Interwrite PRS Release Notes

Release 4.30.0018 July 2006

Contents

  1. General Information
  2. Installation Information
  3. Release Notes

General Information


Description

Supported Operating Systems

Known Issues  

    Windows

    Mac    

    All

                                  


Installation Information


Installing the Interwrite PRS software from the Interwrite PRS CD

  1. Insert the InterWrite CD. It should start up automatically. Select the Install PRS Software menu option. Or, run setup.exe from the root directory of the CD.
  2. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of the InterWrite PRS software.

Mac PowerPoint Add-in Installation Instructions

The following steps describe how to install the PRS PowerPoint Add-in on the Mac.

        1        Open PowerPoint and select the PowerPoint Menu. 

2        Select the Preferences... menu option.

 

3        Click on the View tab and uncheck the Project Gallery at startup option.

4        Click on the OK button. 

 

5        Select the Tools Menu.

 

6        Select the Add-ins... menu option.

 

7        Click on the Add... button. Navigate to the folder in which PRS is installed. By default, PRS is installed in the InterWrite PRS folder.

 

8        Select the PRS AddIn.ppa file and click on the Open button.

 

9        The PRS Add-in file will be listed in the Add-in List. Click on the OK button.

 

10   Restart PowerPoint. 

 

By default, the PRS Add-in Toolbar displays along the left side of the PowerPoint window. You can move it by grabbing the spot next to the Close button and dragging it to the top of the window where the other Toolbars are located. Click and drag the Resize button to change the PRS Toolbar's orientation

Removing Interwrite PRS

  1. Open the Windows Control Panel (Start->Settings->Control Panel).
  2. Open Add/Remove Programs.
  3. Select InterWrite PRS from the list of installed programs.
  4. Click the Remove button.
  5. Click the Yes button to confirm that you want to remove InterWrite.  

Release Notes


This section lists corrections and enhancements made to the recent versions of the InterWrite PRS software. 

Release 4.30.0018 July 2006

·         Enhancements

o  Added support for Cricket, including ClassPacks

o  Added option to set Toolbar and Chart to transparent

o  Added option to Merge Roster based on Clicker ID

Added Slovak to the list of supported languages ( for the Workspace GUI and Device Manager)

o  Added new session export for ANGEL Learning

·         Corrections

Fixed problems with installing on Chinese and Russian systems

Fixed the problem where the EULA would display with bad characters during installation

o  Fixed the problem where the Join List window would go behind the session toolbar on a Mac

o  Fixed an issue with processing Student IDs with leading zeros

o  Fixed an issue with showing the correct class average in the Session Details by Student Report when using Answer Keys

o  Fixed issues with Answer Keys when running two Self Paced sessions

o  Fixed the problem where the session export: WebCT with lower case SID would fail

o  Fixed issues when running on Vista

o  Fixed the problem where Gradebook reports would not work on foreign language systems

o  Fixed issues with changing the correct answer on foreign language systems

Release 4.20.0020 April 2006

·         Enhancements

o  Significantly improved performance issues and memory usage for Reports.

o  Users can now change Question Type from the Chart Toolbar during the session.

o  Added the ability to add global comments to Reports.

o  Added support for Windows Vista.

o  Updated Answer Key editing.

o  Added the ability to insert questions during a PowerPoint session.

o  Animation and video are now allowed on PowerPoint PRS Question slides.

o  A total of four PRS.log files are now created and used to store session information, so you can go back four sessions to troubleshoot before the information is overwritten.

o  Added a new Session Report called Session Review.

·         Corrections

Fixed the problem where the screen pointer would sometimes disappear during a Mac PowerPoint session.

Fixed the problem in PowerPoint where the "None" option would stay highlighted when another Correct Response option was chosen in PowerPoint.

o  Fixed a variety of problems with non-Western languages, including Russian, Korean, Japanese and Chinese.

o  Fixed the problem where cut/copy/paste would not work in the Question Editor.

o  Improved the loading time of the Mac PowerPoint Add-in.

o  Fixed the problem where Mac PowerPoint sessions would sometimes hang with the "black screen."

