Welcome to Classroom Presenter!
Basic Guide
General
Set-Up Requirements
Projecting
Creating a Slide Deck (.csd)
Instructor-Only Notes
Starting Classroom Presenter
Networking
Connecting to the Class
Presenter Controls
Whiteboard Decks
Saving Slides
Public Role
Customizing Options
Additional Help
Ad Hoc Networks
Student Submissions

General

A mailing list [presenter-profs] has been set up for users of Presenter. If you want to be added to the list, send mail to Richard Anderson.

Set-Up Requirements

Instructor Requirements

There are two different instructor set-up options.  At a minimum, you will need a Tablet PC running WindowsXP connected to a data projector.  If you wish to move freely about the classroom with your tablet, you will need a second computer (does not have to be a tablet, but a tablet will work) to connect to the projector.

Student Requirements

To take advantage of Presenter's student interaction features, students will need tablets running WindowsXP with Classroom Presenter installed.  Classroom Presenter can be used entirely without student submissions if you only want to take advantage of inking your slides.  For how to connect to the students, please see Networking.  For how to use student submissions, please see the student submission help page.

Projecting

Projecting may be done with the tablet from which you are lecturing, or a second computer in Public Mode.  If you use a machine in public mode, it does not need to be tablet because all the inking is done from the instructor tablet.

In both cases, you will first need to physically connect the projector to the computer.  If you're projecting the lecture from your tablet, you need to "attach" a second display.  To do this, go to Control Panel and open Display.  Under the "Settings" tab, you'll see two boxes, 1 and 2.  Click box 2 and check the option "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor."




Now the computer knows you want to show the lecture on a separate display (the projector).

To display with a second machine, you might need to change the computer to display "internal and external."  The computer has three settings, internal only, external only, and internal and external.  To cycle through them, look for a button with two concentric rectangles, or an oval within a rectangle.  On HP Tablets, the button is by the power button.  On many laptops, it's often on the keyboard.  It may take a few seconds for the display to update.

If nothing is projected, try cycling through the projector's input settings.

The mechanism for setting the display to extended desktop (or dual display) varies between different tablet PCs, for example on Motion Computing machines, this is a setting found in the "Dashboard", and on an HP 4200 Tablet PC this is accessed graphics options on the display context menu.
On other step may be necessary to get Presenter to display to the projector - it is necessary to set tools->properties->display to enable dual monitor output.




Creating a Slide Deck (.csd)

Slide decks are created with another application (the most common being MS PowerPoint) and need to be converted to Classroom Presenter's file format (.csd or Conference Slide Decks).  Converting slide decks can be done with the Deck Builder application or the PowerPoint Plugin.  Deck Builder is included along with the installation.  The PowerPoint Plugin can be downloaded and installed separately.  It is available for download on the Presenter homepage http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/dl/presenter/.

Deck Builder can be found under Start->All Programs->UW CSE->Presenter 2.0->DeckBuilder 2.0.  To make a .csd file, open your presentation (ending in .ppt if using PowerPoint) in Deck Builder.  Next, go to File->Save As CSD.  Voila!  You have completed converting to a Conference Slide Deck.  To view your deck, just open it in Classroom Presenter.  Note that Deck Builder has many more options that are not needed for creating a basic slide deck.

To use the PowerPoint Plugin, open your slides in MS PowerPoint.  To create regular slides, ensure PowerPoint is in base mode.



When the slide deck is complete, go to File->Export to CSD... and the PowerPoint Plugin will automatically convert your slides.  The .csd slide deck can be opened and inked on in Classroom Presenter.


Instructor-Only Notes

Using the PowerPoint Plugin (download here), instructors can add notes (or any other PowerPoint object) to their slides that are only visible in the instructor's view and never seen on the students' tablets or projected view.  Toggle between Base Mode and Instructor to show instructor-only notes:



It's easiest to create slides in Base Mode, then switch to Instructor to add instructor-only objects.  When you select a PowerPoint object, you will notice the second new toolbar become active.  You can select Unrestricted if you want everyone to be able to see the object.  This is the default if you're in Base Mode.  Selecting Instructor means the object will be hidden on student and public views (the default in Instructor mode).  Student means only students will see the object, and Shared means only the public display will show the object.  Selecting all three roles is the same as Unrestricted.

