XML and Content Reuse Systems for Instructional Design

February 2 2004

Strategies and Techniques for Designers, Developers, and Managers of eLearning

THIS WEEK — DESIGN STRATEGIES XML and Content Reuse Systems Two weeks ago, the first article in this for Instructional Design series introduced the Part II: Implementing Content Repositories & Selecting Tools basics and the termi- nology of XML for BY HENRY MEYERDING designing and using his is the second in a series of three articles for learning objects. In experienced instructional designers about XML and designing content Tcontent reuse systems. The previous article in this reuse systems for series discussed the basics of XML as it applies to learn- e-Learning, the big- ing content management. XML, a derivative language from gest issues are the SGML that represents a simplified and optimized approach taxonomy, the pro- to creating databases, is an object language that allows cess, and the tools. you to create learning objects and transform them into a Read this article for a variety of different forms. This article In a very basic sense, what a content focuses on many of the methods and reuse system does is to scientifically complete review of benefits of organizing content into reposi- divide content into associative, function- tories, and the tools that can be used to al, or structural taxons. (See the sidebar these issues and a create the content stored there. on page 14, Definitions.) This taxonomy summary of tools that of information makes useful reuse feasi- Taxonomy ble. The application of this useful taxono- you may consider for Our scientific understanding of any my to enterprise information is what topic is founded upon taxonomic process- determines whether the content reuse your own content es: we take things apart to see how they system produces benefits for the organi- work. We can gain a better understanding zation or becomes just another expensive reuse implementation. of the intricate parts of a whole system good idea. by examining its parts and then combin- All learning objects are defined by tax- A publication of ing them together, gradually coming to onomies. These taxonomies express the understand how those parts interrelate. Continued on next page

WWW.EL EARNINGG UILD.COM DESIGN / strategies

way in which each object is understood, of approved artwork or source content used and maintained. In evaluating how for other servers such as Adobe Publisher David Holcombe to construct learning object models for Document Server or FrameMaker Server. an XML repository, it is very important to The road to XML content reuse is sim- Editorial Director Heidi Fisk understand that these models are used ply a progression of responses faced by Editor Bill Brandon to define queries. The value of the sys- learning organizations. Generally speak- Copy Editor Charles Holcombe tem depends upon the ease and accura- ing, there are six steps taken on the path Design Director Nancy Marland cy of queries. Many organizations discov- from no content sharing and reuse to a ered too late that they had expended comprehensive XML repository system: The eLearning Guild™ Advisory Board Ruth Clark, Conrad Gottfredson, John Hartnett, substantial resources in creating an XML 1. File Server — A “shared drive” acces- Bill Horton, Kevin Moore, Eric Parks, Brenda Pfaus (or SGML) repository that provided no sible to all team members with read Marc Rosenberg, Allison Rossett additional benefit over cutting and past- and write permissions to all. ing documents from a file server be- 2. Version Control System — A collection cause their content authors could not of documents, stored by document ver- Copyright 2004. The eLearning Developers’ Journal™. find anything in the repository. sion to protect against accidentally Compilation copyright by The eLearning Guild 2004. All rights reserved. Please contact The eLearning Guild for overwriting files. reprint permission. Repository design 3. Document Manager — A software sys- A content repository has several differ- The eLearning Developers’ Journal is published weekly tem that provides different levels of by The eLearning Guild, 525 College Avenue, Suite ent purposes: access to documents based upon 215, Santa Rosa, CA 95404. Phone: 707.566.8990. • To store controlled versions of docu- selectable criteria. The eLearning Guild is an operating unit of Focuszone ments 4. Learning Management System (LMS) Media, Inc., 1030 Beatrice Street, Eagan, MN 55121. • To store current versions of learning — A system that provides access to The Journal is included as part of Guild membership. objects learning content for students, authors, To join the Guild go to www.eLearningGuild.com. • To store in-work versions of learning and editors. The modern LMS usually objects provides some kind of virtual campus • To publish content to Web servers paradigm. The eLearning Developers’ Journal™ is design- • To publish content to other servers 5. Learning Content Management ed to serve the industry as a catalyst for inno- (Learning Management Systems, System (LCMS) — A system that vation and as a vehicle for the dissemination of abbreviated as LMS) divides up learning content into man- new and practical strategies and techniques for • To function as an ISO Repository ageable components, which can be e-Learning designers, developers and man- The most important reason for having dynamically revised in some or all of agers. The Journal is not intended to be the a repository is to facilitate collaboration its instances in the curriculum. definitive authority. Rather, it is intended between content creators, editors and to be a medium through which e-Learning practi- 6. XML Repository — A system that production staff. One mistake often tioners can share their knowledge, expertise applies content taxonomies to organ- and experience with others for the general made with a complex repository is to ize content into associative and struc- betterment of the industry. make customized views that are not tural classifications so that content As in any profession, there are many differ- shared between different team mem- can be created and managed with ent perspectives about the best strategies, bers. This can be frustrating and time- maximum efficiency. techniques and tools one can employ to accom- consuming. Not every organization progresses plish a specific objective. This Journal will share Once everyone has gone through the through each step in an orderly manner. these different perspectives and does not posi- arduous task of chunking and labeling It is often the case that different groups tion any one as “the right way,” but rather we their legacy content, this content needs within a learning organization implement position each article as “one of the right ways” to be put into a repository where it can different steps at different times, and for accomplishing a goal. We assume that be easily accessed. The best way to do then face significant challenges integrat- readers will evaluate the merits of each article this, for instructional designers, is to put ing the results. Table 1 on page 3 sum- and use the ideas they contain in a manner the content into a version control system marizes some of the objectives and limi- appropriate for their specific situation. We that is linked to a database. tations of each step in the progression. encourage discussion and debate about articles ClearCase, for example, is a version When computer networks became and provide an Online Discussion board for control application that can present sev- common in the workplace, people aban- each article. THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL eral different views of the repository for doned the file cabinet for the file server.

/ The articles contained in the Journal are all different uses. One view presents a virtu- They soon learned that file servers have written by people who are actively engaged in al file server that contains all the most their own defects when it comes to shar- this profession at one level or another — not recent versions of the training docu- ing important information. The next logi- by paid journalists or writers. Submissions are ments. Another view presents selected cal step was to try to remove the most always welcome at any time, as are sugges- documents to a Web server or LMS. Yet tions for articles and future topics. To learn glaring defects of the file server by imple- another view presents the XML database more about how to submit articles and/or menting a version control system. The ideas, please refer to the directions in the box elements. Other views can be developed version control systems made it safer to FEBRUARY 2, 2004 on page 5 or visit www.eLearningGuild.com. for specific uses, such as creating put your documents onto the network archives of content, presenting catalogs and easier to find things, but when large 2 THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL / FEBRUARY 2, 2004 3 strategies equired. Slow, insecure, and Slow, does not scale well. Complex to maintain and difficult to use when additional features are added. Proprietary — software does not keep pace with new tools and processes. Can limit designers in terms of format or delivery methods, may not accommodate editing and version control well. Often includes a poor user interface; extensive customization r Requires rethinking of the development model by designers. Limitations Question: If XML repositoriesQuestion: are so LCMS vendors Answer: Practically all The proprietary product offer does tie intensive means of achieving high quality of achieving high intensive means content reuse. great, anyone market then why doesn’t an XML repository as an LCMS? are organized according to a service con- They invest mas- sulting business model. and money to cre-sive amounts of time ate efficient systems, which they practically give away for free. They do this so customizations, that they can sell you service, maintenance, and sup- training, port. A pure XML repository system could be serviced and maintained by a wide variety of vendors, so they might never earn back the investment they made in creating the solution. but it also the business to the vendor, ties the vendor to the business because the vendor has a huge stake in the out- come of the LCMS implementation. DESIGN / , ® maintain different ver- automate more com- improve the efficiency improve the efficiency permit access and provide content reuse,

