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Need of e-content development in Education

Article · June 2012

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Education Today, An International Journal of Education & Humanities, APH pub,
New Delhi, ISSN: 2229-5755, Vol. 03., No.02., July-Dec 2012., pp. 72-80

NEED OF E-CONTENT DEVELOPMENTS IN EDUCATION [

* Dr. K.Nachimuthu
Introduction
Information technology and the Internet are major drivers of research,
innovation, growth and social change. The growth in Internet has brought changes in all
walks of life including the education. e-content includes all kinds of content created and
delivered through various electronic media from „old media‟ such as print and radio to
the increasingly sophisticated electronic tools with combination of sounds, images and
text. e-content requires huge amounts of creativity both at 'information' level as well as
the 'technology' level.
Evolution of e-Learning standards
Almost every technology has its own standards evolved by different
organizations. The Dublin Core started in 1994 to develop a meta-data framework for
web resources. The Dublin Core is a metadata element set intended to facilitate
discovery of electronic resources used in museums, libraries, government agencies. In
1997, the EDUCOM consortium (now EDUCAUSE) of US institutions of higher
education and their vendor partners established an effort to develop standards for on-
line learning, specifications for metadata. Also in 1997, NIST (National Institute for
Standards and Technology) and the IEEE study group began similar efforts.

Learning Object Design

Learning Management Systems (LMSs) are web-based application platforms
used to plan, implement, and assess learning processes related to online and offline
training, administration and performance management. LMS are defined as systems to
manage learners, keeping track of their progress and performance across all types of
learning activities. LMSs provide an instructor a way in which to create and deliver
content, monitor learners' participation, and assess learners' performance. In fact many
institutions, the Learning Management System may have one or two content-authoring
tools. The content-authoring tool is software used to create multimedia content for
delivery on the World Wide Web.
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* Asst Prof, Dept. of Education, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu
Contact: dr_knmuthu@yahoo.com

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Instructional design

Instructional design is a systematic, repetitive process of activities aimed at

creating a solution for an instructional problem. The steps involved in instructional
design are; setting an instructional goal; goal analysis; learning domains; learning
outcomes; prepare criterion referenced test questions and a clear instructional
strategy.(Sharada Dasari, 2001). The leaning domains are verbal information,
intellectual skills, psychomotor skills and attitudes. The instructional strategies may be
drill and practice, tutorials, simulations and educational games.

Types of Content-authoring tools

The Content-authoring tools are different in nature are; SCORM, AICC,

PROMETEUS, ARIADNE, ADL, AASL and LTSC. (i) SCORM (Sharable
Courseware Object Reference Model), is a set of specifications that, when applied to
course content produces small reusable e-Learning objects; (ii) AICC (Aviation Industry
Computer-Based Training Committee), is an international association of technology-
based training professionals that develops teaching guidelines for the aviation industry.
It apply to the development, delivery, and evaluation of e-content training courses via
technology; (iii) PROMETEUS (Promoting Multimedia Access to Education and
Training in European Society) established with a clear underlying ideal to promote
access to knowledge, education and e-content training for all European citizens; (iv)
ARIADNE is a European Union project focusing on the development of tools for
producing, managing, and reusing computer based pedagogical elements in University
of Lausanne, Switzerland; (v) ADL (Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative) is a
program from the US Department of Defense and the White House Office of Science
and Technology, to develop guidelines needed for efficient and effective e-content
learning; (vi) AASL (American Association of School Librarians) has formulated the
Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning and it concentrates the student,
teacher and administrator; (vii) LTSC (Learning Technologies Standard Committee)
has prepared technical standards and guidelines for the use of e-content components in
Education and it is an internationally accredited Computer Society Standards Activity
Board founded by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Education Today, An International Journal of Education & Humanities, APH pub,
New Delhi, ISSN: 2229-5755, Vol. 03., No.02., July-Dec 2012., pp. 72-80

