Channel 9 Forums - Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

Keli — Mon, 08 May 2006 09:26:38 GMT

Hi members,

Taming Windows

I am high school teacher. Often I require my students to read a passage of text from a website or file. I then ask them to summarise what they have read and write some brief notes in a text file or Microsoft Word file. This requires them to work in both files simultaneously.

Windows doesn't allow them to keep both the passage window and their notes window open at the same time. This is irritating for them and is not healthy for their concentration. It would seem much more productive if both windows could be firmly glued open allowing the student to gracefully float between source file and his notes file.

Is there any way to force Windows to keep two windows open side by side as the student works ? - i.e. a setting which doesn't allow the windows, some one is working on, to close when they lose focus. This default opening and closing windows as they lose or come into focus is not very helpful here.

Cross referencing / Bookmarking paragraghs

Developing the scenario above further - noting taking might require
the students to reference particular sections of the text ( paragraphs ) from his notes file to further expand on the points he has noted.

Is it possible for my students to reference a particular or set of paragraphs in a HTML file which do NOT have an associated anchor tag ? Can we get a program that generates anchors for us that we can use to reference in our links ?

Furthermore, how is this same referencing to paragraphs achieved when trying to reference paragraphs in a Word or PDF (adobe ) document ?

Thank you,

Keli

Thanks

Keli

Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

Cybermagellan — Mon, 08 May 2006 09:29:19 GMT

I think the best that you're gonna get is tabs in IE6 with Windows Live Toolbar installed.

Or Firefox take your pick

Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

Barry Andrew Hall — Mon, 08 May 2006 09:30:26 GMT

you could size the windows so that you can see both side by side easily using the controls at the top right of an application window, then use ALT+TAB to tab the focus between the two.

This would allow you to select text from one window and copy it to another.

With regards to a PDF, their is a text select tool that you could use to copy text that you wish to reference.

hth

Pace

Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

pacelvi — Mon, 08 May 2006 09:41:29 GMT

Windows has a feature to arrange a subset of program windows so that they are side-by-side.

On the Windows Taskbar (the big thing at the bottom that has a button for every open program) take the mouse and

1 - Hold [Ctrl] key down and click each program that you want to arrange

2 - Once you are finished CTRL-Clicking on the programs, release the [Ctrl] key and then Right-Click on one of program buttons.

3 - Choose either Tile Vertically or Tile Horizontally

This doesn't always work 100%. Sometimes you have to minimize all windows first as some unselected program interferes with the screen layout.

Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

DCMonkey — Mon, 08 May 2006 09:51:53 GMT

They call it "Windows" for a reason

Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

Allan Lindqvist — Mon, 08 May 2006 10:58:38 GMT

i might be misinterpreting your question.. but if what youre asking is "is it possible to have two or more windows open at once" the awnser is certenly yes.. that is the whoe point of windows and has been ever since it was first consived.. the "taming" as you call it can be achive by simply not maximizing all your windows.

use the maximize/restore button found on most windows to do this.. then resize the window useing the handle at the lower right corner on the screen to get it to a suitable size. windows can be moved around by dragging the name list around

when windows is first installed it does not maximize all windows as far as i know.. but as mentioned earlier you can rightclick on the taskbar and choose from the auto arrange options found there.

as for cross referencing, anchors must be created by the author of the website as there is now way for any program to know were an anchor should be placed.. the same holds true for any text.. in a word doc or a pdf one can use the page number.

Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

mochant — Mon, 08 May 2006 11:40:11 GMT

I use OneNote's SideNote feature to keep a note-taking window pinned on top of all other windows to do this sort of thing. EverNote (which is free in its basic version also might be a good solution).

I know there are a number of free or inexpensive window utilities (like Actual Window Manager) that can do this to any window (including a notepad or Word window). You might look into one of the freeware versions of this kind of utility to see if it solves the window focus and arrangement issue.

The beauty of OneNote or EverNote is that they create a source link for many kinds of information when you drag and drop into a notebook.

Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

Keli — Mon, 08 May 2006 17:15:29 GMT

Hi Monchant, Cybermagellan, Pace, Pacelevi, DCMonkey, AL_,

Taming Windows

Thanks for all your suggestions. I am now getting success and infact Windows is behaving quite wonderfully - so longer as each Window is not maximised seems to be the key. The "channel 9" reply window is even tracking the position of the cursor and scrolling automatically left and right for me as I am writing this.
( I am now in an Internet Cafe - I will try it on the network at college ). The

Cross Referencing - Anchors

Monchant, does OneNote automatically create references to only the file in file system ( like a "shortcut" type thing )
or
can we reference more specifically to actual sections and/or paragraghs of text in any standard document regardless of type ( .pdf or .doc ) and location ( on the web or in the file system) by simply "drag and drop" ? Do I understand you correctly ?

I am asking for too much ?

Keli

Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

pacelvi — Tue, 09 May 2006 01:56:27 GMT

Keli wrote:

Hi Monchant, Cybermagellan, Pace, Pacelevi, DCMonkey, AL_,

Taming Windows

Thanks for all your suggestions. I am now getting success and infact Windows is behaving quite wonderfully - so longer as each Window is not maximised seems to be the key. The "channel 9" reply window is even tracking the position of the cursor and scrolling automatically left and right for me as I am writing this.
( I am now in an Internet Cafe - I will try it on the network at college ). The

Cross Referencing - Anchors

Monchant, does OneNote automatically create references to only the file in file system ( like a "shortcut" type thing )
or
can we reference more specifically to actual sections and/or paragraghs of text in any standard document regardless of type ( .pdf or .doc ) and location ( on the web or in the file system) by simply "drag and drop" ? Do I understand you correctly ?

I am asking for too much ?

Keli

I'm curious as to which suggestions you found most helpful in solving the problems you were having.

Coffeehouse - Taming Windows & Cross referencing

Keli — Tue, 09 May 2006 12:01:45 GMT

I found all the suggestions had the "multiple open-ended" approach style of Windows. Monchant's piece on OneNote - at least, gave me an idea of a tool that seems could be useful for referencing.

To be honest, I am worn out using the resident Windows file folder system as a storage system. There are huge overheads.

But I keep on telling my students - it is the only place to readily available to them. Although it is crucially inadequate as their files aren't exposed over the Net.

I think a remote storage system with strong organisation and cross-referencing abilities would be a better solution in the long run.
Any ideas ?

Keli