Re: Courses

[Robert Hopcroft <hopcroft@uswest.net>]

Roman wrote:

>  What we could do is come up with a template combining whatever technologies
> would be necessary to turn something like this into a good multimedia
> presentation - I could do this.
>
> I think perhaps a few interactive activities aimed at testing comprehension
> could well be added to this sort of thing - especially for younger ones.
>
> At primary level the good thing is - you don't need that much data so it'd
> be quite easy to do.
>
> So if we come up with a template a sort of structured book browser in a web
> browser idea.
>
> Then come up with a list of topics and what ages they're aimed at. Then
> people could collect data and write it up - Images, text files in whatever
> formats they're used to working in -html, word, corel draw, JPEG, BMP etc.
> and then this could be converted to be web-ready.
>
> Then just drop in the data into the nice interface and there you have a list
> of topic related interactive books all with a similar interface. Sort of, if
> you want information just add water kind of idea - if you know what I mean.
>
> I might take a chapter from this and put an interface around it as an
> experiment some time this week. If I do this I'll post it up at our site and
> people can give me feedback. I'll check it's licence first though.
>
> I also thought - my idea in a previous mail for a first wordprocessor that
> could be used for sorting/sequencing work and presentations. When I write it
> (I'll do this one myself since I know exactly what I want to do with it)
> I'll do a Java reader as well as a standalone one then the pupils and
> teachers could publish their work to an intranet.

It seems to me that there are two issues here. I'll call them content and
delivery. The first "content" pertains to the "what", while the second
"delivery" pertains to the "how". Considering the content, I feel one has to
look at things from the teacher's
perspective, namely getting the students from one level of achivement to the
next. Therefore one has to know what a student must accomplish. Doug is trying
to find out what software is being used in this regard. However I keep coming
back to the thought that the key thing is not the software but the skills that
must be mastered. For example, keyboarding is taught from the first day of
school to the last. Over the first few years the students are taught to
correctly use more and more of the keyboard.
After that they are required to be able to correctly type more and more words
per minute each year. Once one has the skill requirements, one can devise a way
to deliver whether it be through standard computer software or through some
other means such as you describe above. A final thought, using your scheme a
chemistry text could show a periodic table which is the interface to gperiodic.

Bob