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FlyingFish server for Windows® |
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FlyingFish server for Windows® |
It's the latest in a long series of server packages that are compatible with the underlying Jellyfish standards. It's a small, fast Web server but it also has sophisticated server-side include functions designed to support tutorial interactions. In short, it lets you put problem sets on the Web. It is extremely flexible and supports many different kinds of problem interface.
| Single numeric answer type (java applet)
Click on the picture to see a larger version |
Multiple numeric answer type (java applet)
Click on the picture to see a larger version |
| Animation type with a dynamic display and the answer is some kind of non-text interaction (java applet interface)
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This is another example of an animation type problem. This applet simulates many of the interesting (and frustrating) behaviours of a real oscillosope. It is used to train students to use this instrument before a lab class at Griffith University.
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| Multiple choice type (marked at server side i.e. not an applet).
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Word search type (free text entry with marks for right answers and negative marks for recognised incorrect answers).
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| Drag-and-drop image identification problem type. This example was developed by Dr Moira Maley of UWA. It requires students to identify different tissue types in a stained thin section. Detailed English feedback is provided for incorrectly placed markers.
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What kind of problem interface is the best match with your teaching requirements?
Since problems can be arbitrary Java(TM) applets, you can in principle develop something very new that suits your teaching - as many others have done. Why settle for the standard interfaces that the programmers have thought of? |
Any arbitrary Java applet can be made into a compatible problem. This means that any interaction you are able to program can be hooked up to the system. The only limits are your imagination and your ability to write Java.
You do not need to know Java to use the system. The FlyingFish server is easy to set up on your desktop computer and you can make use of existing course material. Some of the problem types are also scriptable without Java.
Some versions of FlyingFish can run off a CD-ROM without modification. This opens up new possibilities for students without a modem connection.
FlyingFish version 234 and later support UTF-8 and Shift-JIS HTML pages and can be used with Japanese and other languages.
FlyingFish has a powerful but easy-to-use timetable system so you can use it to get students to book themselves into lab classes.
With some other commercial tutorial systems the server is an expensive node-locked executable that is kept in a remote server room on campus. This means that ordinary staff can't really control the server or have multiple servers for staging purposes. With FlyingFish, any staff member can have any number of servers on ordinary desktop PCs for testing and development purposes. You can see all the files and be in complete control. Then when your course material is ready to go "live" it can be moved to a central server if desired (or you can serve live courses from your desktop if you wish).
UWA staff may use unlimited servers for free.
Universities other than UWA pay the following fees for a single server license:
These fees only apply to semesters in which actual teaching is done with the FlyingFish.
FlyingFish servers can be started and used for testing and development without any requirement to pay a license fee. Only real teaching attracts the fees.
There is no limit to the number of student records that can exist on the server (apart from practical limits such as hard disk space).
The license fee is a subscription to a service that provides updated executables and a good level of technical support to keep the software running smoothly.
At the time of writing (October 2005), these are the approximate student numbers in various locations:
| Place | Subject(s) | Approximate number of students per semester | Comment |
| UWA | Faculty of Medicine | 1000 | Probably will not continue. |
| UWA | Mathematics | 1000 | Using the UNIX version of this software with an advanced Maths extension called Calmaeth |
| UWA | Mechanical Engineering | 500 | First year Dynamics and Dimensional Reasoning; Second year Thermodymamics; Supporting role in Second year manufacturing and some other units in the Faculty. |
| U. Adelaide | Mechanical Engineering | 200 | First year Dynamics |
| James Cook University | Mechanical Engineering | 100 | First year Dynamics |
| Imperial College London | School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine | 100? | Microbiology |
| Griffith University | Physics | 300 | Generic skills in Physics lab classes. |
Send an email to Dr Nathan Scott (nscott@mech.uwa.edu.au) with subject line "Evaluate FlyingFish". He will give instructions on how to log in to a server to look at the various features "live". Or if you wish you can receive instructions to download the software and install it. Evaluation is free and there is no obligation to purchase a license.
