Wireless Internet Tutoring System Requirements Document. Nadya Belov, Dmitriy Bespalov, Ilya Braude, Immanuel Comer, Daniel Lapadat, Andrew Ragone

Transcription

1 Wireless Internet Tutoring System Requirements Document Nadya Belov, Dmitriy Bespalov, Ilya Braude, Immanuel Comer, Daniel Lapadat, Andrew Ragone

2 Contents 1 Introduction Scenario Functional Requirements Multiple Modes Draw Mode Chat Messaging Mode Option Screen Mode Client Status Mode LATEXMode Drawing Tools Mathematical Notation Latex Specific Input Symbols Input Methods Stylus Keyboard Communication Tutor Student Exit Non-functional Requirements Hardware Requirements Software Requirements Usability Requirements Reliability Requirements Portability Requirements System Evolution Usability and Functionality Interface Glossary 9 2

3 List of Figures 1 Screenshots of WITS GUI in a simulator

4 1 Introduction As the world of computing evolves, ubiquitous computing becomes a bigger, and even necessary component in our lives. Ubiquitous computing is the art of utilizing a network of physically dispersed computers transparently to the user. In today s fast paced environment and increasing wireless capabilities of both computers and handheld devices such as phones and SmartPhones, physical location of people and computers becomes less and less important and relevant. Mobile peer-to-peer technologies today only support text-based communications. This makes it hard to perform activities like remote tutoring in subjects that require multi-modal input (e.g. such as algebra and geometry). The Wireless Internet Tutoring System (WITS) described in the following sections overcomes the problems of text-based messaging by creating an environment where text, symbols, and graphics can be manipulated and transmitted by persons involved in the tutoring session. The scope of this project will involve integration of the WITS software with bleeding-edge hardware 1 available today. The main objective of the WITS system is the need to accommodate for the lack of physical proximity. This is accomplished by using the wireless internet capabilities of SmartPhones, specifically the Treo 600. By using a mobile phone communication network instead of other wireless protocols such as b, the users will not be limited to locations where wireless services are available, only to locations where a digital mobile signal is available. Our vision for the WITS system is that it will allow a tutor to help a student while being geographically separated. The tutor and the student will create a session where they can interact using multiple modes of input described in later sections. 1.1 Scenario In order to understand the purpose and the interactions which the WITS system will allow, we provide a scenario describing a use-case for our system. Suppose that two people; a tutor and a tutee wish to participate in a tutoring session. Furthermore, the tutee and the tutor cannot work out a meeting place due to scheduling constraints. Using WITS, the tutor is able to remotely help the tutee, easing restrictions on location. Figure 1 shows a set of mock-up screen-shots which will be used by the tutor and the tutee to convey their ideas and possible solutions. 1 Treo SmartPhone 4

5 !!! " 2 Functional Requirements Figure 1: Screenshots of WITS GUI in a simulator 2.1 Multiple Modes Draw Mode Allows the user to draw free-hand sketches and annotate already existing drawing Details Freehand drawing capabilities Sketches and freehand text 5

6 Ability to add geometric shapes Lines Triangles Rectangles Circles Ability to add text labels to drawing Ability to change color of pen Ability to change thickness of pen Ability to clear screen Chat Messaging Mode Details Lets users communicate their ideas using text messages. Users enter the message they wish to send to all other participants of the session using the keyboard Option Screen Mode Details User can define their preferences in the behavior of the system Users can change line color Users can change line thickness Client Status Mode Displays the user s network connection status, username and the name of the session the user is participating in LATEXMode Details Allows the user to enter formulae in LATEXnotation using the stylus and the keyboard and receive an image displaying the formula. LATEXmode allows a user to share formulae that are otherwise difficult to convey using text: e α 2 6

7 2.2 Drawing Tools Mathematical Notation Details Intended for use in high school algebra and geometry level courses. Through the use of services such as LATEX, users are able to convey all mathematical notation in formulae to all other users present in a particular session. Circle Square Line Triangle Freehand sketch Latex Specific Input Symbols Super/Subscript (e.g. a 2 3 ) Limited selection of Greek symbols (e.g. σαδ) Brackets {} 2.3 Input Methods Stylus Used to make all free-hand drawings, Used to select menu items to select different modes such as DrawMode, ChatMode or LatexMode. Used to select geometric shapes and define their position on the screen in the DrawMode. Used to input text for messages in TextMode and formulae in latex script in LatexMode Keyboard Used for typing in chat conversations in text mode Used for typing labels for various drawings Used for selecting the menu in any of the modes Used for expressing algebraic formulae in latex Symbols such as =, <, >, *, /, +, and -, will be entered using keyboard 7

