In a typical classroom environment, a student takes notes in his or her notebook. In order to emulate this function, EClass provides "sticky notes" for taking notes on the lecture. Sticky notes are electronic notes that can be typed into and placed on a lecture slide. Sticky notes can also be linked to particular points or images from the lecture slides. A sticky note that is linked is displayed as a small yellow note on the lecture, usually directly to the left of the point or image it is linked to.

Sticky notes that are added to a lecture detail that is later collapsed will no longer be directly accessible from the lecture. See Section 2.4.3.1.2 for details on collpasing slides, and further sections for interactions between the Desk Drawer and sticky notes.

To add a sticky note, the user chooses the 'Presentation->Create Note' menu item (see Figure 2.1b) or clicks the 'New Note' button on the Presentation Window. The sticky note is added to the Desk Drawer. Alternatively, the user may right-click on a lecture topic, section, or picture and choose the 'Create Linked Sticky Note' option. This combines the act of creating a new sticky note and linking it to the chosen lecture point. See Section 2.4.2.3 for information on linking sticky notes. Figure 2.4.2.1a shows a newly created sticky note in the Desk Drawer.

This sticky note has been added using the menu item. Since it has not yet been linked to anything, it's status is shown as "Unlinked". This sticky note is the only note that has been added to this presentation so far.

Sticky notes are edited in their own window. When the user edits a sticky note, the "Sticky Note" window is opened. This window shows the note and allows the user to edit the sticky note's current content. To edit a sticky note from the Desk Drawer, the user double-clicks the sticky note. The user can also edit a sticky note that has been linked to a lecture topic by double-clicking the sticky note on the lecture. Figure 2.4.2.2a shows the result of double-clicking on the sticky note created in Section 2.4.2.1.

The main text area is for the user to type their notes into. The OK button saves what the user has typed and closes the window. The Cancel button cancels the changes the user has made and closes the window. Once the Sticky Note window has closed, the user is returned to their previous view. Figure 2.4.2.2b shows the result of the user having taken notes on a sample lecture. Figure 2.4.2.2c shows the edited note in the Desk Drawer, after the user clicks OK in the Sticky Note window.

Figure 2.4.2.2b: A filled-in sticky note.		Figure 2.4.2.2c: The filled-in sticky note in the Desk Drawer.

In the Desk Drawer, the sticky note now shows a preview of its content. This allows the user to easily distinguish between notes within the Desk Drawer.

Sticky notes can be associated with particular points of a lecture. Sticky notes can be linked to any lecture topic (this includes titles, topics, and subtopics). Sticky notes added through the 'Presentation->Create Note' menu item are created independent of any slide point, and their status is shown as Unlinked in the Desk Drawer. See Figure 2.4.2.1a for an example. Sticky notes added by right-clicking on a slide point and selecting the 'Create Linked Sticky Note' menu item are automatically linked to the associated slide point (See Figure 2.4.2.3a).

Linking sticky notes that have previously been linked to a new slide point moves the sticky note from the old linked point to the new linked point. Sticky notes can only be linked to one point at a time. However, one slide point may have multiple sticky notes linked to it.

To link a sticky note to a slide point (or to re-link a previously linked sticky note), the user drags the sticky note from the Desk Drawer to the desired slide point. Figures 2.4.2.3b-d show the user dragging the sticky note created in the previous section to the slide's title.

As the user drags the sticky note, the portions of the slide that are available for linking are highlighted. Once the user releases the mouse, a small sticky note is placed next to the highlighted slide area. Also, the status of the sticky note is changed in the Desk Drawer to the first few words of the linked slide area (or the image name if the sticky note was linked to a picture).

To link the sticky note to a different lecture topic, the user drags the small sticky note from the currently linked topic to the new topic. The user may also re-link a sticky note by dragging the sticky note from the Desk Drawer to the desired topic, just as before. The sticky note will move from the old topic to the new topic, and its status will change to reflect the new topic.

Once a sticky note is linked to a lecture topic, it stays linked to that topic until it is unlinked. To unlink a sticky note, the user right-clicks on the sticky note and chooses the 'Unlink Sticky Note' menu item from the context menu (See Figure 2.4.2.4a).

To delete a sticky note, the user first selects the sticky note by clicking on the sticky note in the Desk Drawer or, if the sticky note is linked, clicking the small sticky note on the lecture. The sticky note is highlighted to show it is the active note. The user presses the 'Delete' key on his or her keyboard or right-clicks the sticky note and chooses the 'Delete Sticky Note' menu item from the context menu (See Figure 2.4.2.5a).

The user is prompted with the dialog shown in Figure 2.4.2.5b. The user chooses 'No' to cancel the deletion, and 'Yes' to confirm and delete the sticky note.

The sticky note will be removed from the Desk Drawer. If the sticky note was linked to a lecture topic, the sticky note will be removed from the linked topic as well.