Objectives To sharing of files between many users. To sions of the same document so that the newest (best) can be identified. To plex features (and rules). To of training content delivery and progress tracking. To of training development through content management and reuse. To multiple output formats, and extensibility to react to changing needs. are all exam- ® Objectives and Limitations in the steps to a XML repositoryObjectives and Limitations in the steps system , and learn eXact ® ABLE 1 ersion Control System Once you have an XML repository,Once you have an XML your XML and SGML were developed specif- T Step Document Manager Learning Management System (LMS) Learning Content Management System (LCMS) XML Repository File Server V epository with other can inter-operate ples of blended XML systems. ples of blended XML r or even LCMSs, systems, such as LMSs but the content is organized for your convenience. If your exclusive needs and so can the repos-needs or tools change, have created for yourself an itory. You “Open Source” solution. For that reason, the XML repository is simpler and less difficult to upgrade than many proprietary solutions. ically to provide a structure and methodology for content reuse. Many of the lessons learned from early SGML implemen- tations were built into XML, which provides a more streamlined and less labor- Aspen ments, and they can also customize the they can also customize ments, and engine to providedatabase better system performance manage- for content OutStartment functions. Evolution for ten years.

rd Then came the document manage- Then came Learning management systems (LMSs) Everything that is true of document The best of the available LCMS sys- emained with the older version of MS- numbers of people put largenumbers of of numbers became into the system, it documents harder again. it simpler to ment system which made usually locked you find things, but which into tools and processes that rapidly good example of became outmoded. A this last hurdle to progresslarge was a legal firm that implemented a complex macro-language-driven documentation system that interoperatedtheir doc- with system. When the ument management arrived,next version of MS-Word they were very upset to find that there was no backward — so they compatibility r Wo are primarily student-facing applications. Their purpose is to present training to a student population and to track student performance. Over time, more and more content management facets have been sneaking into these learning delivery platforms. their core That is not function, which is to deliver existing content to students efficiently. learning Although content management systems (LCMSs) are designed to efficiently manage content, they suffer from a lack of flexibility and timeliness. management tools locking you into particular tools and processes is also true of LMS/LCMS deployments, only much more so. Most LCMSs have their own content creation tools, which may be very well intentioned, but which also may fall very short of the functionality and finesse represented by other commercial applications. Of course, most will work with major content generators (more or and Adobe less), such as MS-Word but they increase the com- FrameMaker, plication of version upgrades by several orders of magnitude. This is a significant expense that must be factored into the cost of ownership and operation of these systems. tems are blended XML solutions. These technology as a systems use XML/XSLT transformation mechanism, but retain a proprietary data architecture for data- they have base functions. In this way, many of the advantages of XML technolo- SCORM-com- such as interoperability, gy, pliance, and access to XML enhance- DESIGN / strategies

There are some pure XML repository then broken again into smaller pieces appear in a table here and in a para- LCMS solutions that have been devel- identified as introduction, main body, and graph of text there, but the data behind oped by the Open Source community transitions. Content should sound natu- it is identical. It is possible with each (principally by and for academic institu- ral and appear to have been written new iteration to do a keyword search tions). They are more like do-it-yourself specifically for each use. Content also is through a documentation set and locate kits than a fully-developed product offer- chunked by audience and complexity so all known matches, then copy in the ing and do not offer the reliability, fea- that relevant material and more complex revised information. That usually takes tures, or performance of commercial off- discussion can be added or removed too much time and trouble to be worth the-shelf (COTS) solutions. easily. doing on a regular basis, unless it is Audience plays a big role in content very special information. Reusing content reuse. Identifying specific blocks of infor- In comparison, with a properly consti- Legacy content comes in many differ- mation as appropriate or inappropriate tuted XML repository, the process is ent forms. Most of these forms repre- for different audiences can simplify docu- much more direct. Instead of working sent document instances. Most organiza- ment creation immensely. It also is the backwards from finished documents to tions attempt to maintain a repository of hardest classification to accomplish. find the appearance of specific content these document instances according to For example, consider an Offer Brief: in context, the source content is already some meaningful hierarchy. ISO docu- a document that quickly informs sales organized according to what it contains. mentation standards are an example of staff of new offers, pricing and condi- The author goes to that container, revis- this kind of document-centric hierarchy. If tions that apply to selling a product or es it, refreshes the repository and the documents are correctly named, stored service within a given market. These next time the document instance is and updated, then the information they things are constantly changing. It is a called, it collects its source content from contain can be reused, but the process major task to keep this kind of training the updated source, applies the proper is slow, laborious and susceptible to content accurate and timely. Most of the formatting, and compiles the finished human error. The utility of simple file documents have a similar look and feel. document. All 30 or 40 documents that sharing is inversely proportional to the There may be specific types for different touch this same source content are thus number of documents to be shared. audiences or products, but a single item automatically updated. When existing content is chunked, it of information may find its way into 30 or There was more work done in the very usually begins in documents that are 40 different presentations. Along the beginning to properly analyze and attrib- broken down into component topics and way it may get a different style — it may ute the content, but as the content is

