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JClic

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Saved by Geane Poteriko
on March 28, 2014 at 5:00:55 am
 

 

JClic is a platform for the creation, playing and evaluation of multimedia educational activities, developed in the Java platform.

It's a multi-platform, free software project, based on open standards. It works in Linux, Mac OS X, Windows and Solaris.

In this section you will find more information on its characteristics, some samples of the way it operates in different systems and the link to download and install the programmes that form JClic.

 

 

http://clic.xtec.cat/en/jclic/

 

Fonte: http://clic.xtec.cat/en/jclic/howto.htm

Fonte: http://clic.xtec.cat/en/jclic/howto.htm

 

What is JClic?

JClic is formed by a set of computer applications that are used for carrying out different types of educational activities: puzzles, associations, text exercises, crosswords...

The activities are not usually used alone, but packed in projects. A project is formed by a set of activities and one or more sequences, which indicate the order in which they have to be shown.

The predecessor of JClic is Clic, an application that  has been used by educators of different countries since 1992 as a tool for the creation of didactic activities for their students.

JClic is developed in the Java platform, is a free software project and works in different environments and operating systems.

Two ways of accessing the projects JClic are offered in the library of activities in the clicZone:

 Playing the activities in an applet

An applet is an object embedded in a web page. The projects that are seen this way do not remain stored in the hard disk: JClic downloads it, uses it and finally deletes it.
If the JClic applet does not start, probably your computer's Java needs to be updated. It's also advisable to take a look at a page on the process of applet downloading.

 Installing the activities

JClic has a wizard which allows you to  download the activities and put them in the projects library of the computer. The library is created the first time JClic is started, or when you try to do the first installation of a project.
To see the projects in the library you will need to download and install JClic.
As in the previous case, if the installer does not start automatically you must check the Java system of your computer.

 

Characteristics of JClic

The JClic project is an evolution of the programme Clic 3.0, a tool for the creation of multimedia educational applications with more than 10 years of history. Throughout this time many educators have been using it to design interactive activities which work on procedures of diverse curricular areas, from kindergarten up to secondary education.

The main goals of the project are:

  • Allow the use of Clic applications online.
  • Retain compatibility with the existing Clic 3.0 applications.
  • Make possible the use of Clic in different platforms and operating systems, like Windows, Linux, Solaris or Mac OS X.
  • To use open standards for the storage of the activities data, in order to facilitate its integration into databases of educational resources.
  • To extend the area of cooperation and exchange of materials among schools and educators of different countries and cultures, facilitating the translation and adaptation of the programme as well as of the created activities.
  • To integrate both the suggestions for improvement and new features sent in by users.
  • To start a community of development around the project, extending the cooperative work among different teams of programmers, designers, translators and other volunteers.

The programming tool chosen was Java, and the format selected to store the data of the activities isXML.

Components

JClic is formed by four applications:

  • JClic applet
    An applet that allows the embedding of JClic activities on a web page.
  • JClic player
    An independent programme that, once installed, allows  the activities to be played from the local disk (or from the local network) without the necessity of being connected to the Internet.
  • JClic author
    The authoring tool, that allows the creating, editing and publishing of the activities in a simpler, more visual and intuitive way. 
  • JClic reports
    Collects data and generates reports on the results of the activities done by the students.

The first module (the applet) downloads automatically the first time that a page which contains an inlaid project JClic is visited. The other ones can be installed in the computer through Java WebStart.

Compatibility and new possibilities

The development of the JClic has been done trying to respect the compatibility with Clic 3.0, so that the packets of existing activities can be automatically imported to the new platform.

These are some of the new features of JClic over Clic 3.0:

  • Use of customizable graphic environments ("skins"), which contain the buttons and other graphic elements that frame the activities.
  • Use of BMP, GIF, JPG and PNG graphics. 
  • Use of multimedia resources in WAV, MP3, AVI, MPEG, QuickTime and Flash 2.0 format, among others, as well as animated GIFs and GIFs with transparency.
  • Sounds of events (to click, to relate, to complete, to guess, to fail...) configurable for every activity or project.
  • Shape generators that make it possible to give different geometric designs to the cells of the activities: with JClic they no longer need to be always rectangular.
  • Other visual improvements: HTML code inside the cells, embedding of "TrueType" fonts, text styles, gradients and pseudo-transparent colors...
  • New characteristics of the activities: maximum time, maximum number of attempts, ordered resolution, memory activities with two blocks of content, etc.

You can see these characteristics in operation by having a look at the package of demonstration activitiesof JClic.

Open architecture

JClic has an open architecture that allows it to extend or adapt its functionality in different ways. It is possible to create new Java modules that extend the operation of the programme in:

  • New types of activities, extending the abstract class "Activity"
  • Systems of automatic creation of contents, deriving the abstract class "AutoContentProvider" (in these moments the only implementation of this class is the module "Arith")
  • Graphic user environments, extending the class "Skin" or supplying new ones based on the XML schema used by "BasicSkin".
  • Play machines, extending "ActivityContainer"
  • Generators of shapes, extending the abstract class "Shaper"
  • Reporting systems, extending the class "Reporter"

JClic is free software released by the Ministry of Education of the Government of Catalonia under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). This allows you to freely use, distribute and modify it whenever certain conditions, like the persistence of the GPL license in any derived work, are respected. The source code of JClic is available in the development portal.

Files and data formats

The data of JClic are stored in XML format. That allows its integration into  resource banks of complex structure, as well as the reuse of the JClic projects in other applications.

JClic works with two types of files:

Files with extension .jclic

XML documents that contain the complete description of a JClic project. The structure of these documents is described in the XML schema jclic.xsd.

The root element of the jclic documents has the name < JClicProject > and contains four main elements:

  • <Settings>
    Information on the author/s of the project, description, revisions, etc.
  • <Activities>
    It contains elements of the type <activity> that define the operation and the characteristics of every activity.
  • <Sequence>
    It describes the order in which the activities have to be presented, and the behaviour of the advancing and moving back buttons.
  • < MediaBag >
    List of all the necessary elements for executing the activities: video, images, sounds, MIDI, TTF fonts... etc.

Files with extension .jclic.zip

Are standard ZIP files with only one .jclic document and all the elements (images, multimedia files...) necessary to execute the activities. The use of this format allows a project to be  encapsulated in only one file.

Besides these two formats, JClic is capable also of importing Clic 3.0 PAC and PCC files.

Internationalization

All the texts and messages of JClic are located in external files, in order to simplify their translation to other languages.

The texts of the programme, as well as those of the activities, are in Unicode format. That allows them to be used with alphabets and not occidental writing systems. The programme also holds the representation and bi-directional writing (right-left or left-right) when the language used requires it. Thedevelopment project is open to the participation of all those who want to make translations of the programme into other languages.

 

Downloading and installation of JClic

JClic is a Java application distributed through the WebStart technology. The first time you click on the links of this page the programme files are downloaded, and will remain installed in the computer. From there, the programmes can be launched either from the Java WebStart control panel or through the icons created on the desktop and in the start menu. The Internet connection is only necessary the first time the applications are activated.

The programs should be started automatically when doing click in the links of this page. If not, probably the Java system of your computer needs to be updated.

Starting off the JClic with Java WebStart

JClic
It is the main programme, used for doing the activities. It allows you to create and organize your own library of projects, and to choose between different graphic environments and operating options.

Starting off the JClic author with Java WebStart

JClic author
This tool allows you to create and modify JClic projects, in a very intuitive and visual environment. The activities can be embedded in a web page, or integrated into a library of projects in order to be used by JClic. The tool also offers the possibility of converting packages of activities made with Clic 3.0 into the new JClic format.

Install demo activities

Demonstration activities
The best way of discovering the possibilities of JClic and learning how to create new applications is to see the demonstration activities and to examine them. This button will take you to a page from which you will be able to download and integrate them into your library of projects.

Launch JClic reports with Java WebStart

JClic reports
This module allows the  management of a database in which the results obtained by the students when carrying out the activities of the JClic projects are compiled. The programme works in a network and offers the possibility of generating statistical reports of the results.

It's important to read the installation guide before first use.

Sorry! by now, this guide is only available in SpanishCatalan and German (thanks to Eduhi). We are working in the English version.

Installers

One of the advantages of the WebStart system is to have the programs automatically updated as corrections and improvements are released, without having to download it manually. If you prefer not to use this system, or if you need to do a manual installation (for example, in computers that do not have Internet connection), there is also the possibility of downloading an executable installer (for Windows systems) or a ZIP file in which you will find the files and the installation instructions (for Linux, Mac and Solaris):

Windows

Windows installer:
jclic-0.2.3.4.exe (3.1 MB - 29 Oct 2013)

LinuxMac OS XSolaris

Some educational GNU/Linux distributions have specific packages of JClic integrated on its software repositories. This ZIP file is intended only for manual installation in systems that don't include JClic packages:
jclic-0.2.3.4.zip (3.1 MB - 29 Oct 2013)

