Omega Performance Technical Report
Learning Structures

Mark J. Norton

July 16, 1997



0. Introduction

In today’s competitive business climate, development and delivery of quality business training in a timely fashion can be critical. Learning Structures are software tools which allow the development process to be reduced while maintaining the quality of the learner experience. This is accomplished by separating the creation and display behaviors from the content to be shown. Not only does this result in faster development times, but also allows the learning application to be improved with minimal impact on existing content.

This document is indented to be a non-technical introduction to the Learning Structure concept and to explain some of the technology and cognitive principles on which it is based. It also servers as a framework for classifying learning structures so that they can be compared and contrasted. A brief inventory of existing structures is given at the end of the document.


1. Terminology

A Learning Structure can be thought of as a content module being displayed by some Learning Component application. The application (called Component below) is based on a Learning Model, while the module is composed of events and content elements. This diagram illustrates this concept:





Content Element

An isolated piece of media which is used as a unit of information. A content element has many different forms including text, graphics, sound, animation, video, etc.

Event

A structure which maps a layout to a set of content elements. Events also represent static points in the presentation while waiting for input from the user. Events are collected into modules and displayed by a Component.

Module

A module is an ordered set of events which relate to some area of knowledge. A module requires a component to display them, thus it can be thought of as an organized group of content.

Learning Model

A formal description of a style of communication used to facilitate learning in a student. It describes how information is transmitted or acquired and the kinds of interactions that can occur between a teacher and a student, system and user, etc.

Component

The set of behaviors needed to implement a particular learning model and to present events in a uniform manner. The component can be thought of as a player for a module, though it can also include the ability to create or modify events in a particular module. Multiple versions of a component may be needed to handle different types of distribution media (CDROM, Network, Web, etc.).

Learning Structure

A Learning Structure is a set of tools used to create, edit and display a set of content modules associated with it. It can include one or more components which are based on specific learning models. The Learning Structure and its components represent the reusable portions of an multimedia application.


2. Learning Models

Components are based on known models are learning. A learning model is an abstraction of how leaners interact with sources of information. These sources can be other human beings, books, the Web, multimedia applications, etc. These models are covered in more detail in another document. Some of the basic learning models include:



3. Presentation Styles

Events can be ordered and displayed in a variety of ways. These presentations styles are one way in which learning structures can be characterized. Several of these styles are shown here to support the descriptions of Components and Learning Structures which follow later.













4. Components

A component is defined to be the set of behaviors needed to implement a particular learning model and to present events in a uniform manner. Presenting events in a uniform manner means having a single process flow model and having a uniform screen layout for each event.

Several different kinds of components can be described: Reference, Test, Situation and Simulation.

Reference

A reference component in its purest form describes how to present information to a user from a body of knowledge. How the information is accessed and presented is what distinguishes one reference type from another.

Matrix Reference

A piece of information is accessed by specifying a choice from two or more sets selection criteria. Together, these choices form a multidimensional index (m x n x o x ..) which can be used to retrieve what is needed. The Source 1.0 is an example of a matrix reference.

Hierarchy Reference

In contrast, the hierarchy reference presents a series of choices which successively refine choice of topics, narrowing it to the point where a piece of information is identified. This iterative process can be arbitrarily deep. While there are no examples in current MicroMentor products, this is a commonly used technique in Web pages. The Source 2.0 is an example of a hierarchical reference.

Shallow Hierarchy Reference

While a Hierarchy Reference can be arbitrarily deep, there is a more specialized form which is limited to one or two levels deep. By restricting the depth of the hierarchy of topics, the chances of getting lost in large numbers of branching is reduced. The Multimedia Encyclopedia is an example of a shallow hierarchy (two levels plus definitions).

Linear Reference

The linear reference presents information in a preset, ordered sequence. This is a useful approach for teaching assembly procedures, simple presentations or describing a process. Knowledge Accelerators are an example of a linear reference component.

