Developing educational content for the Web: Issues and ideas

Abstract

In November 1995, the OLTC (Open Learning Technology Corporation) commissioned the principal author of this paper, to create a presence on the Web for delivery of educational content, to be published and disseminated via the EdNA (Educational Network of Australia), and administered by DEET (Department of Education, Employment and Training), to be on-line sometime in April, 1996. The project has now been completed, except for the quality assurance cycle, (to be finalised in March-April 1996). The OLTC provided a three month time span for the writing of the project (December 1995-February 1996).

The scope of the completed work, entitled Learning with software: Pedagogy and practices., is similar to that of a traditional book, whilst issues of content, delivery and user navigation have been of prime consideration in its creation. The intention was to provide access to a expandable knowledge base for teacher's professional development in the area of information technology pedagogy and practices. The content was not available in other forms, and necessitated delivery of different forms of knowledge-- experiential, empirical (research based) and theoretical. The Web was chosen as the delivery medium primarily for its ubiquity and insignificant publication costs; however, it was not chosen for its instructional effectiveness; nor was it chosen as an ideal medium for carrying experiential, empirical and theoretical forms of knowledge. In this context, the Web was found to be restricting, despite its ever-developing capacity to carry multimedia materials and information.

In using the Web to deliver any form of content, we have to be aware of the potential as well as the limitations of this medium to provide access to an original knowledge base, for multiple readers or users. Empirical and theoretical knowledge can be communicated as with the publication of traditional reference materials, with accessibility provided by keyword searches, browsing, and hierarchical and semantic linking. Much of the experiential knowledge might be represented as narrative, since this type of knowledge largely originates in story form. Yet narrative derives its usefulness as a means of communication from associative processes--how does one narrate stories about experiences so that they have meaning for all types of readers, whatever their cultural background or geographical location? More importantly, how does one represent narrative, a linear and cohesive genre, in a medium that typically encourages hypertexts and the breaking down of information into separate, discrete and disparate parts? Moreover, an experiential knowledge base is by definition, extensible and volatile--it is apt to change, grow and be subject to redundancy. The discussion of these and other issues and questions form the basis of this paper.

Keywords