[Editor's Note: Several offices have asked how to develop and conduct a teletraining
session. For example, an NWSFO could conduct a one-hour session with all of the
sites within their state. These instructions are meant to provide enough information for
the office to get started.]
Introduction
The Telewriter 2000 is an audio/graphic conference system that can be used easily and
effectively for training purposes. Up to this point, the system has been used for the
Hydrometeorological Training course (HMT), but it has a wide range of unexplored uses.
The system connects two or more computers and provides participants with real-time
graphical and interactive capabilities. The interactive capabilities are useful not only for
training exercises but also for meetings and smaller training activities that would be
enhanced with the visual aid of computer graphics.
The following instructions detail the set up of a presentation or conference.
Creating a Presentation
The first step in creating a presentation is to decide what information needs to be
presented. It is best to start out with a short outline of the information. Once this step is
completed, there are two ways to create a Telewriter slide show. The first is to use the
Telewriter 2000 software to create the show and the second is to import a slide show from
another software package, for example, WordPerfect Presentations.
If a more professional presentation, which includes background, different fonts, and two
to three graphics on individual slides is needed, it is best to follow the instructions for
importing a show. This process will take longer but the end result will look better. If a
presentation needs to be put together quickly, the Telewriter software can prepare a
suitable presentation in a small amount of time.
I. Creating a Slide Show in Telewriter 2000.
A. Create individual slides. Slides consist of text and/or graphics.
Graphics may be inserted from a number of different sources: scanned
image, existing graphic file, and a "grabbed image." After each slide
is finished, save the file in a single directory. This will be useful
when distributing the slide show to the participants. It is best if
you create the directory before you start creating the slides.
FILE|CREATE DIRECTORY is a useful way to create the directory.
1. Scanning - Select EDIT|ACQUIRE. After scanning, the image will
appear in the Telewriter window. Add text or other details and
then save the file (FILE|SAVE AS).
2. Existing Image - Select FILE|OPEN. Choose the file and then
select OK. Add text or other details and then save the file
(FILE|SAVE AS).
3. Grabbing Images - This feature allows you to grab a window'
from the VGA Display. This window' can be an area, a dialog box
or the whole display.
a. Click on the Grab Tool icon or choose EDIT|GRAB TOOL.
b. Switch to the program that contains the object you wish
to capture. Make sure the object is visible.
c. Choose from the Part, Full, or Win buttons, depending on
the size of the object.
d. Select the area.
(1) Part - Box in the area you want for the slide.
The "CLIPBOARD PASTE OPTIONS" dialog box will be
displayed. Determine if you wish the desired image to
fill the entire graphic window.
(2) Full - Click in the center of the screen and the
entire screen will appear in the Telewriter software.
(3) Win - Click inside a window and the entire contents
of the window will be displayed in the Telewriter
software. The "CLIPBOARD PASTE OPTIONS" dialog box will
be displayed. Determine if you wish the desired image
to fill the entire graphic window.
e. Add text or other details and then save the file
(FILE|SAVE AS).
4. Images may be annotated using the different drawing tools on the
tool bar. A pen tool is available to insert hand drawn lines.
Geometric shapes are also available with the objects icon.
Finally, text may be inserted using the text icon. Colors may be
changed on all of these options.
B. Incorporating individual slides into a master slide show. After all
the slides have been created, they need to be incorporated into
a master slide show.
1. Go to Slide Show|Create Show.
2. Change the source directory to the directory containing the
slides.
3. Select the first slide from the list under Source Files.
4. Click on the Add button to make it part the slide presentation.
5. The file name should appear in the list under Slide Sequence.
C. Saving a Newly Designed Presentation
1. Select FILE|SAVE AS.
2. Enter a file name with no extension, the .shw extension will be
added automatically.
II. Importing a Slide Show from WordPerfect Presentations. This method
consists of saving each individual slide as a gif or bmp and then
incorporating them into a master slide show in the Telewriter software.
Instructions for incorporating a slide show from WordPerfect Presentations
are as follows:
A. Open the slide show file.
B. Select the first slide.
C. Go to File|Save As.
D. Rename the slide. Use an easily recognizable name describing
what is on the slide or a reference to the order (slide1.bmp).
E. Use the bmp extension.
F. Change the field "Save file as type" to BMP - Windows Bitmap
(.bmp)
G. Select OK.
H. At this point a dialog box will come up, and the size and
resolution will need to be specified.
1. The size of the slide should be 10 inches x 7.5 inches.
It is easiest to change this if the unit of measure is
first changed to inches and then the size can simply be
typed in.
2. The default resolution should be OK if the slide contains
text and low detail graphics. Otherwise, the resolution
may need to be increased.
3. Select OK.
4. Repeat for each slide.
I. Incorporating the slides into a master slide show in the
Telewriter software.
1. Go to Slide Show|Create Show.
2. Change the source directory to the directory containing
the slides.
3. Select the first slide from the list under Source Files.
4. Click on the Add button to make it part of the slide
presentation.
5. The file name should appear in the list under Slide
Sequence.
J. Saving a newly designed presentation.
1. Click on the Save As Button
2. Enter a file name with no extension, the .shw extension
will be added automatically.
Setting up the Conference
An FTS2000 conference will need to be scheduled. This can be done by calling
8-700-288-2000 on an FTS line. Be prepared to give a government calling card number,
the number of lines needed, and the start time and duration of the conference. They will
give you a conference ID number, the conference phone number, and access codes for
the controller and the conferees. In addition, they will fax all this information to you (this
is very helpful for verification).
Each participant will need to know the conference phone number and access code before
the training takes place. Additionally, participants will need a copy of the slide show file
as well as all of the individuals slide. This can be done via diskette or Internet. It is best
if the diskette or download directory contains a single directory with all the files inside the
directory. When the participants get the directory, they will need specific directions on
where the directory should be copied. To reduce confusion, it is easiest to copy the slide
show directory directly to the root directory (c:\).
Starting the Presentation
1. Select Slide Show and click on Create Show.
2. Click on Change Remote Dir.
3. Enter directory name.
4. Click on OK.
5. Select Open.
6. Choose the name of the slide show (XXXXX.SHW), then click OK.
7. Choose Run.
Conclusion
With diminishing resources, this is an excellent tool for real-time graphical and interactive
communications, not only for the HMT course but for coordination of intra-state activities.