Exploration Reference

The exploration reference presents information in an arbitrary network of concepts connected by links. The student is allowed to explore these connections at will. This is another approach that is commonly used in Web pages.


Test

A test component is used to present questions to a student and measure comprehension based on the responses made. Simple tests present a direct measure of comprehension (a grade or score). More complex tests might have hints built in or reference to source material in correcting answers.

Game Test

A game test uses a game playing metaphor to present questions to the student. Feedback is presented in the form of corrected answers and a final score. The MindBender Challenge is an example of a game test component.

Multiple Choice Test

Questions are presented along with a set number of possible answers. Feedback is immediate providing the correct answers where needed or a rewards screen when the correct answer is chosen. The presentation model is branched linear.

Exam

Game tests usually present feedback to the student immediately. By contrast, the Exam does not. Questions are present and results are gathered for grading and analysis which is turned over to an administrator and possibly the student. An exam can be used to certify knowledge comprehension in a student.


Situation

A situation component describes some situation that the student might find herself in and allow previously accumulated knowledge to be used in choosing between a set number of responses. These responses lead to new situations which allow the student to explore the consequences of the selection made. Situations components are based on decision trees.

Branched Linear Situation

In the branched linear situation component, the user is forced through a strict series of situations. Choices can be made, but an immediate response is made to correct non-optimal decisions. This organization can be useful to make sure that the student covers a known set of situations.

Branching Situation

In the branching situation component, on the other hand, the student does not immediately become aware of the results of decisions made. Things can develop, get more complicated, interact, etc. After a while, it becomes obvious that a better choice could have been made along the way. This type of component appeals to the puzzle solving skills of many students. They do not want to be given the answer, they want to repeatedly try the module until they figure out the answers themselves. This leads to increased knowledge retention.

Space Framework

The space framework serves as a means of defining places in a town, building, room, etc. Movement from place to place is handled by links. The space framework is often combined with other components to form complex components. An example of this is the AT&T branch management simulation, which allows movement from place to place and problems to be solved in various places.


Simulation

Simulation components are more complex in their modeling of a scenario and may allow a wider range of choices. Subsequent points in the simulation may be computed on the fly based on analysis of the students selections. Content may also be dynamically created. Simulations usually involve some form of custom software although parts of it can be modular in nature, such as the Space Framework described in the situation components above.


5. Content

One of the goals of Learning Structures is to keep content separate from the code needed to display it. In this way, software becomes reusable and the content creation process can be standardized, streamlined, and cost-reduced. Content can be broken down into four classes of information: static, interactive, organizational, and support.

Static Content

Static content refers to content elements which are fixed for a particular event and do not require any user interaction. Graphics is an example of static content when used for backgrounds, pictures, design elements, etc. Less obvious examples of static content include audio clips and animations. Video and audio clips might be included in interactive content if controls are present for starting, stopping, rewind, etc.

Interactive Content

Interactive content includes all content elements which the user might interactive with. They include controls (buttons, sliders, text boxes, etc.), draggable graphics, windows and dialog boxes, various players (video or audio), and others. Interactive content elements add engagement to an application and provide a means for the learner to assess their own understanding of a concept.

Organizational Content

Occasionally, it may be necessary to provide information about how an event is organized, arranged, or presented. This can include information about display status (visible / invisible), attributes (bold or color), ordering (questions or answers), focus (correct answer), or structure (display layout). This information is not usually displayed as it is entered using the authoring tool, but rather allows the author some degree of control over how it is presented to the learner.

Support Content

Often, there is a lot of material which is created during the process of developing final module content which is not used to display or run the final application. This material might include storyboard graphics, scripts, schedules, spreadsheets, design documents, user documentation, etc. This material may be included in module data container, or it might outside of it, perhaps in a paper form.

