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TABLE
OF CONTENTS
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Creating Courseware
1.2
Authoring
1.3
Approaches to Authoring
1.4
A New Approach
2.
THE FREE FORM APPROACH
2.1
What is it?
2.2
What are the advantages?
2.3
What are the disadvantages?
2.4
Which applications are best coded using this approach?
2.5
Summary
3.
THE TEMPLATE APPROACH
3.1
What is it?
3.2
What are the advantages?
3.3
What are the disadvantages?
3.4
Which applications are best coded using this approach?
3.5
Summary
4.
THE DATABASE APPROACH
4.1
What is it?
4.2
What are the advantages?
4.3
What are the disadvantages?
4.4
Which applications are best coded using this approach?
4.5
Summary
5.
THE HYBRID TEMPLATE / DATABASE APPROACH
5.1
What is it?
5.2
What are the advantages?
5.3
What are the disadvantages?
5.4
Which applications are best coded using this approach?
5.5
Summary
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Creating Courseware
The
creation of interactive courseware has traditionally been accomplished
through a team effort comprising several disciplines. These disciplines
include analysis, instructional design, graphic art, coding, quality assurance,
and at times audio or video talent. All work together and in a sequence
that ensures a successful outcome.
1.2
Authoring
The
coding step, also called authoring, involves the assembly of all
the gathered media elements, the creation of a backbone navigation, the
programming of interactions, and any other features required by the design.
The smooth and bug-free operation of the application is dependent on the
coder. s skill set and dedication.
Each
time a new version of an authoring tool, such as Macromedia. s Authorware,
becomes available, several new features are added. This forces an author
to remain current with the tool set both in order to remain competitive
in the marketplace as well as to ensure that end users of the authored
applications receive as rich a learning experience as possible.
1.3
Approaches to Authoring
Typically,
the way a course has been assembled in the past has been to give a paper
or electronic storyboard to an author. The author would in turn either
create the application "from scratch" or use an authoring template created
by someone more experienced.
1.4
A New Approach
Recently,
a new authoring paradigm has started to take form, that of using a database
to deliver content to an authoring "engine" which reads information from
the database, then outputs the content to the end user. This has been facilitated
by the introduction of Authorware 4.0, which allows content to be read
from external sources much more easily than in past versions.
This
paper will discuss each of these approaches as well as a fourth approach
that combines the idea of a template and a database. Each has its advantages
and disadvantages. None of these if perfectly right or wrong. Each has
its place depending on the circumstances surrounding an interactive multimedia
project.
2.
THE FREE FORM APPROACH
2.1
What is it?
The
free form approach to coding depends on having an expert author on staff
who is able to receive a storyboard and create in Authorware the designed
application. The author may choose to review code written in similarly
designed lessons in the past, but does most of the coding from scratch,
starting with a blank flow line.
2.2
What are the advantages?
The
advantages to this approach include the following.
-
The
designer is able to use any and all features in Authorware, without fear
that it may not fit in a previously coded template.
-
An
expert coder can make the code very efficient, allowing for little overhead
that may slow down the execution of the application.
2.3
What are the disadvantages?
The
disadvantages to this approach are as follows:
-
A
coder may easily introduce bugs into the code.
-
Coding
normally takes the longest using this approach.
-
Since
code is written anew each time, code maintainability and reusability are
low.
-
Few
coding costs are amortized over the life of the project, since each file
is created from scratch.
2.4
Which applications are best coded using this approach?
The
free form approach is best used with these types of applications:
-
A
specialized kiosk whose design is not intended to be reused.
-
A
proof-of-concept prototype that will not be used as the basis of the courseware
to be eventually coded.
-
A
short lesson to be delivered to a limited audience.
2.5
Summary
Using
the free form approach gives a designer and a coder the most latitude in
designing and developing an application. It also holds the most risk in
introducing bugs and in not being able to reuse the code easily in future
applications. Short applications, such as kiosks, prototype, and short
lessons are the best candidates for this approach.
3.
THE TEMPLATE APPROACH
3.1
What is it?
The
template approach to coding depends on having an expert author create the
backbone of the application. This backbone may include the navigation,
any tools such as a glossary or debugger, scoring mechanisms, and any other
parts of the application that is not strictly content. After the template
is written, intermediate and novice level Authorware coders can fill in
content.
3.2
What are the advantages?
The
advantages to this approach include the following.
-
If
the expert creates a robust template, many fewer bugs should be introduced
into the application.
-
When
the application consists of many similar files, such as a course containing
many lessons, the template acts as a consistent guide to the interface.
-
Coding
is faster since parts found in the template need not be coded for each
file.
-
Some
latitude remains in coding, since the content author can make changes when
necessary.
-
The
user is presented with consistency in the interface, the navigation, the
scoring mechanisms, and other application features.
-
The
template costs are amortized over the length of the project and may substantially
lower the cost of the project.
-
Code
becomes more maintainable since the way the code is written is not unique.