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THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL insights from e-Learning Flash experts. A wide variety of examples and discussions / will be used to illustrate the many ways you can use this versatile development tool. throughout the entire event!” Register Today! To learn more about The eLearning Sandy Ellis-Byre Management Symposium go to Associate Manager of e-Learning FEBRUARY 2, 2004 www.eLearningGuild.com TDS Telecom 4 DESIGN / strategies used to create more and more instance documents, those documents become Do you have an interesting progressively less expensive to create, manage and update. It makes it possible strategy or technique to share? to do the previously unthinkable: • Provide an individualized training syllabus for every employee. • Implement weekly updates across Get It Published in... training syllabi. • Create monthly updates to training. • Ensure global identification of misinformation. • Provide personalized Web-based training tied to employee reviews. By increasing the efficiency with which content can be created, the quality and timeliness of all the training deliverables can be increased without raising the cost This publication is by the people, for the people. into the stratosphere. That means it’s written by YOU the readers and members of The eLearning Guild! Process We encourage you to submit articles for publication in the Journal. As H. L. Mencken said, “For every Even if you have not been published before, we encourage you to submit a query human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is always wrong.” if you have a great idea, technique, case study or practice to share with your peers This section describes the develop- in the e-Learning community. If your topic idea for an article is selected by the edi- ment process used to implement the tors, you will be asked to submit a complete article on that topic. Don’t worry if you XML content reuse system. Each descrip- have limited experience writing for publication. Our team of editors will work with tion includes a discussion of the costs you to polish your article and get it ready for publication in the Journal. and benefits associated with each process. By sharing your expertise with the readers of the Journal, you not only add to the collective knowledge of the e-Learning community, you also gain the recognition of Manual reuse systems your peers in the industry and your organization. In traditional, project-oriented design settings, each new project was a sepa- How to Submit a Query rate entity. Analysis, development, and production were defined by the time line If you have an idea for an article, send a plain-text email to our editor, THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL / FEBRUARY 2, 2004 and requirements of each discrete proj- Bill Brandon, at [email protected], with the following information in ect, and instructional designers pro- the body of the email: duced design and content as an artisan custom-crafting a product for a customer. • A draft of the first paragraph, written to grab the reader’s attention and identify When this process has worked correctly, the problem or issue that will be addressed. it has worked very well. Students receive • A short outline of your main points addressing the problem or resolving the curriculum that is specifically fashioned issue. This could be another paragraph or it could be a bulleted list. to address their needs. Trainers and designers can be student advocates at • One paragraph on your background or current position that makes you the one many different levels. Everybody wins. to tell this story. However, there are some important limitations to this methodology. • A working title for the article. It is important to understand that • Your contact information: name, job title, company, phone, email. This informa- these limitations and disadvantages are tion is to be for the writer of the article. We are unable to accept queries from not a function of the skills or artistry of the designer. However dedicated and tal- agents, public relations firms, or other third parties. ented a designer might be, if armed only All of this information should fit on one page. If the topic fits our editorial plan, Bill with a typewriter and a mimeograph will contact you to schedule the manuscript deadline and the publication date, and machine, he will be at a disadvantage to work out any other details. compared with someone, of perhaps more pedestrian talents, who is provided Refer to www.eLearningGuild.com for more details. with computers and Web-based delivery 5 options. DESIGN / strategies

At the same time, it must be admitted pectations of their audience. Designers have many new options that that the best tools will not make a poor • Tool Costs — Reliance on outmoded come from an efficient production designer produce excellent training con- tools, different versions of standard design. tent. Really good tools have been used tools, and fringe tools complicates • XML content can be analyzed and to camouflage poor design. It is certainly things, and makes people less effi- repurposed much more efficiently than easier for an incompetent instructional cient. The cost of maintaining learning legacy content. The content does not designer to produce much poorer training materials sourced in multiple tools is hide in a forest of words. When need- deliverables with an XML content reuse enormous. Standardization on a few ed, new and legacy content can be system than when working alone with tools and methods makes a substan- efficiently blended to create education- MS-Word. tial difference to the production cycle. al tools to suit different needs of dif- Assuming competent designers, some ferent student audiences. of the most important limitations and XML automated systems • Learning content is organized for use. disadvantages of the cottage industry Figure 1, below, describes a content Related content is accessible. Related approach to instructional development authoring and delivery system for both procedures and policies are obvious are: online and hard-copy training deliver- — as are conflicts and inconsisten- • Inconsistency — Since every project is ables. In this example, light blue indi- cies. independent of every other, it is very cates tools from Adobe, orange indicates • Because the relationships between difficult to create and enforce stan- tools from Macromedia, yellow indicates concepts and ideas are mapped dards. Even if templates are used, tools from Microsoft, and purple indi- according to the taxonomy by which designers tend to create exceptions. cates tools for open source components the content was chunked, identifying • Inefficiency — There are many oppor- or outputs. This is only one of many content for reuse and the updating of tunities for reusing content that are equivalent solutions. legacy materials is significantly missed, either because designers are The structured approach to instruction- streamlined. unaware of legacy content that could al design is seen to have the following • Content conforms to Information Tech- be adapted, or because the legacy benefits, as William and Katherine nology standards to ensure portability content is in a format that makes it Horton point out in e-Learning Tools and and long-term use. difficult to adapt to their current project. Technologies: There are three steps in the process • Inaccuracy — Because each project • The same courses are delivered of implementing an XML content reuse recasts some of the same information across multiple media and delivery system: 1) Analysis, 2) Chunking, 3) Op- in a different way, there is no way to environments. Just because it hap- eration. The process is very simple, in globally update information and reis- pened to be developed by X using Y, theory: sue training when changes occur. this doesn’t stand in the way of it • A document type definition (DTD) is • Scalability — As workloads increase being reused in a completely different selected and tested. and staffing levels decline, there is no environment or with different tools. • The repository is created using tables way to maintain output and quality lev- • The structured development model that mirror the DTD. els. Designers become frustrated supports a consistent instructional • Legacy content is converted to XML. when they’re unable to meet the ex- design and development process. • XML content is placed in the repository. • Users query the database to construct new documents. • Users add new content to the repository as needed. As mentioned before, the initial analysis is perhaps the most difficult stage of the implementation, and it is the one stage that has the most persistent effects. Having once decided upon the one and only way of parsing the content, staff members are carefully trained in

THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL how to accomplish the chunking of lega-

/ cy content into the system. Legacy content chunking Whether this chunking process is slow and manual or quick and automated really depends on how much legacy content was created by properly using standard-

FEBRUARY 2, 2004 ized styles and templates. If practically FIGURE 1 This content authoring and delivery system produces both online and hard copy none of the content was created using