 

Release 4.11.0020 December 2006

·         Enhancements

o  Allow instructors to edit the Student ID field in Mark Session windows

o  Localized Software to Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Slovenian

o  Added support for Linux

o  Added support Answer Keys (for Self-Paced and Homework sessions)

·         Corrections

o Fixed Session Export to GradeQuick

o Fixed issues with Asian languages

o  Fixed various issues with PowerPoint Add-in

Release 4.10.0031 September 2006

·         Enhancements

o Localized the Software, PowerPoint Addins, Help, Quick Start and Clicker User's Guide into the following languages: Mexican Spanish, European Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, Korean, Polish, Croatian, Czech, Hungarian, German, Italian, French

o  Updated the look and feel of the user interface, including the addition of new graphics

Added an option to create Gradebooks from rosters files (in addition to classes)

o  Added a custom option for importing rosters. Users will have the ability to select specific columns to import.

o  Added range (low/high values) for numeric answers

o  Added option to Blackboard Module to download PRS roster for all students in class (even those that have not registered their clickers)

o  Added ability to run PRS from a removable (USB memory) drive

o  Added ability to share PRS data files with other users on the same system

o  Added export session to the following formats: Grade Quick, Blackboard, WebCT

o  Added How-to Dialog and documents to assist with setup and operation

o  Screen captures for No Lesson sessions will now be saved

o  Added support for Virtual PRS (requires a separate install - not yet released)

o  Added option to suppress duplicate Student ID popup warnings

o  Added support for Intel Mac

o  Added support for Linux

o  Added ability to change answers at end of question (from the Chart toolbar)

o  Added an option to create the Response Map in order by Student ID or Clicker ID

Release 4.00.0076 April 2006

·         Enhancements

o Added support for RF Clickers

    - Multi-character answers

    - Homework Mode

    - Show correct answer on Clicker LCD display

    - Receive and store Student ID from Clicker

    - Generate Rosters "on-the-fly"

    - Start RF Class

    - Show Join List

    - Configure Clickers (Closed, Loaner, Master)

    - Closed Classes (configured Clickers automatically find and join)

    - Multi-Hub support

    - Support for up to 2047 Clickers per Hub

o Added new Question Types - Multiple Correct Multiple Choice, Answer Series, True/False, Short Answer, and Survey

o  Enhanced Numeric Question Type (added decimal and negative numbers)

o  Added more options to charting (Show Top 5 answers, Show All answers)

o  Added an option to show the top 10 (fastest) correct answers in response details

o  Numeric Questions are automatically charted as a histogram

o  Invalid and out-of-range Responses are now charted

o  Rosters are displayed for the selected Class in the Classes tabbed section

o  Gradebook data are displayed for each Gradebook in the Gradebooks tabbed section

o  Added the ability to merge two Rosters

o  Non-PRS Marks can be added to a Gradebook

o  Letter grade and percentage grade displays have been added to the Gradebook

o  Added the ability to insert an existing Question (from a PRS Lesson) into a running Session

o  Added the ability to disable logging and to specify the location of the log files

o  The number of responders and the total number of Questions answered are now tracked in a counter on the Session dialog Toolbar during Self Paced Sessions

o  Added an option to show any Report in PDF format immediately after creation

o  Added Print and Save tools to the Response Chart Toolbar

o  Added color indicators to the Countdown Timer

o  Added a "no Timer" option for Self Paced and Homework Sessions

o  Added an option to create the Response Map in order by Student ID or Clicker ID

·     Corrections

o Changed the default mapping for a cycling grid of 50 boxes to 5 rows, 10 columns (it was 10 rows, 5 columns)

o Fixed the issue where moving the Session and Response Chart windows could cause a significant slowdown   

o  Fixed the issue where the PRS Question Editor was adding extra spaces to Questions and Response Choices

o  Moved Auto-graph and Auto-advance options out of Class definition and into New Session

o  The Session Toolbar is now "always on top" of other applications when a No Lesson/No Grid Session is being run

o  Fixed the issue where the PowerPoint Add-in could not find PRS on non-English systems

o  Improved the performance of the Copy Lesson function

Release 3.21.0007 October 2005

·     Corrections

o Changed top-level buttons to tabs 

o Changed default bar chart to Vertical

o  Fixed issues with pause session

o Fixed problem where Response Grid size and position would not be remembered

o Fixed issues with Blackboard Registration Module

o  Fixed problem with launching PRS from PPT Add-in on foreign language installations

o  Fixed problem with WebCt export

o  Fixed issues with dual monitor systems

o  Fixed problems with Self-Paced mode

o  Response Grid details button is disabled if no responses recorded

o  Fixed problem where Instructor Window would not show valid correct answer

o  Improved performance of Chart (timer would hang at 1 second while chart was being created)

o  Changed default time for Self-Paced to 90 minutes

o  Font size in Response Grid is now saved if changed manually

Release 3.20.0015 June 2005

·     Corrections

o Added comprehensive error detection for roster and response map files (CSV)

o Record invalid answers to session file

o Restored chart for numeric mode

o Fixed problem where printing reports would sometimes cause crash

o  Increased number of choices for boxes with no response map to 2000.