3.3
What are the disadvantages?
The
disadvantages to this approach are as follows:
-
There
is a larger start up cost to create the template.
-
If
the design of the template is very restrictive, lesson files or other application
components may lack diversity, leading to a less engaging approach (sometimes
called the "templated" look).
-
Unless
the template is debugged very well, bugs in the template are replicated
across the entire application.
-
If
the content author can make changes to the template code, it in part defeats
the purpose of the template.
3.4
Which applications are best coded using this approach?
The
template approach is best used with these types of applications:
-
Larger
courses which use several lesson files.
-
Small
courses, when there are several courses similarly designed.
-
Any
application where the coding staff is largely nonexpert and can benefit
from an expert. s template.
3.5
Summary
The
template approach is best used for courses that need a little flexibility
but can benefit from a strong foundation that takes care of those parts
of coding not directly related to content.
4.
THE DATABASE APPROACH
4.1
What is it?
The
database approach to coding changes the approach of the design and the
coding. Designers use an application that allows them to select from preprogrammed
screen layouts. Each screen layout chosen brings up a form that allows
the designer to fill in the content needed. The screen layout and the content
are saved externally in a database and possibly files on a server. Each
screen layout also has a
corresponding
Authorware engine that reads the information from the database, then presents
it on the screen to the end user. Only one Authorware engine file is ever
used - it does not change with each application or lesson. All navigation,
scoring mechanisms and other features come from prebuilt database forms.
All content comes from a separate database file created for each application
or lesson.
4.2
What are the advantages?
The
advantages to this approach include the following.
-
Very
few programming bugs are introduced in the applications.
-
Since
the design and coding are for the most part combined into one job function,
costs are greatly lowered.
-
Applications
are written more quickly, with fewer functional revision cycles needed.
-
There
is no miscommunication between the designer and the coder since the coder
is not directly involved.
-
The
user is presented with strong consistency in the interface, the navigation,
the scoring mechanisms, and other application features.
-
The
database forms and Authorware engine costs are amortized over all the projects
that use this approach.
-
Maintainability
of the course is strong since there is no real authoring performed.
4.3
What are the disadvantages?
The
disadvantages to this approach are as follows:
-
There
is a large start up cost relative to the project as a whole to create the
database forms and Authorware engines.
-
The
database approach leads to a highly templated look, which may prove not
diverse enough for some applications.
-
Once
a screen layout and Authorware engine have been used for an application,
it is problematic to make changes to the layout and engine since it could
cause problems to applications already written.
-
Different
designer approaches can lead to an overwhelming number of screen layouts
and interaction approaches requested, which in turn leads to "too many"
choices for some designers.
4.4
Which applications are best coded using this approach?
The
database approach is best used when the following conditions exist.
-
Costs
must be kept low on larger projects that use very similar design approaches.
-
Expert
resources are low.
-
Applications
are frequently changed or supplanted by more current versions.
4.5
Summary
The
database approach leads to much less latitude in design of a course, since
it is limited to designs that have been created and it does not lend itself
to changes in those designs over time. However, it is a good approach when
a lot of courseware must be written quickly, especially when the courseware
will be replaced often due to issues of content timeliness.
5.
THE HYBRID TEMPLATE / DATABASE APPROACH
5.1
What is it?
The
hybrid approach uses a combination of the database approach and the template
approach. An expert creates a strong template that includes a means of
calling the database for most of its content, while still leaving room
for customized screens that do not fit into the domain of the database
approach. A separate Authorware file is thus created for each application
or lesson, as is with the template approach.
Navigation,
scoring mechanisms, and other features are typically kept in the template
file, while most of the content comes from a database.
5.2
What are the advantages?
The
advantages to this approach include the following.
-
Most
of the advantages found in both the template and in the database approaches
apply here.
-
There
are fewer bugs introduced in this approach than in the template approach,
but there may be more than in the database approach.
-
Content
that can be placed in the database can be entered by the designer, while
customized screens can be created in Authorware by an intermediate or higher
level coder.
5.3
What are the disadvantages?
The
disadvantages to this approach are as follows:
-
Most
of the disadvantages found in both the template and in the database approaches
apply here.
-
Since
two methods are combined, designers may be confused and may disagree as
to which approach to use on specific screens.
-
The
code may be harder to maintain because of the different approaches used.
-
Maintainability
of the code may be less than either the template or the database approach
because of the mixing of the two.
5.4
Which applications are best coded using this approach?
The
hybrid approach is best used with those applications that for the most
part can be entered into a database but need to have an occasional screen
written directly in Authorware.
5.5
Summary
The
hybrid approach can be highly effective when most of the lessons or of
the application can benefit from the database approach, but when you need
to keep the option open for a customized screen. Since each application
or lesson means a separate Authorware file, the possibility of replicated
bugs remains strong. However, if both the template and the database approaches
are created free of bugs, the resulting applications will be written quickly
with few bugs and with more latitude than the database approach alone can
provide. |