6 training deliverables. standard styles and templates, then THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL / FEBRUARY 2, 2004 7 strategies The authoring process a is iterative, and the authors and As time goes by, Some authoring environments, such documents, raw XML, Word documents raw XML, Word documents, the queryor HTML. When results in more “hits” than desired, then reformu- late it to be more specific. If little or nothing results, then try a more general query the desired until you get results. succession of repetitive operations per- formed to collect, modify and upload new content. (See Figure 2, below.) production the people get used to using system to produce the required results, productivity increasesand frustration decreases. There some people will be who simply cannot adjust to the new work methods, just as there were some very talented people who could produce marvelous typed documents but who could never quite make a word processor work right. work from the data struc-as Epic Editor, ture to the content. At the beginning, these tools can be difficult for some designers to understand and use effi- After the designers become famil- ciently. iar with the database structure, they rapidly learn to navigate through the maze of information on cross- they encounter functional teams to find the parcels they want. In practice, authors working with common, standardized documents rapidly learn the five or six elements they must identify to generate the greater por- tion of their training. It is more difficult, DESIGN / The authoring process is an iterative cycle. The theory new docu- of developing One method of handling the query Using chunked content Using chunked content ments from fairly legacy components is simple, if the repository is implemented First, the designer needs to properly. know what previous training this new This is accom- training is similar to. plished by querying the database and seeing what existing content comes fairly close to the current need. If it is completely new and dissimilar from other training, then the designer gets nothing from the repository but templates. Hav- ing made a shrewd guess about some other similar training, the designer has to define how this new training is different from the similar training that has been identified. page containing process is by a Web drop down field list properties. Define five or six of these properties and then add in some more specific customizing terms, get back a list click SUBMIT and of matching content. It is just like doing you search, except that the Web a Web are searching is a discrete database. What is returned from the search can take many different forms: FrameMaker each organization the depends upon technical background of the team and Organizationstheir workload. lower with levels of technical proficiency higher and generally do better per capita workload with the first method. FIGURE 2 The most important of the aspect NOTE: The importance of thorough and “Organizations highly that implement There are two approaches to legacy ers who specialize in converting content. They do nothing else until the original body of required content has been put into the database. all the design team. Each member converts among their other documents duties, but at least a fixed minimum number of hours per week. The advantage of the first method is As with any complex operation, when there is a great deal of manual evalua- be done. tion that must chunking process people is to have the what doing the chunking UNDERSTAND they are This is best accomplished doing. by providing them with thorough training, support, and supervision. is Consistency Select a single process, train the key. everyone process in that and execute the process without exception. increasesconsistent content editing by several orders con- of magnitude when tent is entered into the database. Enter it wrong once... use it wrong many times. Michael Hughes says it best: configurable or customizable products need to rely on their software vendors to meet the early training needs of the plan- the degree that ners and technicians. To they wish to own or control product con- figuration, customization, and the ongoing support of those modifications, they also need to be prepared to invest in the staff development required to enable those capabilities.” content that are usually successful: • Identify a small select team of design- • Spread the conversion duties among that you generally obtain a more consistent conversion with fewer errors. The advantage of the second method is that you train your entire group in the XML also may database and process. You learn some things early on that allow you to modify the database or your processes so that they are more applicable to your training. there are advantages, there are also risks. The risk inherent in the first method is that it may result in a fully functional content base but with no one The second trained to use it properly. method risks creating a database with so many inconsistencies that it is practically useless. The correct method for DESIGN / strategies

in the beginning, than cutting and past- the hopper, press button A and a good Questions (FAQs) are the four most coming content, but once you get into your marketing document results. Press but- mon questions asked by seasoned stride, it becomes 10 times faster and ton B and you get a User Manual, and designers: easier to do your job. Even in a pure XML pressing button C creates the getting- • How will XML help me to tailor my environment, designers still find the abili- started pamphlet that goes in the box materials to meet the needs of my audi- ty to easily query the database invalu- with the product. The heart of multi- ence? able. sourcing is content reuse. When you are creating training now, if It should be noted here that no con- Until the advent of SGML, content you have a good, useful piece of content tent management system can stand in reuse was impractical — until the advent that speaks to the same point in another for the designer’s knowledge and under- of XML, content reuse was out of the class — don’t you copy and paste it in? standing of the corpus for which training reach of all but the largest organizations If you could do this more often, and is developed. XML has no real impact and institutions. But in the last 30 years, maintain the same quality of output, upon the analysis or discovery phases of tremendous advances have been made would you do it? We all do that, within new training development. XML is only a in content reuse technology to enable the body of our own work, and some- set of tools. Having the skills to manipu- multi-sourcing of documents. times from other authors, too. We use late those tools does not in and of itself Whenever the notion of content reuse our own documents as a source for result in training, any more than reading is raised, one hears the same kinds of reuse because we are intimately familiar a manual makes you an expert. objections voiced time and time again. with them. We know we can find that How the content is organized into new These kinds of questions are entirely typ- great paragraph we used to describe that instances is a question of authoring ical and a natural reaction to the concept weird thingamajig. More seasoned auth- tools, not XML. of content management and reuse. ors annotate their own works with notes Adopting an XML or other reuse system that help them find those good opportu- Multi-sourcing asks people who already know how to do nities to reuse content. If we work for Multi-sourcing has been the Holy Grail something well to change their process long enough with another designer who of the documentation industry for a gen- and to adopt methods they do not know. does the same, we can get so that we eration. Simply put: information goes in The following Frequently Asked can read each other’s notes and make

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FEBRUARY 12, 2004 Managing and Delivering High-Impact Synchronous e-Learning Acquire a comprehensive understand- The eLearning Guild has created The Guild Online Forum Series, a new series of online ing of how to manage and deliver syn- events that will be held throughout 2004. On the 2nd Thursday of every month (except chronous e-Learning. Discover how instructional design for the synchronous January) you can register to participate as an individual, or as a group, in a one-day “virtual environment differs from design for the conference” that includes four highly interactive seventy-five minute sessions designed to classroom or asynchronous e-Learning. explore a specific topic. Learn how to develop the skills needed to be an effective online trainer. Here’s how the Online Forums work: Target Audience: This Online Forum is geared for anyone who is exploring Individual or the acquisition and deployment of syn- Site Registration: chronous e-Learning technologies, and THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL Participate as an for those looking for ways to maximize / their current use of synchronous tech- individual or you nologies. can pay a site fee, set up your meeting room, and have your To learn more about each e-Learning team upcoming Online Forum participate in an and to register, go to: Online Forum as

FEBRUARY 2, 2004 a group! www.eLearningGuild.com 8 THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL / FEBRUARY 2, 2004 9 strategies Carl Sagan Our view of the possible is shaped by This section analyzes some of the Anyone who grew up in the typewriter 1. The RIGHT way — the way originally 2. The WRONG way — the way that 3. The OTHER way — the way that out- Communication is the unstated coreCommunication is the In its best form,XML content the ools epository can be a significant competi- T our tools. — common tools that can be used with the XML content reuse repository. There are many tools available and one size does not fit all. The choice of tools is an important one, because the tools will have the biggest and most immediate effect on the designers. For that reason, it is very important to include designers in the tool selection process. age might well be amazed at the layout, page formatting and document management capabilities of the current crop of software applications. As with all technology systems, there are prerequisites and agonizing revelations — and at least three ways to do something: envisioned by the developer and facilitated by the program. This way works best in the long run. someone found to make it work, because they didn’t know what the right way was. This way complicates editing and later revision of the material. wits the program and allows you to do something that should not be done, but Also, when the costs of implementing Also, when repositorythe content are spread among different organizations within the enterprise, a greater return on investment naturally occurs. competency of every successful business. When the information about its products, processes, policies and procedures to all associates, this is available has a unifying effect on all organizations Although the within the enterprise. process and deliverables of different organizations vary their tremendously, need for accurate and timely information is identical. r tive advantage to an enterprise, particularly one that operates in diverse mar- kets. In this sense, the economies and productivity conferredtraining to the organization are a byproduct of a larger benefit to the entire enterprise. DESIGN / In an enterprise environment, there No one would think of using typewrit- When these information sources are alone with MS-Word. ...it must be admitted ...it must will not that the best tools pro- make a poor designer training duce excellent good tools content. Really to camou- have been used It is cer- flage poor design. an incom- tainly easier for petent instructional designer to produce much poorer training deliverables with an XML content reuse system than when working printing technology allowed compositors to create multiple versions of documents by reusing the same printing plate sources in different permutations. Computers made practically anything possible, but only a comparatively tiny slice of the possible became routine. are many uses to which information is put. Some of those uses include documentation, training, knowledge-base applications and marketing. Traditionally, these disparate uses have all maintained their separate knowledge management environments. As a result, the information provided by these various sources is usually inconsistent — and in the worst case it results in considerable misinformation. ers and mimeographs for corporate communication anymore, although these were once ubiquitous. In the near future, single-source systems will seem just as antiquated. unified into a single repository from which all outputs derive, significant improvements in efficiency, consistency and overall quality of information result. All printed documents since Gutenberg • How can I leave out technical infor- • How can I leave out of a tool This becomes something • What prevents this from resulting in This is not a machine imitation of • What about the shifting voices of the Do you have more than one instruc- ou may collect the entire content for a einforce? Single-sourcing were multiple copies of a single original source (single-sourced documents) until quite late in the 20th century. Advanced more work as reuse use of each others’ like a in this sense, is content. XML, common form we of notes with which work so that we annotate each others’ can access it and reuse it, when that is the best thing to do. but include it in mation in one document, another? question. What are you authoring with? Y document and run through it, individualiz- cleaning up any ing it for this instance, transitions and outputting the result. Instead of copying and pasting text between documents, you are attaching document objects to one another like a jigsaw puzzle. Pieces that work well con- secutively have the right “shape” to fit They add up together, together that way. you edit them as needed and produce the finished product. documents that seem mechanized and impersonal? human communication. This is human beings using a system of shortcuts to make their work easier and more produc- tive. Certainly it can sound mechanized and artificial, but it doesn’t have to be so. When the same item or process is described identically in five different places in four different classes — is that mechanical or is it using repetition to r authors; won’t that cause confusion? tional designer on your staff now? Are your students confused by having to attend classes created by different people in isolation? When everyone else’s work is more available and when opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing are facilitated by the system, instead of being hampered by it, will that not help these different people find a more common voice. If you never sing in you never get the knack of sing- a choir, ing like everyone else. DESIGN / strategies