·         Enhancements

o Updated and enhanced GUI elements (splash screen, tables, fonts, buttons, sort indicator)

o Chart now replaces response grid (was popup dialog)

o Restored Self-Paced Mode

o Added Blackboard module for Roster creation and export

o Added ability to rename sessions, gradebooks and lessons.

o Improvements to mark session including automatically calculating marks, option to add marks directly to gradebook and allowing teachers

  to change individual marks

o Added pie chart option and 3D look to bar charts

o Added additional reports: Lessons, Session Absent, Roster

o Improvements to question editor, including: ability to adjust size of insert images in question editor, undo/redo, horizontal rule, navigate between

  questions, launch character map, notes field

o Added new lesson import formats, including: Native PRS, Learning Pathways XML

o Added ability to export lessons to Native PRS format

o Added ability to copy multiple questions to another lesson

o Improvements to gradebook, including indicating which marks have already been added, allowing teachers to change individual grades

Release 3.10.0019 January 2005

·     Corrections

o  Fixed problem where correct answers would not show when Reviewing a "No Lesson" Session.

o  Fixed problem where deleting and then copying a Question in the same Lesson would cause erratic results.

o  Fixed problem where some fields in certain dialogs were not showing when Video Mode was set to 800x600.

o  Fixed problem where correct answers to Questions that had been Unselected would be tabulated as incorrect.

o  Fixed problem where an Out of Memory error would sometimes display when Student IDs were being Updated during a Mark Session.

o  Users can now add old Marks to new Gradebooks.

o  Fixed problem where default values for correct answers and wrong answers were set to 1 and 0, respectively, during a Mark Session.

·         Enhancements

o Added Session and Gradebook reports

o Added Session and Gradebook Reports.

o Added an Export Session to XML function.

o Added an Export Gradebook function. The exported Gradebook format is readable by Class Management Systems, such as Blackboard, WebAssign and WebCT.

o Added an Attendee List feature as an alternate Display Mode to the Response Grid.

o Added the ability to Drag/Drop text and images to the Question Editor.

o Added "Last 2 Digits of Transmitter ID" as a display option in both the Response Grid and Attendee List Response Window Default settings.

o Added the ability to delete names from a Roster in a Class definition.

o Added the ability to sort a Gradebook by Student ID or Student Name.

o Added the ability to show the Question and Response Grid side-by-side.

o Added Student Name to the Response Details dialog.

Release 3.03.0001 November 17, 2004

·     Corrections

o  Fixed the problem where updating blank Student IDs while Marking would sometimes cause PRS to stop responding.

o  Fixed the problem where the user could not access the Preferences dialog a second time.

o  Fixed the problem with reading uppercase Session and Mark files.

Release 3.02.0007 November 1, 2004

·     Corrections

o  User are now allowed to set Question points to zero.

o  Fixed problem where Questions were saved out of order for PowerPoint Lessons.

o  Fixed algorithm for setting rows and columns in "Set Response Map from Roster."

o  Hide/Show Grid option now available during a No Lesson Session.

o  Allow sorting on fields in all Tables of Mark Session Dialog.

o  Changed cursor to hourglass for long operations.

o  Fixed problem where Cut/Copy/Paste was not working properly for images.

o  The Session file is no longer updated from the Roster during a Resume Session.

o  The Question Name is no longer auto-populated in the Question Editor when the Alt or Control key is pressed.

o  User is allowed to update non-blank student IDs during a Mark Session.

o  All responses are recorded even when the elapsed time is greater than 60 seconds.

o  A message is no longer displayed when a Question is paused and started again.

o  The Class Roster and Response Map is force-saved to the data directory.

o  If PowerPoint is not installed when PRS is installed, the Register PowerPoint Add-in shortcut is still displayed.

o  The Master Transmitter will now advance Questions in Review session.

o  Fixed Sorting algorithm for all tables.

o  The correct Response is restricted to 4 digits in the Mark Session Dialog.

o  Points are restricted to 5 digit integers in the Mark Session Dialog.

o  Fixed problem where PRS was very slow reading large Session files, which caused delays when displaying the

    Results Graph.

o  The user is now allowed to change selected text to super/subscript.

o  Fixed other problems with super/subscript.

o  The multiplier, rather than the straight value, is now used for an incorrect Response.

o  Dialogs no longer go behind the PRS Window when switching applications.

o  When running a new Session, a warning message is shown when a duplicate Transmitter ID is found in the Class

    Roster.

