE button which will exit out of the Add Teacher window.

4. Create a new Class by clicking on the >> next to the Class drop-down box and select Add

Class.

5. Enter the new class details in the Add Class window that appears and Press SAVE followed by

CLOSE. Note that the only mandatory fields are Class Name and teacher.

6. To add new students into the class, select the class from the drop-down box, click >> and

select Add Student from the pop-up menu.

7. From the Search Student window that appears, click the NEW button.

8. Enter the new student details in the Add Student Details window that appears. The only

other mandatory fields are forename and Handset ID (for use with “Existing Class” presentation mode). Press SAVE and then ADD to enter further new students to the class. Once all student details have been entered and saved, press CLOSE.

Method 2 – Import Student List from CSV/Excel

To import via CSV/Excel, we need to ensure that ClassComm can recognise the fields of the spreadsheet and import them accordingly into the application database. Here is a sample excel spreadsheet with 5 columns – Forename, Surname, Handset ID, Gender and Email.

To import the above spreadsheet into ClassComm, here are the steps to follow:

1. Enter the STUDENT area of ClassComm.

2. Go to IMPORT/EXPORT > IMPORT > CSV/EXCEL

3. The Import from CSV window will open. Select the Import source type that matches the file

that holds the student details (CSV or Excel) and click the Browse button. Locate the Import Source file.

4. Select “First row is data header” if the source file has column headings. Check the “Also

import into class” option and select the class from the drop-down menu. Note that classes must be pre-created when using this option. If de-selected, the students will be imported into the MASTER LIST and can be allocated to classes as required from within the Student section of ClassComm.

5. The Field names in the CSV/Excel file need to be matched to an index number so that they

1 2 3 4 5

will be recognised and imported correctly into the ClassComm software. From the sample spreadsheet below, it can be seen that the FORENAME field is the first column hence it is index 1; SURNAME is index 2 and so on.

Select Forename from the Field Name is CSV/Excel dropdown box and then select 1 from the Field Index in CSV/Excel dropdown list. Click the Add button. The data will be displayed in the table as shown in the images below:

6. When the fields have been indexed correctly, the List of selected Fields table will look as

follows:

7. Click the IMPORT button. After a short time, the following message will appear. Click OK to

proceed and then CLOSE on the Import from CSV window.

8. The student’s have now been added to the Class selected during the import process or if no

class was selected, they will be viewable in the Master List ready for addition to a class or classes.

Phase 4 – Presentation/Class Settings in ClassComm

Now that a PowerPoint Activity has been successfully mapped and added to the ClassComm Resources area, we can setup the activity/resource to run as a quiz with a group of participants/student’s. To do this, click on the Presentation tab within ClassComm. The Presentation area of the software is where the presenters can set the presentation mode, how the participant responses will be taken, and game and pace settings. There are two ways to select the Class/audience with which you wish to present to: -

1 – Existing Class Presentation – When this option is selected, only existing Class and Teacher data can be used for the presentation. Class and Teacher data has to have been pre-entered onto the system via the Student section of ClassComm (See Phase 3 – Creating and Adding Teachers, Classes and Students). When using the Existing Class presentation option, the class and teacher need to be selected from the bottom-right pane and then active participants need be selected from the Student Name Register pane before an activity can be presented.

2 – Ad-Hoc Class - When this option is selected, an Ad-hoc class can be created by participant’s texting in their names from the handsets. After selecting Ad-hoc, click the “New Class” button on the bottom right of the ClassComm interface to bring up the Ad-hoc class interface. Clicking the

“Capture Names” button sets all active handsets to texting mode. Participants can now text in their names and press the send button on the handset.

Once, participants have texted in their names, the presenter presses the “Stop Capture” button. The Clear, Done and Cancel buttons now become active.

Done - Saves the captured names and populates the Student Register Pane.

Clear – Deletes all captured names and resets Ad-hoc display ready for re-capturing names.

Cancel – Deletes all captured names and returns user to the default Presentation screen.

Once all students’ have texted in their names, clicking the “Done” button will transfer the student names to the student register as shown in the following screenshot.

Now that a class has been created, we need to set the presentation mode, communication settings

Student Name Register – Captured student names are transferred here and assigned to the relevant Handset ID

Ad-hoc Class – The Ad hoc class details must be entered in this section and

saved before the class can be used in a Presentation.

Class – The Class drop-down box contains all previously saved Ad-hoc classes for future use.

and Game and Pace control settings.

There are four types of presentation mode:

Review Slides – This option allows the teacher/presenter to quickly present an activity that has been selected from within the Select Activity area of the screen. With the Review slides option selected, no responses are taken from participant handsets and therefore the communication, game and handset standby time options are disabled. The Pace Settings of the Review Slides presentation mode can be customized by the user.

Record Assessment – The Record Assessment presentation mode allows for full interactivity with participants via the handsets. Reports and charts are created based upon the responses received as each question has a correct answer and associated mark. The marks are used to create reports and charts. This mode allows for formative and summative assessment. NOTE – To run Record Assessment, the PowerPoint activity must be mapped fully with answers to each question. The only exception to this rule is Likert scale and E-vote which will not have correct answers.

Survey – Survey mode presentations do not require correct answers to be mapped to questions and are ideally suited to opinion based presentations’. When survey mode is selected, the game option will be disabled since marks for questions are ignored and the games use marks to determine the “winner”. Survey mode presentations can be reviewed from within the Reports section using only 4 reports – Class Answer Report A, Class Answer Report B, Student Report B and Question Summary Report.

Spontaneous – The Spontaneous Question mode allows presenters to create questions in a few simple steps and then run the questions. Answers are optional and spontaneous question reports/charts can be created and saved for analysis. Spontaneous Questions do not have to be linked to a pre-mapped PowerPoint presentation. The questions can be created “spontaneously” using an on-screen wizard and run over any open document, web page or resource. (See Screenshot below for Spontaneous Question Setup Wizard

After the presentation mode has been set, Communication options need to be set...

Login by ID (Only available for Existing Class Presentation’s): If handset ID’s have not been specifically assigned to student’s, then all participating students in an existing class with a handset

will have to Login by ID – when this option is selected, after the presenter has set all the presentation data and clicked the “Present Activity” button, the grid shown below will appear. At this stage, the participants must type in their Student Number in 5-digit format and press send on their handsets. The Student Number can be found in the STUDENT area of ClassComm either through the Master List or by selecting a class.

Login by ID – Each participating student will have to enter their Student Number in 5digit format and press the SEND button on the handset e.g.

Student No. is 1 = Login ID is 00001

Student No. 12 = Login ID is 00012 etc

Anonymous Login (Option available when Existing Class Presentation is selected): Selecting the Anonymous Login option allows a presentation to be carried out without using/storing any individual student data. When Anonymous login is selected, all active handsets i.e. handsets currently switched on will appear in the Active Handsets pane. Additional handsets can be added or removed from the presentation at this point by switching them on/off. See the following screenshot for further details.

Active Handsets – All handsets currently switched on and mapped to the active receiver will appear here. The handset ID will be the only identifier used in the presentation reports and charts giving participants total anonymity.

Anonymous Login Class – Anonymous Class details must be entered and saved here before an activity can be presented in Anonymous Login mode.

Single response per Handset: If this communication option is selected only the first response from the student handset will be accepted.

Student feedback: If this feature is selected the student will get instant feedback on their handset stating if their response was correct or incorrect.

Show if threshold is below (optional): A notification will appear during the running of a presentation if the percentage of correct responses received falls below the threshold set here.

Auto Response Taken: If selected, this option automatically starts the recording of student responses as each slide in a presentation is displayed. If this option is de-selected, the presenter has to manually “play” each slide before student responses from the handset’s are accepted.

Game and Pace settings

Select Game: The presenter can include a game in the activity they are about to present by selecting one from the drop down list. The student with the most correct answers and fastest responses will win the game. The Games option is only available in Record Assessment Mode for Existing Class and Ad Hoc Class Presentations. NOTE: ClassComm 5 introduces 2 new group based games – Hockey and Cricket. These require a specific setup to play. See the Advanced functionality – Hockey and

Cricket games setup section towards the end of this guide for further details.

Handset standby time (Min.): The time selected here determines how long in minutes the handsets

will remain powered on without use before powering down to standby mode. If the handset does go into standby mode during a presentation, it will retain its last setting when switched on again so that the participant can continue to send responses in sync with the Presentation question.

Pace controller Options:

Countdown timer (sec.): This option allows the presenter to set the time in seconds that a slide will

be shown. For example, if the countdown timer option is selected and the time is set to 20 seconds, each slide in the presentation will remain on display for 20 seconds before moving sequentially to the next slide and so on.

Per question: This option can be used by the presenter when the activity to be presented has had the RESPONSE TIME set during the mapping of the presentation. Without Response Times being mapped into the presentation, this feature will not function.

Auto loop: Note: Available only for Review Slides Presentation Mode. Selecting this option will repeat the presentation after the last slide has shown.

Show Answer: This functionality is used for displaying the answer. When this option is used in combination with the Countdown timer, the time specified within the timer will determine both how long the slide is displayed AND how long the answer will remain on view. For example, if the presenter runs a presentation with the countdown timer set to 10 seconds, then the slide will display for 10 seconds followed by the correct answer on screen for a further 10 seconds. Similarly, with show answer selected in combination with the Per question option (in Pace Controller), the

slides’ mapped response time will dictate how long the slide followed by the answer is displayed on screen.

Phase 5 – Running a Presentation

At this stage, we have installed the software, tested the hardware communication, mapped a PowerPoint presentation and covered the various Presentation options. This section will cover running the presentation. The Presentation/Class settings for the following section are:

 Ad Hoc Class called “Test Ad Hoc Class” with 2 students called David Smith and Sally Thomas.

Class teacher is Mr Jones.

 Record Assessment Presentation Mode  Auto Response Taken, Student Feedback and Single Response per Handset Communication

options all selected.

 Sprints Game Selected  Handset Standby Time = 4 minutes (default setting)  Pace Settings all de-selected.

The Presentation area will look as follows when the above settings have been input into ClassComm...

From within the Presentation area of ClassComm, select the Key stage 1 > Geography activity (Available in ClassComm 4.0.0 and above as sample content) from the Select Activity pane on the left side of the ClassComm Interface. Click it once to highlight it and now click the “Present Activity” button.

ClassComm will minimize and the selected activity will open in PowerPoint slideshow mode with 2 floating toolbars on display as shown in the following image:

1 - Presentation Toolbar – This is used to control the presentation, view/hide answers, show charts

Response Bar

Presentation Toolbar

and so on. All the features on this tool bar can be controlled via the TEACHER HANDSET. Below are two images of the presentation tool bar – on the left is the initial state of the toolbar when it is in recording mode – at this point, the participant’s are able to respond via the handsets and the response bar cells will light up orange to indicate that a valid response has been recorded. It is important to note that the 5th button down on the presentation toolbar is a RED STOP button. This indicates that the software is in recording mode (i.e. ready to accept handset responses). If it is a

GREEN PLAY button, no responses’ will be taken until it is pressed – The green play button will only be available when the “Auto Response Taken” option is de-selected in the Presentation settings area

prior to running the activity.

Note that in Information type slides, only the “Next” button is available as no responses are

expected from Information questions.

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