needs doing. This way has everything Word has no place in an enterprise XML wrong in common with the WRONG way, content reuse system. In this view, using with the added disadvantage that it may A structured docu- word processor technology to author con- actually make your application or their ment view for creating tent objects is counter-intuitive, ineffi- documents unstable. cient, and ineffective. Regardless, peo- Unfortunately for anyone who is facing valid XML, several different ple resist trading tools, even when they the prospect of converting documents have good reason to do so. Some dedi- from various formats to XML, there is a levels of styles, and the cated XML editors, such as Epic (see considerable amount more WRONG and below) even include filters to import OTHER than there is RIGHT out there to ability to discard excep- Word content to XML. Indeed, there has be converted. Computers are infinitely been a significant amount of effort to stupid and must be told precisely what tions to styles are three create robust, reliable conversion tools to do. In order for consistent content to for making XML extracts from Word docu- result from an automated conversion to of the most important ments. The newest generation of blend- XML, consistent base content must be features that impact XML. ed XML LCMSs, such as OutStart available. Evolution, includes an impressive Consistency in the use of content cre- For this reason, Adobe amount of bi-directional filtering of con- ation applications is not a hallmark of tent to and from MS-Word. most groups of instructional designers. FrameMaker is the WYSI- Some other Microsoft programs, such Designers on a deadline are pragmatic as PowerPoint, can be used to create and care more about making it work now WYG authoring tool of content and have very similar advan- than about finding out how to make it tages and disadvantages to Word. Other work right later. It is paradoxical that a choice for XML applications. Microsoft programs, such as Publisher or less intuitive tool, which requires more Front Page, pose another order of magni- instruction and has a steeper learning tude of difficulty in interoperating with curve, may be used more correctly and the tool bar, instead of applying a stan- content reuse systems. consistently than the naturally intuitive dard style to the text. Some Word users tool that everybody figures out for them- seem addicted to the space bar: instead Adobe and FrameMaker selves. of setting tabs appropriately, they achieve A structured document view for creat- their indents through the use of multiple ing valid XML, several different levels of Microsoft Word spaces. Word documents often contain styles, and the ability to discard excep- Microsoft Word is the ubiquitous tool revisions, highlighted text and complex tions to styles are three of the most that does not play well with others. It section breaking. This kind of formatting important features that impact XML. For has a long history of file format changes makes programmatic chunking very diffi- this reason, Adobe FrameMaker is the and inscrutable macros. Whether it can cult. WYSIWYG authoring tool of choice for be used in conjunction with an XML con- Because users seldom use Microsoft XML applications. FrameMaker 7.0 tent repository — and how well it can be Word properly, it is rarely possible to con- includes a wealth of features that make used — comes down to two things: vert Microsoft Word files to XML pro- authoring XML content much more effi- styles and templates. grammatically. Therefore, using Word cient and practical. There are direct To use Microsoft Word as an authoring decreases the productivity of the design- exports for both HTML and PDF docu- tool is certainly possible. It is a fairly ers. Word does not operate in a manner ment instances. Authoring in the struc- simple process to create an XSLT to con- consistent with structured documents. tured view provides designers with an vert XML content into a .doc or .rtf for- Using Word to author XML is like eating excellent means of understanding and mat so that it can be brought into Word. soup with a fork: you can do it, but it using FrameMaker to create valid XML For example, if you are working with an complicates things. documents. XML document instance, you can pro- It is also true that practically every A couple of points about valid XML cess that instance into .rtf format and new version of Microsoft Word incorpo- documents may be important to the send it to a reviewer who prefers to edit rates a plethora of undocumented reader’s understanding. Well-formed XML THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL in Word. The problem happens when that changes in the file format. Changes in conforms to the syntax rules of XML: it / review is returned to you and you wish to the format of the resulting Word files is tagged correctly. Valid XML is well- transfer those edits back into XML con- invalidate any programmatic automation formed XML that conforms to the data tent. that has been created. For this reason, structure defined in the DTD. All valid People quite often learn to use Word most XML content systems use the more content is well-formed. Not all well- by trial and error without instruction. stable, but less capable, .rtf format to formed content is valid. They seldom know how to use templates transfer files to and from Word. Adobe FrameMaker imports the XML or the styles they contain. When they Even though it is the most popular data elements into a template. That tem- FEBRUARY 2, 2004 want to have something in a different word-processing application on the plan- plate defines styles associated with the font or size, they apply that change from et, many people consider that Microsoft element definitions in the element defini- 10 THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL / FEBRUARY 2, 2004 11 Page-orient- Adobe Docu- strategies Adobe has many products and ser- epresenting the Adobe Document Ser- working environment, and it provides func- document management convenient tions from itself that within FrameMaker make many group simpler collaborations to manage. Adobe Document Server. ment Server supports cre- the dynamic ation of Adobe Acrobat from documents XML data retrievedXML data. By flowing from the XML database into document instance templates, you can generate formsdocuments and automated on instances and demand. These document forms can be highly complex, including graphics and audio to produce bi-fi multi- media presentations. Because they draw their content directly from the XML database, users always get the most current information. documents can In addition, draw upon multiple sourcespopulate to document instances: XML content, LMS and other server PeopleSoft, SAP, content can combine into a single document instance that the user receives. vices designed for XML-based solution environments. XML technology and Adobe software work together in a highly com- plementary fashion (See Figure 3, below, r ver solution implementation of XML). This is not an accident. Adobe InDesign and GoLive. ed software, used for brochures pre- and sentations, allows a lot of flexibility and precision in placing content on each page. Document-oriented software, used for manuals and other books, is intend- moreed for larger, complex documents DESIGN / Adobe FrameMaker Adobe Document Server solution implementation of XML available, for a fee. They have a available, for a fee. They emplates are the key. It is absolutely emplates are the key. FrameMaker server works with the T training resour-Adobe has extensive eal-time lookups of information from eally knows FrameMaker and its tem- FrameMaker and its eally knows FIGURE 3 great experience in implementing deal of an enterprise Adobe FrameMaker as tool. If your organization makes a top- level commitment to pursue an Adobe- enabled XML solution, you’ll find that the kind of support and expertise available from Adobe is unequaled elsewhere in the industry. FrameMaker Server. Server provides an opportunity to create a variety of dynamic documents. These documents, when accessed, perform r databases. This allows designers to access currentinformation in a printable form, which is a great advantage for customer-facing training that requires fre- quent updates. It also could impact dif- ferential training, allowing designers to fill in the blanks with volatile information, instead of constantly trying to keep up with maintenance changes. FrameMaker software on the desktop to provide more groupware solutions to enterprise publication challenges. It is designed for working in a distributed net- know that their content is not valid, they their content is not know that who to have someone handy may need r fix it. plates to help them necessary a dedicated Adobe to employ FrameMaker expert to create templates. Most organizations do this on a consult- the many Adobe ing basis with one of firms.FrameMaker consulting ces Adobe FrameMaker also exports into The downside of Adobe FrameMaker is Adobe FrameMaker can export files ebworks-generated source as an code elated print and online media. It can be equired learning materials if they are Once it is set up, designers must ectly. ent document, the user sees the final ent document, the user HTML output.) This is an option for training projects that rely extensively on inter- r easier to coordinate and publish the r developed as a single source project. The base content is available from the XML repository, either as FrameMaker files or directly as XML. Adobe Acrobat very well. Creating Acro- bat files with FrameMaker allows you to include a lot of advanced Acrobat features (such as bookmarks, different kinds of linking, different security modes, and so forth) directly in the FrameMaker document, rather than having to modify the resulting PDF with Acrobat later. Creating Acrobat files with other programs, such as Microsoft is much Word, less efficient, the advanced fea- unless tures of the Acrobat format are not needed. that all this additional capability comes at a cost: it is not really very intuitive, especially for designers who are accus- tomed to Microsoft It requires Word. spe- cialized technical expertise to set up cor- r be extensively trained in how to use users Many Word FrameMaker properly. are frustrated by the additional structure imposed by using XML. On the plus side, FrameMaker helps users to construct valid XML and informs them when their content is not valid. Of course, once they tion document (EDD). (The EDD is the (EDD). (The EDD tion document imported used by copy of the DTD con- to validate the XML FrameMaker it is not neces- tent.) This means that together sary XML and XSLT to parse the to resulta formatted in in- document is created,stance. As the document by adding structural components to the cur- r format of their document. This only you aremakes sense when using Frame- tool. Other- Maker as your publication sees is only the wise, what the author best approximation the XML programmer the normal of can make with an XSLT output from FrameMaker styles. directly to HTML. (See through Webworks the notation under Dreamweaver — later in this article — about working with W DESIGN / strategies