Icons

Shortcuts for the applications in the desktop and in the start menu can be created by Java WebStart. The visual aspect of these shortcuts can be improved replacing their original icons by one of the images included in this files:

WindowsLinuxSolaris   jclic-icons.zip (77 Kb - 12 Jan 2005)
  .ico and .png formats
Mac OS X   jclic-aqua-icons.sit (248 Kb - 12 Jan 2005)
  icons for Mac OS X

Also available in:

lafarga.catlaunchpad.netsoftpedia

 

Screenshots


There are some images of the components of JClic working in different operating systems:

 
Editing the library of JClic projects
in Mac OS X

The media library of JClic author in Mac OS X

 
Making a puzzle with JClic
in Suse Linux with KDE


Editing an association with JClic author
in Mac OS X
 
Editing a text activity with JClic author
in Suse Linux with KDE
 
Organizing the JClic library of projects
in Windows 2000 with Java 1.5
 
Editing an association with JClic author
in Windows 2000 with Java 1.5
 
Editing a sequence of activities with JClic author
in Windows 2000 with Java 1.5

 

Courses and tutorials on JClic

Curs D73 The Creation of Educational Activities using JClic

Telematic course of 60 hours integrated into the In-service Teacher Training Plan of theMinistry of Education of Catalonia. The teachers registered to the course have the advice of one tutor.

The complete course consists of 3 introductory modules on multimedia, image and digital sound, and 5 specific modules about JClic and JClic Author.

The course is available in EnglishGermanSpanish and Catalan.

Curs D73 Leitfaden zu JClic

Education Highway (Innovationcenter for School and New Technology, Linz) has created a JClic guide in German language for JClic beginners. It explains the creation of JClic activities and the most important features and functions in order to get started with JClic.

Handbuch_JClic.pdf (1518 Kb)

Introducción a JClic Manual para uso do JClic

The Portal Educacional do Estado do Paraná has created this JClic guide in Portuguese of Brasil language.

guia_JClic_br.pdf (7524 Kb)

Introducción a JClic Introducción a JClic (Averroes)

The Red Telemática Educativa de Andalucía (Averroes) has developed a very interesting tutorial on JClic, with interactive Flash animations that explain step by step how to make each operation.

This course is available only in Spanish.

Curs D73 Guia del JClic

Jaume Bartrolí has created this PDF document based on the course The Creation of Educational Activities using JClic about JClic Author and JClic Player. This documentation is only available in Catalan.

guia_JClic.pdf (1518 Kb)

Curs D73 Guía de referencia rápida

The association Ibn Firnás - Observatorio Astronómico de La Rinconada has created this "Guía de referencia rápida" about the creation of educational activities using JClic. This document is only available in Spanish.

JClic_referencia.pdf (567 Kb)

Un passeig pel JClic Un passeig pel JClic

Pere Cornellà, professor of the IES de Celrà (Catalonia), has created a set of activities that are used for discovering the main characteristics of JClic: Operation of the different modules, elements of the screen, types of activities, etc.

By now, the activities are available only in Catalan.

Videotutoriales de Clic y JClic Videotutoriales de Clic y JClic

Domingo Méndez, teacher of Jaime Balmes School in Cieza (Murcia), has a section with some videotutorials about creating activities with Clic and JClic. It is required a broadband connection to view them.

Curs D73 Aan de slag met JClic

The Regionaal Expertisenetwerk (REN) , belonging to the Flemish Ministry of Education, hosts different activities related to Clic and JClic. This document, created by Gino Vanherweghe, contains an introduction to the different modules of JClic, and a guide about how to create educational applications with JClic Author.

cursus_JClic_gino.pdf (2798 Kb)

 

JClic development project

JClic is free software, distributed under the terms of the GNU Public License (GPL).

The JClic development project is currently hosted at GitHub.com. The project is open to all who want to take part in it. Volunteers will be needed for translating JClic to other languages, elaboration of documents, manuals and user guides, creation of visual environments (skins), design of graphic elements (buttons, icons...), development of new modules of JClic (new types of activities, content generators, report systems...), tracking of errors and source code maintenance and local diffusion and support groups. You are welcome to the project!

We advise you to make the interventions in English whenever possible, because the development community has members from different countries. Despite of this, interventions in other languages are also welcome.

The translation of JClic into different languages takes place in the portal Launchpad.net. It's very easy to participate: just register in Launchpad, login into the translation project and start translating the original JClic messages from English into any of the ISO-639 languages.

 


home | jclic | FAQ

Frequently asked questions on JClic

More questions? Send it by e-mail!


