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1.1       bowersj2    1: \label{Guts_Authoring}
                      2: \subsection{Content Re-usage and Granularity}
                      3: 
1.2       bowersj2    4: % Replace this with stuff from LyX
                      5: 
                      6: {}``Resources''\index{resources} are the atomic unit of content in
                      7: LON-CAPA. Learning resources could be simple paragraphs of text,
                      8: movies, applets, individualizing homework problems, etc. Any faculty
1.3     ! lira        9: member can use their {}``authoring space''\index{authoring
1.2       bowersj2   10: space} to create or upload their resources, either into the common
                     11: pool or with highly selective access controls.
                     12: 
                     13: LON-CAPA was designed from the beginning to support collaboration and
                     14: using resources that may be distributed all across the planet. For
                     15: each resource in the LON-CAPA network, LON-CAPA track metadata about
                     16: that resource, provides versioning of the resource, and provides
                     17: automatic subscription and change notification mechanisms. Thus, you
                     18: can freely use resources from other institutions, and you can either
                     19: tell LON-CAPA to always give you a given version of a resource if
                     20: you're happy with it, or allow the system to automatically propagate
                     21: changes to you.
                     22: 
                     23: For example, an instructor from Community College \textbf{A} could
                     24: combine a text paragraph from University \textbf{B} with a movie from
                     25: College \textbf{C} and an online homework problem from Publisher
                     26: \textbf{D}, to form one page. Another instructor from High School
                     27: \textbf{E} can take that page from Community College \textbf{A} and
                     28: combine it with other pages into a module, unit or chapter. Those in
                     29: turn can be combined into whole course packs. Faculty can design their
                     30: own curricula from existing and newly created resources instead of
                     31: having to buy into a complete off-the-shelf product.
1.1       bowersj2   32: 
                     33: %
                     34: \begin{figure}
                     35: \begin{center}\includegraphics[%
1.2       bowersj2   36:   width=0.55\paperwidth]{Resource_Assembly}\end{center}
1.1       bowersj2   37: 
                     38: 
                     39: \caption{Resource Assembly}
                     40: \end{figure}
                     41: Fig. {}``Resource Assembly'' shows a general overview of the resource
                     42: assembly mechanism and the different levels of content granularity
                     43: supported by the current implementation of this principle. The topmost
                     44: puzzle piece represents a resource at the fragment level - one GIF,
                     45: one movie, one paragraph of text, one problem, or one regular web
                     46: page. Attached to the resource is metadata gathered at the publication
                     47: time of the resource.
                     48: 
                     49: Using the resource assembly tool described below, these fragments
                     50: and pages can be assembled into a page. A {}``page'' is a resource
                     51: or collection of resources that would be seen as one web page, or
                     52: printed as one unit.
                     53: 
1.2       bowersj2   54: Using the same tool, fragments (which would then be rendered as stand alone
1.1       bowersj2   55: pages), pages and other sequences can be assembled into sequences.
                     56: Sequences are resources which are rendered a sequence of pages, not
                     57: necessarily linear. Examples are one lesson, one chapter, or one learning
                     58: cycle.
                     59: 
1.2       bowersj2   60: On the third granularity level, fragments (rendered as stand alone
1.1       bowersj2   61: pages), pages, and sequences can be assembled into courses. Courses
                     62: are a sequence which represents the entirety of the resources belonging
                     63: to a learning unit into which learners can be enrolled. Examples are
                     64: a University one-semester course, a workshop, or a High School class.
                     65: 
                     66: 
                     67: \subsection{Maps}
                     68: 
                     69: To increase the utility of the materials, the number of hard-coded
                     70: hyperlinks between the resources should be minimized. The actual combining
                     71: and sequencing is part of the system functionality and driven by external
                     72: \char`\"{}roadmaps\char`\"{}, which are constructed by the instructors.
                     73: With this mechanism, one and the same resource can be part of different
                     74: courses in different contexts. The soft-linking makes it possible
                     75: to import only the desired set of resources without effectively importing
                     76: additional parts another instructors resources through hard-linked
                     77: menus or \char`\"{}next page\char`\"{} buttons that might resided
                     78: on those resources.
                     79: 
                     80: 
1.2       bowersj2   81: \subsection{Curriculum Adaptivity}
1.1       bowersj2   82: 
                     83: Maps allow for conditional choices and branching points. The actual
                     84: path through and presentation of the learning resources is determined
                     85: by instructor-specified combinations of learner choices and system-generated
                     86: adaptations (for example, if the learner does not pass a test, additional
                     87: resources may be included). Each learner can have an individualized
                     88: curriculum according to preferences, capabilities and skills.
                     89: 
                     90: These maps can be generated at different levels of granularity with
                     91: a graphical tool, or in an automated way through custom scripts.
                     92: 
                     93: 
                     94: \subsection{Resource Assembly Tools}
                     95: 
                     96: LON-CAPA provides several tools to facilitate assembling resources
                     97: together, with varying levels of sophistication, depending on the
                     98: skill level of the user. It is worth observing that while creating
                     99: a complicated sequence with a high degree of adaptivity may be challenging
                    100: for some users, because LON-CAPA resources can be so easily re-used,
                    101: it need only be done once by one person to be useful to many, many
                    102: instructors.
                    103: 
                    104: The full assembly tool, which is capable of creating sequences with
                    105: all of the advanced functionality discussed above, is called the Advanced
                    106: Resource Assembly Tool. To read about it from the user's point of
                    107: view, see the Author's Manual (available in your LON-CAPA installation
                    108: at \texttt{http://your-server.com/adm/help/author.manual.pdf}, or
                    109: if you do not have a LON-CAPA install, at \texttt{http://msu.loncapa.org/adm/help/author.manual.pdf}),
                    110: in the {}``Creating a Simple .sequence with the Advanced Editor''
                    111: section.
                    112: 
                    113: A simpler resource assembly tool can be used in the common case where
                    114: an assembler merely wishes to string other resources together into
                    115: one unit. This can be seen in the Author's Manual in the {}``Creating
                    116: a Simple .sequence with the Simple Editor'' section.
                    117: 
                    118: Finally, the \textbf{DOCs} interface allows course instructors to
                    119: perform certain manipulations of the course's content while it is
                    120: running. Information about this from the user's point of view can
                    121: be found in the Course Management manual, in the {}``Course Documents
                    122: Screen'' chapter.
                    123: 
                    124: