12. CALI Author Page Properties

Each page in CALI Author has unique properties that can be modified to customize the page. These properties include, but are not limited to page name and type, question text, answer text and options, pop-up links, scoring, and feedback. Below you will find short descriptions and screen captures of each CALI Author page tab, explanatory text can usually be found at the top of each tab. Not all Page tabs are available with all page types.

INFO

The Info Tab allows the author to rename the page, change the page type, choose what the next page will be, and disable the 'next page'. Notice that there are four tabs under the primary INFO tab: Info, Scoring Toolbar and Notes. Using these tabs you can change scoring options (Scoring), add a popup or link that appears on sequential pages on the Remote Control (Toolbar), and enter notes for yourself and/or other faculty members (Notes). Notes are not visible to students.

In general , the INFO property is used to rename pages and re-order your lessons (in conjunction with the "Links" property, below).

To change a page name, click the Change Name button. A small screen will appear where you can erase the existing text by placing your cursor in the box and replace the existing text with the page's new name. See page naming conventions for suggestions about how best to name pages.

To change a page type, click the Change Type button.

To change a page destination, click on the button to the right of the 'Next Page' heading. See changing page destinations for more details.

 

By default all pages in CALI Author with scorable elements (choices or matching) are scored. CALI Author scores "green" as right. And, all other responses (blue, red, and yellow) are scored wrong. There are times when an author wants the responses to all be Yellow, as the law may be ambiguous. However, students are frustrated by a reduction in their score when there is not right answer. In this instance, the author may wish to disable the scoring feature for this page. To disable scoring select INFO/Scoring tabs. Then "uncheck" the button, as indicated in the instructions.

 

From the INFO tab you can also create a toolbar button. Toolbar buttons appear as a flag off the remote control for students and allow them ready access to additional material (through a popup) throughout the lesson. While a popup places the linked material in the middle of the page's text, a toolbar button places the same material outside the body of the text. The difference is the emphasis on the linked material for students. Imagine for example a paragraph asking students to assess whether a hypothetical infringes U.S. copyright law. There are two ways to include a link to the appropriate code section. With a popup in the middle of the text students are less likely to neglect reading the statute. And, they're also less likely to consider independently "is this the sort of situation where I should check the statute." The lesson is telling them to read the related statute section. In contrast, a link to the same statutory material in a toolbar button is lesson obvious. Students have to read the hypo in the body of the paragraph and then glance to the remote control to see if there's a toolbar button present. Some past authors have maintained that requiring students to "glance" at the remote control better trains the students to routinely check the code in statutory classes. A second use of a toolbar button is to easily provide students with the same material over the course of several pages in the lesson.

Toolbar buttons appear on every page in the lesson from creation until they are disabled.

To create a toolbar button, first select INFO/Toolbar tabs. Next click the NEW button.

 

Next, rename the caption for the button. The default name is button. This is the name that will appear on the toolbar button for students. Lastly, create a link to a popup or page in the lesson. This is where students will go when they click the toolbar button. Usually, authors select a popup. Remember that popups keep students on the same page and provide additional information. In contrast, a jump link to another page in the lesson takes the student off this page and to another point in the lesson.

 

Toobar Buttons appear in every subsequent page in the lesson until you disable the button. When you reach the page in the lesson where you no longer need the toolbar button disable it by using the INFO/Toolbar button on that page. Then check the "remove" box.

 

QUESTION

The Question Tab allows the author to add text (explanatory or question text depending on page type). The text can be formatted and linked using the formatting toolbar above the text box.

 

CHOICES for BOOK PAGE

IMAGE, SOUND, & VIDEO

 

These five tabs allow you to place text, images (Picture and Animation tabs in .gif  and .jpg format), sounds, and/or video in your questions. If you are using the Sound tab, you can also supply a written transcript of the sound.

ANIMATION

This page allows you to create an animation (slide show) by using a series of different graphics (slides). Animation is more like a slide show than an animated cartoon.

You can use the animation page to do a Slide-Show/Film-Strip type presentation.

HotSpots - interactive locations on an image

While the lesson will allow for images to be inserted almost anywhere, only on Book Pages can you add hotspots to an image. Hotspots are interactive (and scored) elements of an image. Moving your mouse over an image with a hotspot will convert the mouse to a hand icon.

 

Clicking on the hotspot will allow the student to follow the link's destination.

 

CHOICES for QUESTIONS

The Question Choices tab allows the author to, depending upon page type, to select the number of choices, the text of the answers, and mark the answers (by clicking in the box to the left of the answers) as "Right," "Wrong," "Maybe," or "Information."  Here, the author selected one column, with four items. The right answers are checked by the author. Whether the feedback is designated as right, wrong, maybe, or information, will be set by the author in the Responses tab.

 

 

RESPONSES

Each possible answer has a pop-up feedback box (the text of the feedback is entered on this screen). The author can (1) provide feedback and return to the question (and then the student would advance to the next question in the lesson), (2) go (branch) directly to another page without feedback or, (3) show the feedback and then branch to another page based upon the student's answer. Related topics include tone of voice and what to include in responses.

 

The Contents page allows you to define the outline for the lesson. To edit the outline, enter authoring mode. First, click your cursor on Contents in the outline structure on the left. The Edit Outline button will appear on the right. Click the Edit Outline button.

 

The Table of Contents Editor will appear. Notice that not each heading is linked to a page. For example, the heading Introduction is linked to a page called introduction. However, the heading Text and Hypertext is not linked to a page. This is because the heading Text and Hypertext has sub-headings: Pop-ups Pages and Page Links. Headings can have sub-headings and sub-sub-headings. In theory, the lesson can have sub-sub-sub... headings. However, be cautious of creating such a complicated structure that it hinders rather than helps students' learning.

 

To add a heading, place your cursor near where you want the new heading (number 1 below). Click the Add Topic button in the lower left corner (#2). The new heading will appear with a default name related to the original. Here, in our example (#3), the new heading is titled "Pop-up Pages 2." Also, a pink box appears to the right of the new heading as a reminder that the destination for the new heading must be set. Click on the button to the right (#4) to select a page to link this heading to. Lastly, click OK (#5) to apply these changes and to return to authoring.

 

The arrow buttons along the bottom are used to organize the sequence of headings and sub-headings. Place the cursor next to the heading you wish to re-locate and then use the arrow keys to move it up and down and shift it left and right.

 

Hints

For certain question types you can add hints.

 

Review Tab

This is where reviewers of your lesson can include their comments.