8 2.4 Communication Tutor The tutor can be defined as a super-user within the bounds of the session if and only if they create the session. Given that the tutor is a super-user, they have the capability to revoke any user who is in their group Student 2.5 Exit Users, both tutors and students (tutees) can exit our system. Their work will be saved for a period of time (fifteen minutes by default) to assure that it is not lost in case of accidental disconnection. 3 Non-functional Requirements 3.1 Hardware Requirements We require the following minimum hardware specifications: 144 MHz Processor 24 MB of memory 512 MB of nonvolatile memory 70 kbps of bandwidth A graphical pointing device Our platform of choice will be the Treo Software Requirements We require an operating system that is capable of running the following products: Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) Mobile information Device Profile 2.0 (MIDP) The above two APIs together makeup the Java Runtime Environment. 3.3 Usability Requirements The system response time is of paramount importance. The response time is dependent on the network, processor, and memory. Because the core of WITS is collaboration of two users in solving a problem, any perceived lag or delay in our system may cause frustration. However, since the system is running on portable devices and utilizing mobile phone network, a lag of four seconds per transaction is considered acceptable. Teaching usually requires timely feedback. Since the purpose of the system is teaching complexity also needs to be minimized. This is accomplished through groups of drawing tools as well as capability to add various captions anywhere on the drawing canvas. 8

9 3.4 Reliability Requirements The system needs to ensure that the messages are received by everyone in the session. If the message can not be sent to everyone then the system needs to notify the user trying to send the message or the data. The system also needs to gracefully handle users that drop their connections and try to reconnect. A crash in the system should only effect the system itself and not other processes running. That is, a crash of the system should not warrant for a restart of the device. 3.5 Portability Requirements Because we are using Java as our programming language our system is portable to any platform that is capable of running the Java Runtime Environment. The Java code is transferred into byte code which is then interpreted to platform specific instructions. 4 System Evolution This section describes the evolution path of the WITS. It contains enhancements of the basic functionality and new system features. A more detailed description of the evolutionary process can be found below. 4.1 Usability and Functionality Extension of the system from allowing only one student and one tutor per session to multiple students working with a single tutor. Extension of the system in the complexity of course material. That is, adding support for mathematical notation complex enough to accommodate Calculus and Linear Algebra subject matter Incorporation multiple formats of input of complex mathematical formulae like XML and MathML 4.2 Interface Additional tool-bars to provide the ability to draw more complex geometric shapes such as elipses and curves The aforementioned improvements are reserved for a future release of the WITS due to a limited time frame for implementation and testing of the first release. 5 Glossary b A Wi-Fi radio-based LAN Protocol which operates at 2.4GHz API Application programming interface Bandwidth The amount of data that can be passed along a communications channel in a given period of time CLDC Connected Limited Device Configuration (Sun J2ME) Digital mobile signal Signal for mobile phones that uses digital encoding instead of analog encoding Free-hand sketches Sketches that are made by the free movement of a pointing device 9

10 Freehand text Text that is written directly on the screen using a pointing device Graphical pointing device A device such as a mouse of stylus that is used to navigate a 2-D screen space Handheld Devices Devices that are compact enough to be used or operated while being held in the hand or hands Interface The layout of an application s graphic or textual controls in conjunction with the way the application responds to user activity J2ME Java 2 Micro Edition. Specifically tailored to handheld devices JRE Java Runtime Environment. Needed to execute Java code JVM Java Virtual Machine. Part of the JRE, used to run Java code Latex Typesetting language built on to of Tex Mathematical notation Mathematic symbols that are not normally found in regular text Memory A unit of a computer that preserves data for retrieval. RAM is used to while a program is being run Messaging The passing of messages back and forth between two parties MIDP Mobile Information Device Protocol (Sun Wireless Java support) Mobile phone communication network Network used for wireless mobile communications Network A group of computers or devices connected to each other Nonvolatile memory Memory that retains it s contents when power is turned off Peer-to-Peer Communication system that does not rely on a central server Physical proximity Closeness of objects in 3D space in the real world Processor Microchip that can execute instructions SmartPhones Phones that have extra PDA capabilities System response time The time it takes for the system to react to the users actions Treo 600 Handspring s latest product in the SmartPhone industry Ubiquitous Computing The use of a network of computers transparently to the user Wireless protocols Communication standards that use wireless technology WITS Wireless Internet Tutoring System Revoke Revocation is the process of eliminating a particular user from participation in a given setting. In the scope of this project, revocation refers to disconnecting a user from their current session and refusing their re-entrance. 10