Content Containers

Content is collected into one or more data files called containers. A container can be of any form and typically include text files, database files, or custom binary files. Text files include INI files, templates, etc. Databases can be relational databases such as Paradox, Access, or others, or they might be some other form of data access such as Indexed Sequential Access Method, Text Key Access Method, Hashed Key Access Method, or others. Some Learning Structures may also call for proprietary or custom binary methods of storing data, such as ToolBook Books, etc.


6. Learning Structures

A Learning Structure consists of a content module and some form of display component. In order to create the content in a consistent way, some form of creation and editing tool is usually provided. Thus, the structure includes both authoring and display tools using some data container of content.

The creation and display process can be summarized as:



Creation and Editing

A wide range of tools exist for the creation and delivery of interactive multimedia applications. In order to be flexible, general, and powerful, these tools are usually complex and often require advanced skill sets to develop meaningful applications with them. Examples of these tools include Toolbook II, IconAuthor, Authorware, Directory, and many others.

The Learning Structure is a technique to minimize the technical skills needed to create high quality learning experiences. As such, the Learning Structure includes tools to create and editing content modules which will be delivered and shown using the Display Engine. Careful design consideration needs to be given to the trade-offs between flexibility, customizability, and feature set, vs. development time, skills needed, etc. Once a Learning Structure is successful, there is a large temptation to expand its capabilities to allow it to perform other other tasks. The danger is that this may move the overall design away from its underlying learning models and jeopardize its effectiveness and consistency.

Creation and editing tools generally support three types of authoring activities: module creation, event creation and editing, and event organization. Module creation sets up a new data container for this content module and allows high level module characteristics to be specified and later edited. Event creation is sometimes based on display templates, or provides a way to add and position content elements. Organization allows the author to specify how the event will be accessed or sequenced.

Delivery and Display

The delivery and display of a content module at run time is called a Display Engine. Delivery of iterative learning applications was traditionally done via diskettes or CDROMs but this has changed considerably with the growing popularity of the Web. Three forms of delivery are predominantly in use at this time: disk (including CDROM), network, and web.

Delivering learning courseware via some form of removable media has several advantages: duplication is fairly inexpensive, access is controlled by controlling the physical unit, and it is tangible, which is important to many people. CDROM has the further advantage of high storage density and is non-alterable. The downsides to this approach include lost media, version control, distribution time, and special hardware needs (CDROM drive).

Some of these disadvantages can be avoided by centralizing the media source and allowing direct access via some Local Area Network. While this improves version control, and distribution time, special hardware is still needed augmented by whatever is needed for network access. Furthermore, centralization may produce access bottlenecks and may impact performance due to bandwidth limitations.

Finally, distribution may occur using the HTTP (Web) networking protocol. The web also produces an access bottleneck, but access is more incremental and tends to average out over all users. Performance can be tuned to take advantage of what bandwidth exists, rather than requiring some fixed minimum. The web tends to scale better than the LAN network approach.


8. Inventory of Existing Learning Structures

The following is a list of Learning Structures in various stages of completion. This list does not currently reflect work done by the Salt Lake City office of Omega Performance. Given the historical over-use of the term Learning Structure, this list also contains several applications which are design to be customized, which are not technically learning structures under the definitions given here, but are often treated as such.

Delivery Display Author Version
Learning Structures
Product CD Yes Yes 2.0
Multimedia Encyclopedia CD Yes Yes 1.5
Systems & Services CD Yes No 1.0
Mindbender Challenge CD Yes Yes 1.0
Product Web Yes Yes 1.0
Multimedia Encyclopedia Web Yes No 1.0
Knowledge Accelerators Web Yes No 1.0
Corning Diversity Web In Prog. No -
Corning Scenario Web In Prog. No -
Branch Manager * CD No No -
JP Morgan * CD No No -

* These represent structure designs with at least one application built.


Delivery Environ Version
Applications
TQM CD Authorware 2.0
Actions & Attitudes CD C++ 1.0
Competency Builder CD Toolbook 2.0
Apple Finance CD Director 1.0
Project Workspaces Web C++ 1.0
Text Manager Web C 1.0



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