From content to courseware: through a looking glass

The authors consider the foundation of the courseware development environment to be a resource library. A large-scale, robust resource database with object-oriented subject classification and task-oriented access layers can well address the needs of the main dimensions of courseware design. As a resource library it is to help in the selection and the design of representations, presentations and interactions. In addition to the created and curated object collections, a template library of presentations and interactions is an integral part of the proposed resource library. The courseware development process the authors followed consisted of the design and implementation of one building block in an imaginary, computer-based, interactive medical teaching system for patient education, a lecture on breast diseases. One result of the analysis of this process is a set of functional specifications for the first iteration of a local resource library. The resource repository (resource library) offers different functionalities during the different stages of courseware development