End-to-end Development Process: E-Learning Course Development in an Open Environment: Project Lifecycle 8

Having discussed in some detail individual elements of the content development process, in this post we’re going to see how all the pieces come together in the Open Environment for E-Learning.

Figure 1. Inputs and Outputs
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Here’s the end-to-end development process (see Figure 1):
1. Content authors agreed course structure according to the structure outlined in the instructional design
2. XML text data authored with XXE and the DocBook DTD
3. Images created and in GIMP and imported in to XXE
4. Course developed in XXE
5. Content reviewed and signed off
6. Content stored on Apache/MySQL/PHP-based content management system (CMS)
7. Narration script text generated from signed off content
8. Using Audacity, voice-over narration for multimedia presentation is recorded
9. Voice-over narration is post-produced in Audacity, reviewed and signed off


Final integration
1. Content accessed from CMS
2. XML data imported into OpenOffice.org Impress and exported as PPT-formatted file
3. Audio retrieved from database
4. Separately recorded video content retrieved from database
5. Content integrated in Microsoft Producer 2
6. Content rendered to final compiled format for delivery via multiple channels (see Figure 2)

Figure 2. Overview of Integration Process
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7. Content exported to open source LMS/LCMS such as Moodle, or burned to DVD for delivery to customers (see Figure 3)

Figure 3. Final Course Structure
[Click to enlarge]

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Introduction to Repurposing Content. E-Learning Course Development in an Open Environment: Project Lifecycle 7

Modifying previously-produced content using for use in an Open E-Learning Environment

A topic I’ve touched on briefly in the past is that of repurposing content already developed in a different format. In my view, one of the more common (and unsatisfactory) processes used to develop courseware is to use Microsoft PowerPoint as the primary courseware authoring application. While the reasoning behind this is practical – for example, instructors delivering training in a classroom environment typically use PowerPoint as their presentation tool of choice, particularly in the corporate environment. Similarly, courses authored in PowerPoint can also end up being used as the basis for hard-copy document generation.

A typical process includes:

1. Content (i.e. a series of lessons) authored in PowerPoint
2. Lesson text extracted from PowerPoint imported into Microsoft Word. The content text is reformatted to enhance usability in hardcopy form (i.e. slide header made bold, 14 point etc)
3. Slide images and text exported as WMF format images from PowerPoint and stored in a graphic assets folder for integration into the Word document version of the courseware.
4. Because of file size issues, WMF images batch converted to high-quality GIF format.
5. Images reinserted in Word document with adjoining text.
6. Typically 10 to 12 lessons then inserted into a Word template and saved.
7. Saved documents exported as PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Pro.

There are a number of significant inadequacies in this process, not least among them being:

• complicated editing
• difficulty revising materials
• lack of traceability
• versioning issues
• discoverability of keywords and terms in either the source Microsoft Office application files or the compiled PDF document
• severely restricted interoperability of content
• restricted ability to deliver content using multiple channels (i.e. efficiently over the web)
• use of proprietary formats to create content
  

Proprietary tools do not “play well with others” (Meyerding, 2004). For example, the Microsoft Office productivity suite has a long history of file format changes and despite the much-vaunted interoperability of Microsoft XML Core Services (MSXML) in Office 2007, it can be said that there are still issues with integrating MS Office-produced content into an open environment, and by extension problems using this suite if you need to integrate your content into another environment or platform.

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References:

Meyerding, H. (2004). XML and Content Reuse Systems for Instructional Design Part 2: Implementing Content Repositories & Selecting Tools Part 1 The eLearning Developers Journal 3(1) [Internet] Available from: http://www.elearningguild.com/articles/abstracts/index.cfm?
action=view&CFID=822922&CFTOKEN=16828758 (Subscription required) Accessed 22nd October 2006

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