where management of cross-references, e-Learning. The combination of Web- indices and other features is more works and FrameMaker works best for important. The big advantage document-based learning, where a large Adobe InDesign is page-oriented soft- of Dreamweaver is that volume of information must be provided ware that includes built-in, extensible to the student as reference material. support for importing and exporting XML many people feel comfort- The big advantage of Macromedia files. InDesign also allows you to export Dreamweaver is that many people feel pages directly to Adobe GoLive 6.0 to able with it. It is another comfortable with it. It is another learning use in dynamically generating Web step, but a relatively easy one to under- pages. It supports Scalable Vector learning step, but a rela- stand how to import and export XML in Graphics (SVG) and sharing of native Dreamweaver. Again, it is of paramount Photoshop and Illustrator files and it can tively easy one to under- importance that the templates into which share these with GoLive. Through its stand how to import and XML is imported are used verbatim. It is tagged Adobe PDF support, InDesign a very good idea to have those tem- exports graphically sophisticated eBooks export XML in Dreamweaver. plates generated by expert consultants if that can be viewed on different devices. sufficient Dreamweaver-specific expert- InDesign also supports Adobe Extensible Again, it is of paramount ise does not exist in your organization. Metadata Platform (XMP) for embedding Authorware and Flash. It is perfectly metadata in documents. importance that the tem- possible to create learning objects in Because it is a page-oriented develop- Flash or Authorware and store them in ment tool, as opposed to document-ori- plates into which XML is the XML repository. It is usually a good ented, Adobe InDesign is a good choice idea to break up longer Flash and for small (two- to five-page) documents imported are used verbatim. Authorware segments into scenes. In where consistent look and feel is very this way you can reuse particular content important: marketing materials, offer without having to modify a large, compli- briefs, and so forth. Many users find one may have extensive experience cre- cated segment when only part of it is FrameMaker difficult to use in smaller, ating Web content with Dreamweaver but desired. graphics intense documents. InDesign not have a clue about using templates. Dreamweaver’s WYSIWYG editor is, as can be an excellent alternative. Arbortext Epic Editor. Unlike other text noted above, imprecise and you cannot Adobe GoLive is Adobe’s competitor editors that have been stretched to fit make many edits without having re- for Macromedia Dreamweaver. It does the function of authoring XML content, course to the source code. Templates just about everything that Dreamweaver Arbortext Epic Editor was designed from are very important. Dreamweaver uses does, only a little differently. What it the ground up as an XML editor. It han- templates much in the way that Frame- does not do as well as Dreamweaver is dles a broad range of applications and Maker does to add format to XML con- integrate as well with Authorware and does a good job of providing an editing tent. Dreamweaver imports XML into Flash. Both GoLive and Dreamweaver will interface for XML content. The user inter- templates and generates HTML directly. send you scurrying into the source code face is user friendly, but not at all like Dreamweaver also exports XML content, at edit time. The WYSIWYG editing mode the standard WYSIWYG document editing which is efficient for people who like to is very nice and handy, but it is madden- environment. Like Adobe FrameMaker, it work in HTML, but want the advantages ingly imprecise. If lo-fi Web development is a groupware product that is specific- of an XML repository. is practically all your output, then GoLive ally optimized to handle: NOTE: Dreamweaver does a good job may be an excellent choice, particularly • Content collaboratively written and of exporting the editable portions of tem- if you are wishing to integrate more maintained by teams of authors work- plates as XML. However, it only checks closely with print-deliverable development ing in multiple authoring languages. whether the content is well-formed XML, using FrameMaker. If hi-fi Web content is • Content created in reusable compo- not whether it is valid XML. the majority of your online offering, then nents independent of their formatting, HTML generated by Webworks from Dreamweaver has the edge in integrating stored in content management reposi- Adobe FrameMaker files may not behave with Flash and Authorware. tories, and dynamically assembled on THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL well in Macromedia Dreamweaver, as demand. / Macromedia Dreamweaver. For online noted earlier in the section “Adobe and • Content personalized for specific audi- content, Macromedia Dreamweaver is FrameMaker.” Dreamweaver has less tol- ences and formatted for delivery on one of the most popular WYSIWYG HTML erance of HTML code that it interprets as multiple media: Web, CD-ROM, print editors. Unfortunately, like Microsoft badly-formed XML. (HTML is well-formed and wireless. Word, it is often misused. Many people when it conforms to the syntax of the • Content automation based on systems learn Dreamweaver by using it, without version of HTML supplied in the docu- and software that are easily cus- any training. Like Word, Dreamweaver ment definition.) It should be noted that tomized and that leverage the broad- FEBRUARY 2, 2004 has many buttons and widgets that are using Adobe FrameMaker to write HTML est available support for XML and convenient, but don’t result in very good results in Web sites that lack many of related standards. 12 or consistent HTML. For example, some- the features needed for richly interactive THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL / FEBRUARY 2, 2004 13 ✔✔ strategies ✔✔✔ ✔✔✔ ✔✔✔ ✔✔✔ ✔✔ ✔✔✔ In addition to the commercial offerings NOTE: This section is more technically Unlike an HTML editor, such as such HTML editor, Unlike an be integrated as XMetaL is intended to ✔✔ ✔✔ Open Source Tools Open Source Tools from vendors in the XML tools market- place, there is a considerable body of other tools that have been produced to support SGML and XML content management by the academic and open source communities. view of the document on screen.view of the tag that works with a fixed HoTMetaL, to be used with set, XMetaL is meant any DTD and therefore requires cus- will need a cascading tomization. You cases a set of style sheet and in most macros for data entry new DTD. for each XMetaL supports the Windows Scripting you can write Host, which means that VBScript, Perl or scripts in JavaScript, Python to process or to XML documents create data entry custom interfaces. a component of a broader XML solution, such as a content management system. 1.2 adds a built-in XSLT The new Version transformation engine. DESIGN / ✔✔✔✔ ✔✔ ✔ ✔ ✔✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔✔✔ ✔ ✔✔✔ ✔✔ ✔ FM ID/GL DW AT XM OS FM ID/GL DW AT XM OS FM ID/GL DW AT XM OS rd rd rd ✔✔ ✔ ✔✔ ✔✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔✔ ✔ ✔✔ ✔✔ ✔ ✔✔✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔✔✔ ✔✔✔ ✔✔ ✔✔ ✔✔ Wo Wo Wo Corel is part XMetaL of Summary (refer of tools to abbreviations, left of table) technical