When you load the .csd file in Presenter, instructor-only notes will be visible to the instructor only.  You may ink on slides with instructor-only notes just as you would with any other slide:



Instructor-only notes never show up on the student view (shown below) or the projector:



To make this into a conference slide deck, go to File->Export to CSD...



Starting Classroom Presenter

Instructor

You can start Classroom Presenter by double clicking on the .csd file for your presentation (see Creating a Slide Deck for how to convert PowerPoint slides), by opening ClassroomPresenter.exe and loading the .csd file, or by first opening Conference XP.  If you are using a public machine, double check that the role is correct, Role->Instructor.



If you need more than one deck open for the same presentation, go to File->Open in Classroom Presenter and select the next slide deck.  A new film strip will be added.


Student

Students do not need to open a copy of the lecture slides.  Instead, the student machine needs to be running Presenter and connected to the correct classroom (see Connecting to the Class).  Then, the student will receive the slides directly from the instructor machine.

If students have their own copy of the slides, Presenter will automatically match the local copy with the instructor copy.  However, if either deck has been altered, the student may need to use deck matcher (Tools->Deck Matcher) to tell Presenter that they are the same deck.

Networking

If the students will be using Tablet PCs to follow along or send student submissions, you will need to set up a network.  If only the instructor will be running Presenter, no networking is needed.

To connect the student and instructor PCs, you can either connect to the Internet or set up an internet isolated from the Web (ad hoc).  To connect through the Internet, the classroom needs access either wired or wireless.  Your campus's classroom support service should be able to tell you where the Internet is available.

Wired

There are two options for a wired network.  Either you can use a preexisting connection and have every machine connected to the Internet.  Or you can use a switch or router to connect all the computers to each other (but not the outside world).  If you have a lot of computers in one classroom, a wired connection can get cluttered because each machine needs its own wire.  However, the performance on a wired network is very reliable.

Wireless Internet

With a wireless Internet available (an access point), each machine can connect to the Internet and access the instructor machine.

Ad hoc network

The best way to use an ad hoc network is to have the instructor create one for the class and let the students connect to it.   Click here for instructions.

Connecting to the Class

It is important that each machine is connected to the same Classroom.

Instructor connection

Instructors that are not doing any interaction between students for lectures do not have to do any connection setups.  These instructions are for instructors who want the students to link to the current presentation or have student submissions.  Once you have an internet established (see Networking), follow these steps to connect to the class.
  • Select a Classroom for everyone to join
    Connect->Classroom 1 (basic setup)
    To choose another classroom, Connect->Static Venue->Classroom 1 through 5
    Once you are connected, the bottom right corner of the screen will say you are connected to a certain IP address and a port.
  • Send slides
    There are two methods to send slides to students. An instructor may either allow each student to request slides at any given time, or broadcast all the slides at once.  To receive the broadcast, a student must first be connected to the correct Classroom and attached to the instructor's presentation (attaching to a presentation will be done automatically if there is only one instructor).  Accepting requests can be taxing on the network.  If you are experiencing slow performance, disable accept connections and broadcast instead.
    Accept Requests: File->Accept Requests
    Broadcast Entire Deck: File->Broadcast->Entire Deck


  • Student Submissions
    In order to receive student submissions, the instructor must first enable them.
    Student->Allow student submissions

Student Connection

Students must join the instructor's session.
  • Student must ensure that the role is Student: Role -> Student.
  • Under Connect, select the classroom the instructor is using.  E.g. Connect -> Classroom 1.
  • Wait for the connection to complete (will appear on bottom right corner when connected).
  • If there is only one instructor, students will automatically connect to the correct presentation.  Otherwise, students need to attach to the instructor: Connect->Presentation.
  • "Slide Missing" is good.  It means Presenter is connected and waiting for slides.
  • If the instructor allows student requests for slides, then request all the slides by File ->Request -> Entire Deck.  Otherwise, students need to wait for the instructor to broadcast.
  • To send submissions, students need only click the send button after inking a solution.

