Future Directions

Most software, especially open source software, is never finished. Someone is always working on fixing bugs in the current version, and making it better for the next version.

Sourceforge

In February 2006 we got approval for an account at SourceForge.net. We intend to upload our source code and documentation there. However, at the moment we are having trouble logging into the system (it requires SSL for login). While we only occasionally have trouble with https logins, we have not yet been able to work around this one. When we do, we will get something up there.

Collaboration

An advantage to having an online collaborative project, such as a SourceForge account, is that other developers may jump in and help. This adds some overhead, but the net result is usually very positive.

ID Cards Produced from Markus

In a year or so, we may be able to produce ID cards from Markus. Since you already have all the data you need for a student ID in the Markus database, we should be able to add a live digital camera and a PVC printer so the school can produce their own ID cards.

We already use most of this technology ourselves in the student ID cards we do in Belize, so it seems natural to offer this as a Markus plug-in.

Answer Sheet Scanning and Scoring

We recently developed a process for using a common scanner to scan 50-question multiple choice answer sheets and score them. This could also interface with Markus.

Interface with OpenOffice.org (Gradebook Templates)

Another goal for Markus is to be able to read and write OpenOffice.org files directly. This would give us the capability to read directly from a teachers' gradebook file (produced from a template). We could also print reports directly to OpenOffice.org.