73
Models of e-content development

The e-content development models are available in five different ways and they
are as follows; An instructional design model by Kemp (1977) defined nine different
components and adopted a continuous update with evaluation; (ii) teaching of media in
a systematic approach model by Vernon & Donald (1980) compared the different
instruction design models; (iii) A Systematic Design of Instruction model by Dick &
Carey (1990) described all the phases of process starts with instructional goals and
ends with summative evaluation; (iv) Systems Reusable Information Object Strategy by
CISCO (1999) consists of six content items viz., introduction; importance; objectives;
pre-requisites; scenario; and outline with Learning Management System (LMS) and (v)
Content based model by Cernea (2005) explained the learning objectives of a content
and the content‟s accessibility and reusability between various Learning Content
Management System (LCMS).
Phases of e-content development
In e-content development aspects consists of six phases viz., analysis, design,
development, testing, implementation and evaluation.
The Analysis Phase: It is the most important as it identifies area‟s in our current
situation. This phase accountability considered by the views of subject experts, target
audiences, objectives and its goals. In this phase, we must know the audience, and their
skill, budget of the e-content, delivery methods and its constraints with due dates.
The Design Phase: It involves the complete design of the learning solution. It
helps to plan of an e-content preparation. In this phase, we must know the planning, use
of relevant software; required skills; creative and innovative interactions of subject
contents like texts, pictures, videos and suitable animations.
The Development Phase: It concerns the actual production of the e-content
design. It helps to create the e-content by mixing of texts, audio, video, animations,
references, blogs, links, and MCQs (multiple choice questions) with some
programming specifications like home, exit, next etc.
The Testing phase: It helps to administer the e-content in the actual educational
field. In this phase, we must test the spelling mistakes, content errors, clarity of pictures,
relevant videos, appropriate audios, timing of animations, and hyperlinks.

Education Today, An International Journal of Education & Humanities, APH pub,

New Delhi, ISSN: 2229-5755, Vol. 03., No.02., July-Dec 2012., pp. 72-80

74
 The Implementation Phase: It helps to administer the e-content to the target
audience. This phase explains how to install and how to use it and their difficulties
experienced while using e-content. It checks the product accuracy and quality
maintenance.
The Evaluation Phase: It helps to satisfy the e-content and its effectiveness.
This phase considers feedback from both learners and instructors. After the feed back
reactions, the e-content is designed again as post-production for effective delivery of e-
content.

Pedagogical Issues in e-Content Development

Pedagogy describes the collected practices, processes, strategies, procedures,
and methods of teaching and learning. It also includes knowledge about the aims of
instruction, assessment, and student learning. The challenges of pedagogical issues in e-
content are; (i) to make the knowledge visible to learners; (ii) to make the teachers‟
thinking visible to learners and (iii) to make learners‟ thinking visible to themselves,
their peers, and the teacher. The pedagogy has evolved largely as the product of
pragmatic constraints (e.g. time, class size, linear text books). Planned e-content
packages have overcome many of these constraints including dictionaries, references
and links.
A digital text and images designed for display on web pages which is suitable
for particular audience is called as „e-content‟. It means, any content product available
in a digital form and it typically refers to music, information and images that are
available for distribution on electronic media. (Anurag Saxena, 2011)
In e-Content development process needs several aspects. Content should follow
appropriate instructional design methodology in order to assure meeting of learning
objectives and expected outcomes. The effort spent in content preparation should be re-
usable across various learning management systems. All the e-content materials
focused on (a) Cognitive perspective: it focuses on the cognitive processes involved in
learning as well as how the brain works; (b) Emotional perspective: it focuses on the
emotional aspects of learning, like motivation, engagement, fun, etc.; (c) Behavioural
perspective: it focuses on the skills and behavioural outcomes of the learning process,
role-playing, settings of job and (d) Contextual perspective: it focuses on the
environmental and social aspects which can stimulate learning.

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Video Streamer
e-learning and streaming media is becoming increasingly prominent on the
internet. Indian Institutes of Technology in India and Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in USA have opened their web servers for free lecture-on-demand on
several courses. The Open Courseware Consortium is working to provide free lectures
on demand to users worldwide. MHRD, Govt. of India has started a project called
NPTEL (National Program for Technology Enhanced Learning) to enhance the quality
of engineering education in India by developing curriculum based videos and web
courses.