Presenter Controls

Instructor

With the Presenter control buttons, instructors can
  • navigate the presentation (via the arrow buttons or the filmstrip),
  • change the pen color,
  • switch between pen, highlighter and eraser,
  • toggle between the full slide and one with additional writing space,
  • toggle between your slides and a white board deck,
  • erase all (clear the slide of all your ink),
  • undo ink strokes or erasing,
  • and turn student submissions on or off.


The tabs at the bottom of the filmstrip allow switching between multiple slide decks (including student submissions and the whiteboard deck).

Holding the pen down on the filmstrip generates a small preview window (not projected or seen on student machines).

Student

With the Presenter control buttons, students can
  • switch between free navigation through the lecture and linking to the instructor,
  • change the pen color,
  • switch between pen, highlighter, eraser, and lasso 
  • send an inked slide
  • erase all (clear the slide of all your ink),
  • undo ink strokes or erasing,
  • and if in free navigation mode, navigate the presentation (via the arrow buttons or the filmstrip).


Whiteboard Decks

Adding a New Deck

To add a whiteboard deck to your presentation, go to Decks->Add Deck->Whiteboard Deck.  When you add a deck, another tab will appear at the bottom of the filmstrip.  You can toggle between the decks by clicking on the tabs.



Adding a New Slide

To create a new whiteboard slide at the end of the current whiteboard deck, select the last current whiteboard slide and click the forward navigation arrow.



Removing

To ensure that you close the deck you intend to close, select one of the slides from the deck.  Clicking the tab at the bottom of the filmstrip will not select that deck.  To close the selected deck, go to File->Close Deck.

Saving Slides

It can be very useful for instructors to save the inked presentation, student submissions, and the inked whiteboard deck (click here to learn about whiteboard decks).  Decks can either be saved all at once, or individually.  If you save decks individually you must select a slide from each deck prior to saving it.  To ensure that you are saving the correct deck, click a slide in that deck.  Clicking the tab at the bottom of the filmstrips is not enough.

You can turn on a prompt that will ask if you want to save before closing.  See Customizing Options.

Students can also save the presentation with the instructor ink and his or her own ink.

There are two different ways to save your slides. Slides and their ink can be saved as .csd's, or as images. Both options are under File.



To save a slide deck and ink in the .csd format, you can use Save, Save As..., or Save All Decks.  If you use Save All Decks, you do not need to select each deck as described above.  Otherwise, make sure a slide from the deck you wish to save is the slide in the main panel.  Once you save the deck, the ink becomes static, so it might be wise to use Save As... so you don't override your clean copy.

To save your slides and ink as a series of images (Png, Gif, Jpeg, or Bmp), select Export Deck..., pick a folder to save the images in, and select the image type.  Gif and Jpeg are both common types if you plan to post the slides online.  The images will be in the folder you selected.  They will be named the same as the .csd file with a number at the end.

There are also options for saving just the ink as a binary .isf file or a .gif image.  These options do not save the slide background and are not needed for general use.

Public Role

The Public Role is used to display the instructor's current slide -- both regular slides and student submission slides -- and any instructor ink.  This can be done with the instructor machine (see Projecting for how to set this up), but using the public role on a separate computer does not require the instructor to be wired to the projector.

To use the public role, make sure the tablet is connected to the same classroom as the instructor and is attached to the instructor's presentation.  Change the role to public through the menu: Role->Public.

Projecting explains how to set up the public computer to work with the data projector.

Customizing Options

Classroom Presenter allows many custom options.  The basic options are accessible with the toolbar buttons (see Presenter Controls).  To customize beyond this, access is through the properties menu under Tools->Properties.

There are several categories for customization, each grouped under a tab.
  • Pen
    Options for pen and highlighter color, shape, and size.
  • Names
    Customize the name that you and others will see for non-anonymous communication (e.g. when attaching to a presentation).
  • Networking
    Advanced networking options.
  • General
    Lots of options are under this tab.
    • Set the background color of your whiteboard
    • Enable or disable slide previews
    • Set preferences for imported ink
    • Set the depth of undo and redo actions
    • Turn on or off file saving prompt on close
    • Set the remote cursor



  • Display
    Enable dual-monitor output.  When enabled, Presenter will only send the current slide to the projector, rather than the entire instructor view of the screen.
  • Ink Playback
    Set preferences for use of the Presenter Playback tool.


You are now a Classroom Presenter pro. Use your power wisely.