SIMPLIFIED COURSEWARE AUTHORING SYSTEM

COMPUTER ASSISTED INSTRUCTION (CAI) HAS YET TO KEEP ITS PROMISE. IT IS FREQUENTLY POORLY CONCEIVED, INADEQUATELY DEVELOPED, AND OFTEN IRRELEVANT TO REAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS. WORSE, MOST COURSEWARE FAILS TO UTILIZE RECENT ADVANCES IN COMPUTER SIMULATION AND MODELING, AND GRAPHIC TECHNOLOGIES AND THUS, REMAINS ROOTED IN THE PAST. GIVEN THEIR POSITION ON THE FRON LINES OF EDUCATION, TEACHERS ARE AN IDEAL SOURCEFOR GOOD COURSEWARE, BUT CURRENT METHODS FOR CREATING INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS ARE COMPLEX, AND THEIR USE REQUIRES MUCH EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING. THIS IS A PROPOSAL FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN EASY-TO-USE, AUTOMATED COURSEWARE GENERATOR. THIS AUTHORING SYSTEM WILL ALLOW EDUCATORS TO CREATE EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE WITHOUT PRIOR TRAINING OR EXPERIENCE -- LITERALLY, THE FIRST TIME THEY USEIT. THE SYSTEM WILL CREATE SOURCE PROGRAMS IN A NEARLY UNIVERSAL OPERATING SYSTEM AND LANGUAGE, AND WILL RUN ON EXTREMELY INEXPENSIVE MICROCOMPUTERS. THE DESIGN IS HIGHLY ORIGINAL. IT IS CAPABLE OF TRUE SIMULATION OF OBJECTS AND IDEAS OVER A BROAD RANGE OF SUBJECT MATTER, EFFORTLESS CREATION OF GRAPHICS, AND COMPLETE PICTORIAL TRANSFORMATIONS.