Blogging

A web blog is a Web site that consists of a series of entries arranged in

chronological order, often updated on frequently with new information about particular
topic. The information can be written by the site owner, gathered from other sources, or
contributed by an individual. Blogs are in different types viz., (i) personal (eg. twitter
share); (ii) organizational (eg: marketing corporate); (iii) variety (eg: education genre);
(iv) media (eg: photo blog) and (v) device (eg: mobile phone).

Instructor’s Role in the Development of e-Content

A competent instructor in e-content is, one who effectively and efficiently

accomplishes a task in a given digital context, using appropriate knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and abilities that have adjusted with in a time and their needy competencies
(Varvel, 2007). Also International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and
Instruction organization developed the standard competencies for instructors in e-
content development in the following domains: (a) professional foundations, (b)
planning and preparation, (c) instructional methods and strategies, (d) assessment and
evaluation, and (e) management. (Russ-Eft et al., 2008). The following diagram
illustrated the development of a multi media material.

Education Today, An International Journal of Education & Humanities, APH pub,

New Delhi, ISSN: 2229-5755, Vol. 03., No.02., July-Dec 2012., pp. 72-80

76
Education Today, An International Journal of Education & Humanities, APH pub,
New Delhi, ISSN: 2229-5755, Vol. 03., No.02., July-Dec 2012., pp. 72-80

77
Characteristics of e-content development

According to Anurag Saxena (2011) explained the possible methods of

educational e-contents conversions are viz., (i) learning by doing and learning by
investigation; (ii) learning by using themes; (iii) learning by testing / evaluation; (iv)
learning by simulation and (v) learning by role-playing.
As per the UGC (University Grants Commission, India) guidelines of e-content
development needs the following categories viz., (i) home; (ii) objectives; (iii) subject
mapping; (iv) summary; (v) text with pictures & animations; (vi) video and audio; (vii)
assignments, quiz & tutorial; (viii) references, glossary & links; (ix) case studies; (x)
FAQ‟s; (xi) download; (xii) blog and (xiii) contact. These categories are arranged
sequentially by subject experts along with technical supporters and to develop the e-
content materials.
e-learning is a process and E-content is a product. e-content is generally
designed to guide students through lot of information in a specific task. An e-content
package can be used as a teacher in the virtual classroom situations. The quality of
learning depends not only on the form of how the process is carried out but also on what
content is taught and how the content is presented. This approach of teaching has
become an answer to the complicated problems and un-identified areas.
In a class room, technology stimulates the learner and gets the learner involved
in the learning. Books are an extension of brain; video is an extension of eye; audio is
the extension of an ear; audio conferencing is the extension of mind & vocal chord;
computer is an extension of fusion on mind, hands & eyes; satellite technology is an
extension of human reach and computer network is an extension of human co-operation.
So what we would expect from e-contents that it should be able to stimulate the learner
in such a way that we utilizes the maximum of its potential in learning (Vijayakumari,
2011)
e-content is valuable to the pupil and also helpful to teachers for all individual
instruction systems; e-content is the latest method of instruction that has attracted more
attention to gather with different concepts. The ultimate aim of the e-content is abolish
the disparity among the learners through effective education. e-content is facilitating to
the teacher to effective manner. It is enhancing the learner knowledge level which leads
to creative thinking and it gives the future ideas on the basis of given links, and
references.

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 e-learning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching.
The Information and communication systems whether networked learning or not, serve
as specific media to implement the learning process. It may be classified as Online and
Offline. The online learning occurred through, e-forum, SMS / MMS, Search engines,
Meta search engines, e-dictionaries, e-books and e-journals. Where as the off-line
learning occurred through MS Office applications, power-point presentations,
downloaded documents and CD ROMs.

Conclusion
We need innovative work in e-content material as a form of digital literacy in
educational settings particularly to investigate the implications of new forms of social
networking, knowledge sharing and knowledge building. And finally, because of the
pervasive nature of e-content as a digital technology, the commercial interest that is
invested in it and the largely unregulated content of Internet based sources; we also need
to begin to sketch out what a critical digital literacy might look like. There is, in short,
plenty to be done if we are to prepare children and young people to play an active and
critical part in the digital future.

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