Tools and Formats for Modular and Multimedia Courseware Documents in Web-based Learning Environments

Introduction

However, it is quite difficult for specialists or educationists to create interactive, multimedia courseware documents because in most cases they lack the necessary skills in the fields of design or programming. On the other hand professional authors, programmers and designers are able to create such courseware documents but however cannot know the learner's knowledge, aims and system environment. Therefore in my doctoral thesis I want to create document formats and authoring tools for modular and adaptable courseware documents consisting of reusable learning objects and document templates for both autonomous and tutor-supported learning. I want to investigate, which guidelines professional authors need to create interoperable learning objects, which tools the teachers and tutors need to select and assemble learning objects to target-group-specific courseware and which tools can support the learners while using such modular courseware documents [1], [2].

Previous Research and Existing Work

The document format LMML (Learning Material Markup Language) [3] has been developed in the context of the PaKMaS project (Passauer Knowledge Management System) [4] which deals with web-based adaptive hypermedia information systems. LMML itself is divided into two parts: LMML-structure and LMML-content. The former can be used for structuring courseware content into several units which can be subdivided in basic modules and sections. The latter provides means for representing the real content components. Metadata elements can be integrated into LMML documents using predefined attributes.

The TARGETEAM project (TArgeted Reuse and GEneration of TEAching Materials) [5] focuses on supporting the different usage-processes in the lifecycle of courseware material. An XML-based format [6] for courseware documents has been developed recently. The courseware documents are stored in pools containing modules assembling reusable units. Modules can be structured by nested issue-elements containing text content, tables, links, images and image animations.

Goals of the Research

The main goals of my research are:

1. Identifying frequently used structuring units (both didactical and content-oriented) in existing courseware material
2. Developing an XML-based document format ("TeachML") for representing such structuring units
3. Developing guidelines in order to enable professional authors to create interoperable and adaptable learning objects
4. Developing easy to use, graphical tools for tutors to support the adaptation of learning objects and the structuring-process of learning objects into courseware documents
5. Developing a document generator which transforms the TeachML-documents into the needed output formats (also supporting learners with disabilities) using information about the learner's knowledge, aims, actual success, system-environment and design- and layout-guidelines
6. Developing a learner's environment for using TeachML couseware documents. This includes interactive learning objects (e.g. exercises) for obtaining information about his learning success. This information can be used to adapt the following documents to the learner's current progress.

Current Status

Together with the German publisher Cornelsen Verlag [12] I am currently evaluating TeachML. The first results show that TeachML can be used for representing professional online courseware material and contents from schoolbooks. However a few extensions and adaptations are necessary and will be done in the near future.

TeachML covers the bigger part of points 1, 2 and 3 specified above.

Open Issues

The main problem with the development of authoring tools (point 4) is that TeachML itself is extendable with new types of learning objects. So the authoring tool has to be extendable to. I decided to create a modular tool using Plug-Ins. If the tutor wants to adapt a learning object of a specific type the appropriate editor is selected and dynamically linked into the authoring tool. The advantage of this approach is that new learning objects can be delivered together with their customizer-components and dynamically linked into the teacher's authoring environment.

Because TeachML does not contain information about the presentation of courseware documents XSL-stylesheets have to be developed in order to transform TeachML (point 5) into a printed version (TeX) or a web-based version (XHTML). A simple XSL-stylesheet for transforming TeachML to XHTML already exists, but there are a lot of open questions especially in the fields of layout and design.

The third open issue is the learner's environment for the web-based version (point 6). In order to adapt the generated output documents to the learner's aims and knowledge there must be some information about the learner available in a simple learner's model. In order to update this learner's model some information about his progress and success are necessary. The idea is to integrate exercises into the course and to use the learner's solutions to get this information.

Current Stage in the Program of Study

What Do I Hope to Gain from Participating in the Doctoral Consortium

Bibliographic References