ry ell-formed XML ABLE 2 alid XML support raining required raining available Arbortext best of a Epic Editor is the T Disadvantage Advantage Primary output Paper Web Other online XML V W WYSIWYG XML training Costly Extensive prep required Conversions required Inefficient Not an XML application Steep learning curve T Uncertain future Ve Documentation Format conversion LMS integration Native XML Online Help Support available T epresentation of their output. Given that for the same return.for the same editors that have series of content most out of XML attempted to get the structure,a visual allowing users to see r XML and the the designer understands learning content, Epic can out-perform for importingFrameMaker as a tool and creating content. The Epic editor is new very by LCMS vendors often imitated that work in structured for- document mats. Corel XMetaL. a suite of XML applications. It is an advanced structured editor that is relatively easy to use and highly customizable for applications based on well-known DTDs. It provides three views of an XML document: a plain-text view in which you can view the underlying XML code; a tags-on view in which elements are represented as symbols in a formatted document; and a normal displays the for- view that matted document and hides the markup. XMetaL supports use of cascading style sheets (CSS) to control the formatted able 2, right, provides a quick refer- T version, some features available at additional cost. Server + Adobe Document Manager combination aggregate installations for occasionally discon- installations and throughnected users, server- by Web based installations accessed browsers for users who are connected full-time. Out of the box, Arbortext Epic Editor Arbortext offers separate products for This E-content Engine is an off-the- Summary of tools ence for some of the important tools that have been discussed in this section. The following abbreviations are 2: used in Table — Microsoft• Word current Word, XP • FM — Adobe FrameMaker + FM • ID/GL — Adobe InDesign/GoLive • DW — Macromedia Dreamweaver — Arbortext• AT Editor • XM — XMetaL • OS — Open Source tools, in • Content creation• Content through client-based and WebDAV- works with file systems enabled repositories, and has config- Oracle urable adapters for Documentum, CM SDK (formerly named iFS), and Services.FileNet Panagon Content Arbortext’s other repository partners pro- including Editor, vide adapters to Epic Enterprise, BroadVision One-To-One empolis SigmaLink, Progressive 2000, Target Information Technologies and XyEnterprise Content. content conversion and publishing. The Enterprise E-Content Engine (E3) converts content from Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker and Interleaf documents to XML, and publishes dynamic or wire- and Web content to print or PDF, publish to CD-ROM, Arbortextless. To offers the CD-ROM Composer. shelf parser that can be used to automate many different kinds of legacy chunking operations. It does not work miracles: nothing will correctly parse badly formatted Microsoft files. Word That process requires human interven- tion and exercise of good judgment. it does provide to the enter- However, prise a tool the equal of, or better than, many learning content parsers that typi- cally require a much higher investment DESIGN / strategies

