Paint tool questions
Summary
I am one of the Google Summer of Code 2009 students. I am developing over the summer a new paint tool for Moodle. The Web application will not require any browser plugins. Drawing will be bitmap-based, no vector shapes. The gist of the code will be JavaScript mostly, with some server-side code for integration into Moodle.
The main goals of the project is to create a working, simple to use paint tool for kids. For adults, the tool could also act as a quick way to draw something on a whiteboard. First and foremost, we plan to integrate PaintWeb into TinyMCE so that users will be able to click 'Edit image" for any image element they have in the HTML article they are editing. This will invoke the paint tool from where any changes can be done, and then saved back to the server.
Beyond the stated goals, we cannot expect too many things in addition, since three months is not much time. Nice things we did think about implementing already: layers support, vector shapes, realtime collaboration in Chat between multiple users, and more. However, such features are not a realistic aim for the end of the summer.
Please read the specification, and also please check out the Google Code PaintWeb project where you can play with the paint tool already.
This wiki page serves the purpose of listing questions to potential users of the paint tool. I want to understand how teachers/users would want the paint tool integrated, how they want to use it, for what, etc.
I welcome any additional feedback, besides answers to the questions below.
Questions
About you
Background information.
- Are you a teacher? What do you teach?
- Please describe what you do, your interests, and why you use Moodle.
Project goals
Let's see how the stated goals fit into user needs.
- What's the first thing that came into your mind when you heard a paint tool is being developed during GSOC?
- Do the stated goals come close to what you expected? Please explain if yes or not.
- If not, what would believe is more important?
- If this is not really what you want, would you still use it?
- Please describe why you would want a paint tool in Moodle.
Technical requirements
- What are the system/OS/browser requirements for the paint tool in your case?
- Please describe your usage environment (operating systems, browsers, general system performance, etc).
- Would you use the paint tool if it only works on one of the following operating systems: Windows, Linux, or Mac?
- Would you use the paint tool if it only works in Internet Explorer? Would you use it if it works in all major browsers except Internet Explorer?
- What screen resolution do you generally use? What image dimensions would you expect to use? (images of a high resolution need additional system resources)
Usage
- As a teacher, would you ask your young students to drawing assignments/exams?
- How would you to that? Give me a usage scenario: how you would create an assignment/exam, where you would like to find the paint tool and how you would use it.
- Do you want the paint tool to be available anywhere TinyMCE article editing is done? Such that you can edit any image in your article.
- If not, where would you like it only?