Release 3.01.0005 October 1, 2004

·     Corrections

o  Corrected the PRS PowerPoint Add-in so that when a Slide Show is started in the middle rather than at the

    beginning, the Responses from the first Question are not mismatched with later Questions.

o  Lesson and Class filenames with embedded commas can now be created and opened without hanging up.

o  A "None" Response is no longer graded with the wrong value.

o  Modal dialogs on the Mac no longer cause menus to hang up.

o  The "Last 4 digit" setting will now display on the second line of the Response Box for transmitters whose

    Transmitter ID has less than 6 digits.

o  The Results Graph no longer shows percentage (%) values from a previous Session during a Session Review.

o  Corrected the statistics in a Marking Update.

o  Corrected the clipped Results Graph on the Mac.

o  Changed the Transmitter ID field to accept up to 9 digits.

o  Changed the PowerPoint Add-in so it will install properly even when the computer was upgraded from PowerPoint

    97. (The problem had been corrected earlier with a stand-alone utility.)

o  Corrected the arithmetic error displayed on the Results Graph that applied to percentage totals.

·         Enhancements

o Improved text Cut and Paste in Lessons.

o Improved superscript and subscript fonts in Lessons.

o The Question Name is now displayed in the title bar of the Session dialog.

o Improved the Percent (%) Correct label by adding color to highlight it.

o The "No Lesson" setting is now saved in the New Session dialog.

o The Customer ID, set by the Administrator, is now global, rather than per user.

o The View Results Graph option is now available when a Question is paused.

o Half Screen Mode is now remembered from Question to Question.

o Sessions can now be sorted by date.

o  The Results Graph can be turned Off before it shows up, even when the Automatically Show Graph option is set

    to On.

o  If there are no Lessons on the computer, the Session will default to the "No Lesson" setting.

o  The user can now set points when authoring a Question or when Marking a Session.

o  PowerPoint Sessions can now be Reviewed and Resumed.

o  The Timer settings have been reduced from 30 second increments to 15 second increments.

o  Questions can now be copied within a Lesson.

o  The number of Chances and Choices can be changed on the fly during a No Lesson Session.

o  The ability to turn off Session Mode when running a PRS Lesson PowerPoint Slide Show has been added to the

    About PRS dialog. By default, the "Enable PRS Session" option is turned on. Clear the checkbox to turn off

    the PRS Response Session, so you can review the PowerPoint Slide Show without going into Session Mode.

    The setting is automatically re-enabled at the end of the Slide Show.

Release 3.00.0033 August 10, 2004

Note: This is a new release and replaces Version 2.91 and all prior versions of PRS software. Version 3.00.0032 IS NOT backward compatible with prior versions of PRS software due to the significant enhancements that have been incorporated.

·         Enhancements

o  Setup and operation are managed via four modules: Classes, Lessons, Sessions, Gradebooks.

            o  Questions and Answers are now managed in the Lessons module with the questions data being saved in an XML format. As such, questions and answers are now

                      directly associated and there is no longer a need to have a separate questions file and answers file.

o  The question authoring window was completely redesigned, and all properties are stored on a per question basis, including the correct answer. The correct answer

                      can be visually displayed via the Results Graph at the conclusion of polling.

o  Lessons can be populated by importing XML-based questions directly, providing a quick way of building a Lesson. Questions as graphic images can also imported into Lessons.

o  "Any" and "None" were added as options for correct answers to provide survey options for presenters.

o  Ad hoc question support was added so a question can be quickly created during a Session. Marking is incorporated as part of the Session.

o  Marking is now based on Student ID instead of Transmitter ID in the event transmitters are shared or replaced. Grading also requires a Student ID.

o  The Response Chart is now integral to the Sessions Module. 

o  The management and display of data on the Response Chart was substantially improved. A Chart Cycling feature was added.

o  A PowerPoint Add-in (Windows Only) has been added that provides users with the capability of making any existing PowerPoint slide into a PRS question slide. The PRS

    PowerPoint Add-in  leverages the PRS software application. The PRS PowerPoint Add-in runs when PowerPoint is run in Show mode.

o  A WebUpdate option was added to provide users an easy way of updating the software.