oriented than the preceding sections. In dering. It is usable with any XML docu- • Arsdigita CMS — A powerful content general, open source solutions require a ment and features tables, lists, images, management system. It has a task list more technically oriented user. To make special characters, clipboard, undo, for production staff to track assign- up for this, they may contain extremely redo, and easy customization. ments and the status of current work powerful features that are not available • Ektron eWebEditPro+XML — A brows- items; a site map browser to view and in other products at any price, let alone er-based XML word processor-like edi- organize pages and content items and for free. Many Open Source software tor that enables business users to determine access control to branches solutions are available without acquisi- apply XML to Web content. It provides of the site; a standard interface for tion cost, though the real cost of owner- a user layer between the XML tags creating, editing, approving, and ship may be considerably higher. themselves and user actions. Scripting deploying content items; a template Some examples of Open Source tools and commands work together to con- manager for creating, editing, and include: trol which tags the user has access organizing presentation templates and • Bitflux Editor — A browser-based WYSI- to, and where the tags can be used. related assets; a metadata manager WYG XML editor written in JavaScript Business users will not realize they for viewing and defining content types that uses XML, XSLT, and CSS for ren- are working with XML tags, but instead and associations; a category browser think they are working within a set of for managing a hierarchy of subject SIDEBAR Definitions content parameters, definitions, or headings that may be applied to con- rules. Customization is required to tent items; and administrative and Taxon — A taxon is a category of implement the DTD and produce valid management tools for creating and information. An internally consistent XML, but once this is done, there is lit- editing user attributes and tracking collection of taxons constitutes a tle need for further integration. global work flow statistics. taxonomy. • GenDoc (formerly GenDiapo) — An • OpenLMS — A LMS made at the XML editor based on an existing proj- Department of Geography, Norwegian Open Source solution — An open ect, MerlotXML. It can use two kinds University of Science and Technology source application is one in which of plug-ins (DTD and/or action). The (NTNU). The system is a fully function- you have access to every line of DTD plug-in can be used to customize al LMS with support for group collabo- code. If you have the expertise, you the editor for a DTD, and an action ration, file sharing, distribution of lec- can modify it in whatever way is nec- plug-in can be used to publish docu- tures, and other supporting features. essary for your own purposes, ments in HTML or PDF format. The edi- It is a good tool for distributing lecture rather than bartering with a vendor tor is composed of three views: tree notes to groups of students, and for to get changes implemented sec- view, attribute view for current ele- facilitating collaboration for groups of ond-hand. ment, and a “styled view.” The aim of students and teachers. COTS — Commercial Off-The-Shelf styled view is to show the document • Moodle — A LMS for producing ISO — International Standards with a visual aspect. Internet-based course Web sites. It is Organization. This is a network of • Morphon XML-Editor — A validating written in PHP and is easy to install national standards institutes from WYSIWYG XML editor that lets you cre- and use on Linux, Windows, and Mac 147 countries working in partner- ate and modify XML documents in an OS X. It has been designed to support ship with international organizations, intuitive manner. Using DTDs and CSS, modern pedagogies based on social governments, industry, business, the editor guarantees the integrity of constructionist theory, and includes and consumer representatives. It is your XML documents and presents activity modules such as forums, a bridge between public and private them in a consistent and user-friendly resources, journals, quizzes, surveys, sectors. way. The XML editor is bundled with choices, and assignments. It has been the Morphon CSS Editor that can be translated into 30 languages, with Bi-fi — This term refers to selec- used to customize your CSS, allowing more on the way. Moodle offers a free table low-fidelity/thin bandwidth or you to change every aspect of the way alternative to commercial software high-fidelity/wide bandwidth distrib- the XML editor presents your docu- such as WebCT and Blackboard, and uted content. ment while editing. The CSS editor can is being used by a growing number of

THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL Lo-fi and hi-fi Web content — Lo-fi also be used stand-alone to directly universities, schools, and independent / Web content is primarily text with a create CSS for the Web. teachers for distance education or to few graphics and moderate interac- • exchanger — The eXchaNGeR XML supplement face-to-face teaching. tion; it is suitable for thin client browser is a browser and editor frame- • And many more — see http://fresh- delivery. Hi-fi Web content is highly work, written in Java, that visualizes meat.net and search topic Learning graphical with strong user-interac- elements in a XML document. The Management. tion; video, Flash, and Authorware user can browse through and manage (Editor’s note: The third and final arti- content are hi-fi. the visible elements in the document cle in this series will be published in The

FEBRUARY 2, 2004 with external services, or make Journal on February 16, 2004.) WebDAV — Web-based Distributed changes to the content of the XML Authoring and Versioning document with the built-in XML editor. 14 THE ELEARNING DEVELOPERS’ JOURNAL / FEBRUARY 2, 2004 15 are honored to have their active

esources and they can also post esources at any time! esearch service that conducts sur- It’s About Leadership The Guild draws leadership from an amazing Advisory Board up of made individuals who provide insight and guidance to help ensure that the Guild serves its constituency well. We Discounts, Discounts, Discounts Guild Members receive discounts on all Guild conferences and on other selected products and services. Your Guild membership will save you 20% off the list price of Guild events! Become a member today! Join online at www.eLearningGuild.com. Resources, Resources, Resources, Resources e-LearningThe Guild hosts the industry’s most comprehensive resource Currentlyknowledge database. there are over 4,500 resourcesavailable. to all of these Members have access r r Guild Research The Guild has an ongoing industry r veys on a variety of topics each year. These topics are identified by the Research Committee. The data col- lected is available for all Members. engagement and participation. The Guild has also established two com- mittees made up of active members who help steer its events program and research efforts. is a eople Connecting With People P The Guild provides a variety of online member networking tools including an Information Exchange and a Job Board. services These enable members to discuss topics of importance, to ask others to help them find information they need, and to provide leads to other members. The Guild publishes the only online “e-Journal” in the e-Learning industry that is focused on delivering real world “how to make it happen in your organization” information. The Journal is published weekly and features articles written by both industry expertsmembers who work and every day in environments just like you will yours. As an active member, have unlimited access to the Journal archive. The eLearning Developers’ Journal™ The eLearning Guild™ for design- Community of Practice managers of ers, developers, and e-Learning. Through this member-driv- we provide high-quality en community, learning opportunities, networking services, resources, publica- and representtions. Community members a diverse group of instructional designers, content developers, Web developers, project con- managers, tractors, consultants, and managers and directors of training and learning services whom share — all of a common interest in e-Learning design, development, and management. About the Guild the About . Wiley, Journal of XML Performance Improve- Henry Meyerding is an with instructional designer, experience in the telecom- munications and software in industries. Trained Engineering, Henry’s career . http://www.adobe.com/ , 2001. Safeco Resource Directory. , 42(6):37-40, July 2003. Horton, William and Horton, Katherine. Hughes, Michael. “Keeping just-in-time fromHughes, Michael. “Keeping ISO Online. “International Organization for Paille, Gerry; Norman, Solvig Prescott; Adobe. “Adobe solutions for document gen- solutions for document Adobe. “Adobe Adobe. Daly, Paul and Watchorn, Helen. “Word and Helen. “Word and Watchorn, Paul Daly, ework of documentation masquerading as gradually changed from doing engineering to explaining to others what engineering had accomplished. More than fifteen years in the field of technical documentation provided many lessons in information systems, most of them relevant to learning design. The focus of Henry’s career came to center on instructional design largely through participation in r training, so that it turned into actual training. He found that he enjoyed working with students to overcome obstacles to learning and as a result Henry has concentrated on developing blended learning solutions. He lives in with his wife and four children. Sultan, WA After being outsourced for the second time to the same outsourcing firm, he is currently seeking other opportunities and working on a book project to explain practical instructional design theory and method to technical docu- mentators. Contact Henry by email: [email protected]. Indianapolis, IN, 2003. Indianapolis, IN, 2003. being way-too-little.” Additional information on the topics covered in this article is also listed in the Guild AUTHOR CONTACT Standardization.” ISO Online Web Site, 2003. Standardization.” ISO Online Web Klassen, John Maxwell. “The Effect of Using Structured (SGML) in Instructional Documents Design.” http://naweb.unb.ca/proceed- ings/1999/paille/paille.html, February, 1999. E-Learning Tools and Technologies E-Learning Tools REFERENCES eration.” http://www.adobe.com/products/ server/pdfs/document_generation_wp.pdf, December 2003. financial/pdfs/safeco.pdf, March,financial/pdfs/safeco.pdf, 2003. meet.” XML: Making the ‘twain ment Europe 2001