How to start JClic?
 

The JClic applications run with a system named Java WebStart. To run the JClic for the first time, you should go to the JClic’s installation page and click on the JClic application button. The webStart will download the program files and start Jclic.

From now, every time we want to run the application, it’s not necessary to click on the webpage button. The files are already installed, we just need to create a shortcut in the start menu. How to create a shortcut? ok... there are two ways:

  1. The Java WebStart used to ask if you want to create a shortcut. The application prompts us to create a shortcut the second time we run the application from the web.
  2. If we have already been asked but we said "no" because we didn’t know what we were being asked, or we don’t remember or someone has deleted the shortcut or the shortcut is not working... we can create it manually. To create a shortcut for a WebStart application you should do the following:
    • Open the Java WebStart application manager. You can do it from the Start Menu, searching the icon called "Java WebStart" or, even easier, following this link.
    • Search for the downloaded application group, inside we should find the JClic. Select it.
    • Open the application menu and if there is a line saying Remove shortcut, select it.
    • Open again the application menu and you will find now there is a line to Create shortcuts. Select it and an icon will appear in the start menu and another one in the desktop.Once the shortcuts are generated, this shortcuts can be copied and pasted wherever you want.
  3. If you’re using Mac OS X the shortcuts are named "applications" and are generated in the desktop. The procedure is the same described before: open the application manager, remove the object(if it was previously created) and create it again. Once the "applications" are created, it can be moved to another folder or to the application launch bar. 

    In Linux and Solaris, the shortcuts for WebStart application can not be created (at least, currently). You can download the JNLP file which starts the application manager and create a shortcut pointing, labeled as "Java applications", for instance. Once the users click on this shortcut, a windows containing, among others, the JClic icon appears. We can also download the JNLP file that starts JClic and create a shortcut, but this option is not advisable because this will block the automatic application update.
I have installed the JClic project, and now... how do I start it?
 

The installers include a new element to the JClic project library of your computer. When you start the JClic, the library is automatically loaded. You will find the buttons to start the projects you have installed there.

How do I start JClic? Good question! You can click the button located in the downloading and installation page, but it’s better to create a shortcut in the start menu or the desktop following the steps explained in the previous question.
WebStart shows me an error message when I try to run the applications. What shall I do?
 

During the first download or the update process of the Java WebStart applications, some elements could break down blocking the proper working order. The fastest solution is to remove the applications and reinstall them.

Start opening the Java WebStart control window clicking this link, search the downloaded JClic applications and, one by one. Select and remove them. Afterwards, repeat the installation of the applications clicking on the icons found in the downloading and installation page.

Which is the license of use of JClic?
 

JClic is free software released by the Ministry of Education of the Government of Catalonia under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). This allows you to freely use, distribute and modify it whenever certain conditions, like the persistence of the GPL license in any derived work, are respected. The source code of JClic is available at the development portal.

Can I turn my Clic 3.0 packages of activities to JClic projects?
 

Yes. It's very simple. Start JClic author and go to File - Open. Select in Files of type the option "Clic 3.0 packages (*.pac, *.pcc)". Find the Clic package and confirm the operation. The package will be imported and converted. Once opened, it can be edited and modified. The final step will be to save it as a JClic project (File - Save as...), with the extension .jclic.zip.

We are preparing a document with more details about the steps to follow, and with some tricks and suggestions about how to obtain the best results.

Which is the best way of installing JClic in a network?
 

The most recommendable way is to create a common library of projects, lodged in a file server, and to configure JClic in all the computers in order to have it as main library. This will facilitate enormously the installation of the applications, the organization of shortcuts and the backup of data. All projects installed in the server will automatically appear in the JClic screens of the clients.

We are preparing a document with more details about how to carry out this configuration in the server and in the clients.

The messages of JClic do not appear in my language, even though I have it selected them in the list!
 

The list of languages that appears when JClic is launched for the first time, and those that are shown in the configuration dialogs, correspond to the international standard ISO 639-2. Of course, JClic is not translated into all the languages of this list.

The JClic development project has different working groups formed by volunteers. One of this working groups will be in charge of creating and managing translations of JClic into other languages. The new translations will be added to the JClic modules, which will be automatically updated thanks to Java WebStart.

Can I use JClic in computers without an internet link?
 

Of course! In the downloading and installation page, you will find the files required to run Jclic in "unplugged" computers. A detailed explanation of the process for the application and project installation can be found in this document(Sorry! By now, this document is only available in Catalanand in Spanish).

