Overhauling the flipchart template collection

[Rena]

Hi there folks

Yes, it's me again, and I'm *still* working on flipchart templates (i.e. flipchart pages)!!!

I want to overhaul the flipchart pages collection, as they are not entirely appropriate for our context - most EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers don't have much need for probability graphs or flipcharts in Welsh, and many are slightly bamboozled by terminology such as "higher order thinking skills" ... and many of them never find the really good pages that are buried a bit further down the navigation tree!

BUT - before I boldly go ahead and reorganise everything ... can someone tell me if this is likely to create any problems? We have a big issue with the "building folders" situation, for instance, so if I start completely reorganising stuff, is this only going to exacerbate the situation?

Also, is there any reason why I can't simplify the navigation tree - for instance, it seems that everything under "flipchart builder" (e.g. classification and analysis, confidence checking and reflection ...) is just a repetition of the other sections outside the flipchart builder, so it seems logical to me to have only one collection, namely everything under the "flipchart builder" section (which I assume is necessary for the flipchart builder to actually work!). Or am I really barking up the wrong tree here???

[LisaD]

Just some thoughts to consider.

It COULD possibly cause a conflict in case of the new to re-install or upgrade in the future.. You may not have a way to get back your re-organized resources.

Also IF your folks interact with others via the forum and ask or read about where things are in the resource library, they could get some confusing advice if the resources are organized differently.

I know I get confused with the US and UK resources being different. But they really CAN"T be the same, can they, as we in different countries don't all teach the same subjects, or even more importantly, use the same terminology.

For example, UK says Sport and Maths, US says Sports and Math.

Wonder why?

Lisa

[davidlloyd]

Hello Rena

Why not create a 'Favourites' background folder as an additional folder in Shared or My Collections. You could add sub folders too. By organising it in Collections you can put backgrounds, images and other types of resource into one folder, say to cover a particular EFL level.

[Rena]

Originally Posted by davidbunting

Hello Rena

Why not create a 'Favourites' background folder as an additional folder in Shared or My Collections. You could add sub folders too. By organising it in Collections you can put backgrounds, images and other types of resource into one folder, say to cover a particular EFL level.

Hi David

I guess the short answer is that training several hundred (600? 800?) teachers around a network of approximately 40 teaching centres spread around the globe is, well, a bit like herding cats!!! Asking them all to change the way they do things is going to be ambitious, at best!

Also, keeping the flipchart pages in the "correct" folder allows the flipchart builder to work properly ... which brings me to my next question.

Why are all the folders in "Flipchart Pages" duplicated again in a folder called "Flipchart Builder"? I originally assumed that it was because (from a programming perspective) the flipchart builder needed that folder there in order to function correctly - but I've just tested it, and the flipchart builder works fine regardless of whether you take a flipchart page from anywhere in the "Flipchart Pages" folder or its "Flipchart Builder" subfolder.

Can anyone shed any light on this for me? I would love to simplify the tree so that it's easier for teachers to navigate through!

[davidlloyd]

Hi Rena

Flipchart Builder is for building a new flipchart from existing flipcharts and flipchart pages, independently of any flipchart you may already have open in Studio. Flipchart Builder will pick up flipcharts and flipchart pages saved in either the flipchart or flipchart page folder in Shared Resources or My Resources. In fact the folders aren't duplicated. Flipchart Builder reads the contents of the flipchart folder and flipchart pages folder in both the Shared and My Resources.

If you want to add a page to an open flipchart, you do it by dragging it from either the Shared of My Resource Library. Likewise by double clicking on a flipchart in the library while in another flipchart, quickly opens the flipchart for immediate use.

[Rena]

Thanks for the answer, David. I was aware of the purpose of the flipchart builder, but couldn't understand why there is a complete duplicate of folders on our system. Your answer would suggest that it's because someone was tinkering, and it's not normal ... so I've removed them (wow, is that tree looking mean and clean now!!! ), and it's still all working fine!

Hooray!! !