Learning Content Production: Acquisition, Structuring, Representation, and Management (paper)

Keywords: E-learning, quality assessment in distance education, collaborative learning, web-based courseware, educational multimedia Abstract: This paper offers a pragmatic approach to the production of learning content. A production-cycle for learning content consists of four activities: acquisition, structuring, representation, and management. Based on our experience in a postgraduate educational program, employing web-based courseware, we show the challenges of and indicate solution strategies for each of these activities. Based on the generalized language XML, the underlying activity of the project is the development of a dynamic Learning Content Management System (dLCMS). The dLCMS employs a set of so-called learning objects. Learning objects are reusable components that can be combined in different ways to produce new courseware. Drawing on domain-specific knowledge and employing the dLCMS, we explore ways to integrate such learning objects into efficient and user-friendly educational multimedia