How to write a shortcut to a JClic project?
 

The fastest way to open a Jclic project is through an embedded applet in a web page. A web page can be created while a JClic project is being edited through the JClic author. This solution can be only used if we jointly publish the page and the JClic project.

To run a JClic project already published in Internet just follow the steps described below:

First, we must have the URL (also known as internet address) of the jclic.zip file that contains the project. At the zonaClic, the URL is shown at the bottom left of the project boxes

Localització de l'URL

For example, the JClic demo activities URL is:

http://clic.xtec.cat/projects/demo_eng/jclic/demo.jclic.zip

It’s not mandatory to store the project at zonaClic, it can be located in any other web.

To run the applet, we will call for a special page at the server that generates the code from the parameters provided. It’s this:

http://clic.xtec.cat/db/jclicApplet.jsp?project=xxx&lang=yy

Then, we have to edit the expression generated. We should substitute xxx by the file jclic.zip andyy by the two-letter code for the language we want to use with JClic. The English code is "en".

So, the call to open a web page in English using the JClic demo must be:

http://clic.xtec.cat/db/jclicApplet.jsp?project=http://clic.xtec.cat/projects/demo_eng/jclic/demo.jclic.zip&lang=en

In addition, we could add more parameters to the call. To add a parameter first we must write the symbol followed by the parameter name, the equal symbol and its value. The most useful parameters are:

  • title
    To show the web title. The blank spaces must be replaced by “+”, and code the symbolswith “%”. For example: &title=Demo+activities
  • skin
    To set the visual aspect. The standard values are @orange.xml, @blue.xml, @green.xml and @simple.xml. It’s required to include an @ before the noun. For example: &skin=@orange.xml
  • exitUrl
    To set the address to another web page where the browser will go when the JClic reaches a place with the command "Exit". This command can be set in a cell with active content or from a sequence element. For example: &exitUrl=http://www.xtec.cat

We will have the URL ready with all these parameters. Then, we can create desktop shortcuts, an embedded object in a presentation program, a Flash animation or a link from another webpage.

Can a project be downloaded and installed from clicZone without Java WebStart?
 

The easiest way to download and install a project from clicZone is searching for it in the library of activities and click on the button Install. This system uses Java WebStart to run the installation wizard which will finish the installation process automatically. But... What can we do if our computer does not have JavaWebStart or if we have chosen the JClic manual installation? Very easy:

  1. Search the desired project in the clicZone.
  2. Mouse over the link named "Install" and click the right button. In the context menu, selectCopy link location.
  3. Runl JClic player(not the author!)
  4. Go to File - Open URL
  5. Delete all the content in the URL box and paste in (Ctrl+V) the link copied in step 2.
  6. Delete the following fragment from the begining of the expression:
    http://clic.xtec.cat/jnlp/jclic/install.jnlp?argument=

    It should appear as follows:

    http://clic.xtec.cat/projects/xxx/jclic/xxx.jclic.inst
  7. Accept and… done it! If everything is fine, the wizard should start and it will download the files to your computer. Additionally, it will create the corresponding button in the project library.

Remember that JClic Player can read three filetypes: JClic projects (files which end up with .jclic.zip), Clic 3.0 packages (files which end up .pac or .pcc) and project installers (files which end up with .jclic.inst). In this example we have directly run a project installer from its internet address.

JClic does not start? What can I do?
 

First of all, check the "root certificate requirement", explained in this page. Then, if the problem persists, go ahead with other possibles issues explained in this article:

Java keeps a copy of all software elements in a computer place called the "cache" . The function of this stock is reduce waiting time and the amount of information to download in each application run.

Sometimes you can have one of these components have been damaged by a transmission error or problems with the file system. In this case the execution of the application is blocked, and the best solution is to clear the cache, so the Java downloads again the files you need for the next execution.

Here's the procedure for clearing your cache. The steps are different depending on the version of Java you are using.

Steps to follow with Java 1.5 Steps to follow with Java 1.6 or later

 

Clearing the Java cache in computers running with Windows Xp and Java 1.5

Go to Start | Configuration | Control Panel | Java

Go to General tab and click on Delete Files...

Select all and click Ok.

Once the cache has been cleared, close all the windows and reboot the computer to apply changes.

 

Clearing the Java cache in computers running with Windows Xp and Java 1.6

Go to Start | Configuration | Control Panel | Java

Go to General tab and click on Settings.

A new windows will pop-up, then click on Delete Files...

Select all and click Ok.

Once the cache has been cleared, close all the windows and reboot the computer to apply changes.


 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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