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1.1     ! bowersj2    1: \label{Guts_Authoring}
        !             2: \subsection{Content Re-usage and Granularity}
        !             3: 
        !             4: Any faculty participating in the Network can publish their own learning
        !             5: resources into the common pool. To that end, the Network provides
        !             6: a {}``construction space''\index{construction space} which is only
        !             7: accessible to the author, and a publication process, which transfers
        !             8: the material to the shared pool. During the publication process, metadata
        !             9: about the resource is gathered, and system-wide update notification
        !            10: and versioning mechanisms are triggered.
        !            11: 
        !            12: Learning resources could be simple paragraphs of text, movies, applets,
        !            13: individualizing homework problems, etc. In addition to providing a
        !            14: distributed digital library with mechanisms to store and catalog these
        !            15: resources, the Network enables faculty to combine and sequence these
        !            16: resources at several levels: An instructor from Community College
        !            17: \textbf{A} could combine a text paragraph from University \textbf{B}
        !            18: with a movie from College \textbf{C} and an online homework problem
        !            19: from Publisher \textbf{D}, to form one page. Another instructor from
        !            20: High School \textbf{E} can take that page from Community College \textbf{A}
        !            21: and combine it with other pages into a module, unit or chapter. Those
        !            22: in turn can be combined into whole coursepacks. Faculty can design
        !            23: their own curricula from existing and newly created resources instead
        !            24: of having to buy into a complete off-the-shelf product.
        !            25: 
        !            26: %
        !            27: \begin{figure}
        !            28: \begin{center}\includegraphics[%
        !            29:   width=0.55\paperwidth,bb = 0 0 200 100, draft, type=eps]{Resource_Assembly}\end{center}
        !            30: 
        !            31: 
        !            32: \caption{Resource Assembly}
        !            33: \end{figure}
        !            34: Fig. {}``Resource Assembly'' shows a general overview of the resource
        !            35: assembly mechanism and the different levels of content granularity
        !            36: supported by the current implementation of this principle. The topmost
        !            37: puzzle piece represents a resource at the fragment level - one GIF,
        !            38: one movie, one paragraph of text, one problem, or one regular web
        !            39: page. Attached to the resource is metadata gathered at the publication
        !            40: time of the resource.
        !            41: 
        !            42: Using the resource assembly tool described below, these fragments
        !            43: and pages can be assembled into a page. A {}``page'' is a resource
        !            44: or collection of resources that would be seen as one web page, or
        !            45: printed as one unit.
        !            46: 
        !            47: Using the same tool, fragments (which would then be rendered as standalone
        !            48: pages), pages and other sequences can be assembled into sequences.
        !            49: Sequences are resources which are rendered a sequence of pages, not
        !            50: necessarily linear. Examples are one lesson, one chapter, or one learning
        !            51: cycle.
        !            52: 
        !            53: On the third granularity level, fragments (rendered as standalone
        !            54: pages), pages, and sequences can be assembled into courses. Courses
        !            55: are a sequence which represents the entirety of the resources belonging
        !            56: to a learning unit into which learners can be enrolled. Examples are
        !            57: a University one-semester course, a workshop, or a High School class.
        !            58: 
        !            59: 
        !            60: \subsection{Maps}
        !            61: 
        !            62: To increase the utility of the materials, the number of hard-coded
        !            63: hyperlinks between the resources should be minimized. The actual combining
        !            64: and sequencing is part of the system functionality and driven by external
        !            65: \char`\"{}roadmaps\char`\"{}, which are constructed by the instructors.
        !            66: With this mechanism, one and the same resource can be part of different
        !            67: courses in different contexts. The soft-linking makes it possible
        !            68: to import only the desired set of resources without effectively importing
        !            69: additional parts another instructors resources through hard-linked
        !            70: menus or \char`\"{}next page\char`\"{} buttons that might resided
        !            71: on those resources.
        !            72: 
        !            73: 
        !            74: \subsection{Cirriculum Adaptivity}
        !            75: 
        !            76: Maps allow for conditional choices and branching points. The actual
        !            77: path through and presentation of the learning resources is determined
        !            78: by instructor-specified combinations of learner choices and system-generated
        !            79: adaptations (for example, if the learner does not pass a test, additional
        !            80: resources may be included). Each learner can have an individualized
        !            81: curriculum according to preferences, capabilities and skills.
        !            82: 
        !            83: These maps can be generated at different levels of granularity with
        !            84: a graphical tool, or in an automated way through custom scripts.
        !            85: 
        !            86: 
        !            87: \subsection{Resource Assembly Tools}
        !            88: 
        !            89: LON-CAPA provides several tools to facilitate assembling resources
        !            90: together, with varying levels of sophistication, depending on the
        !            91: skill level of the user. It is worth observing that while creating
        !            92: a complicated sequence with a high degree of adaptivity may be challenging
        !            93: for some users, because LON-CAPA resources can be so easily re-used,
        !            94: it need only be done once by one person to be useful to many, many
        !            95: instructors.
        !            96: 
        !            97: The full assembly tool, which is capable of creating sequences with
        !            98: all of the advanced functionality discussed above, is called the Advanced
        !            99: Resource Assembly Tool. To read about it from the user's point of
        !           100: view, see the Author's Manual (available in your LON-CAPA installation
        !           101: at \texttt{http://your-server.com/adm/help/author.manual.pdf}, or
        !           102: if you do not have a LON-CAPA install, at \texttt{http://msu.loncapa.org/adm/help/author.manual.pdf}),
        !           103: in the {}``Creating a Simple .sequence with the Advanced Editor''
        !           104: section.
        !           105: 
        !           106: A simpler resource assembly tool can be used in the common case where
        !           107: an assembler merely wishes to string other resources together into
        !           108: one unit. This can be seen in the Author's Manual in the {}``Creating
        !           109: a Simple .sequence with the Simple Editor'' section.
        !           110: 
        !           111: Finally, the \textbf{DOCs} interface allows course instructors to
        !           112: perform certain manipulations of the course's content while it is
        !           113: running. Information about this from the user's point of view can
        !           114: be found in the Course Management manual, in the {}``Course Documents
        !           115: Screen'' chapter.
        !           116: 
        !           117: