Design and Development of Online Course Materials

In the previous chapter, we discussed client computers, desktop operating systems and desktop environments. A desktop environment is the platform where most of the online course materials will be developed. This chapter will focus on course material development with open source technologies. The first part of this chapter is a brief introduction of instructional design and instructional technology theories. We will discuss the development cycle of technology based course materials. The theories of instructional design and instructional technology will be used to guide the development process. After the introduction, we will look at some of the open source tools that can be used to develop online course materials. We will have some detailed discussion on the open source Web authoring, multimedia, and collaboration tools. We will explore the options we may have and the functionalities provided by these open source tools.

Instructional Technology Theory for Online Teaching/Learning System

In Chapter I, a brief introduction to open source tools is presented. The discussion indicates that open source tools are necessary for an online teaching/learning system. As mentioned in Chapter I, this book will use the ADDIE model as a guideline for the development of an online teaching/learning system and online course materials. Along with the development process, the open source tools will be introduced to accomplish the tasks in each phase of the development. Chapter I points out that it is possible to use open source tools to develop an entire online teaching/learning system. However, the development process is complicated and involves various technologies. Therefore, before an online teaching/ learning system can be implemented, it is necessary to carefully design such a system and the development process should be thoroughly planned. The theory of instructional technology provides a guideline for developing a successful online teaching/learning system. It will be beneficial for the development of an online teaching/learning system if the developers of the system know how to apply the instructional technology theory to the development process.

Implementation and Evaluation of Online Courses

As stated in the discussion of the ADDIE model in the last chapter, implementation and evaluation are part of the development process. Once online course materials are developed, the next task is to deploy the course materials to students. The first topic of this chapter will deal with the issues related to the deployment of online course materials. In this chapter, we will discuss the tasks such as planning and training involved in the deployment process. Once the online course materials have been deployed, there will be a large number of requests from the students for help on technology and course content related issues. To keep the online teaching/learning system running successfully, we need a strong technical support team including experienced computer service personnel, instructors, and fellow students. This chapter will deal with the issues related to technical support. We will discuss various ways to provide technical support services.

Server Development and Management

In the previous chapter, we discussed the topics related to networks to construct the infrastructure of an online teaching/learning system. A network consists of servers, clients, and network devices. In this chapter, we will investigate how the open source tools are used in the server development for the online teaching/learning system. Servers are computer systems used to host and manage the resources that can be accessed by users with proper permissions through the network. In the online teaching/learning system, servers are used to manage networks, databases, application software, security, and so on. To manage a large number of services needed by the online teaching/learning management system, a server is often run by an enterprise-level server operating system. Many of the open source operating systems, especially Linux, can handle the job. In this chapter, we will discuss server computer systems and enterprise-level open source server operating systems.

Database Development for Online Courses

In the previous chapter, we discussed the issues related to the server operating system which is used to host other application software such as a learning management system and database management system. The discussion in the previous chapter indicates that, for the learning management system, a database is required for storing course and student information. This chapter will first explore some of the open source database management systems. Several commonly used open source database management systems will be introduced. The features of the database management systems will be compared. We will examine how these features are used to store the course and student information and to support the management of the online teaching/learning system. The next topic in this chapter is about database design for an online teaching/ learning system. Within this topic, we will first review the database development cycle. Then, we will go through some general database procedures which consist of three stages, conceptual design, logical design, and physical design. We will discuss issues such as colleting information about the requirements for the new database, design a data model to meet the requirements, and discuss issues related to physical design.

Client Computer System and Remote Access

An online teaching/learning system is often constructed on the Web-based clientserver architecture. Personal computers at students’ homes perform client-side operations. These computer systems share some computation load and should be properly configured so that they can remotely access the servers through the Internet. For the online teaching/learning system, the configuration and management of the client computers present many challenges due the variety of computer types and application software. In this chapter, we will examine various challenges on the client side and look for solutions that can be implemented with open source products. This chapter begins with the discussion of the Linux open source desktop operating systems. Linux originally created for personal computers is suitable for personal computers and workstations. We will discuss several major Linux desktop operating systems and look at the components included in them.

Security Management

During the operation of an online teaching/learning system, security is a top priority. As an online system, the teaching/learning system is vulnerable to Internet hackers and hundreds of malicious viruses. A security related problem can cause significant damage to the online teaching/learning system. This kind of damage can possibly shut down the entire system or even spread viruses to the university’s network and infect other systems on the network. To ensure the health of the online teaching/learning system, great effort has to be made to ensure the system’s security. In this chapter, we will investigate issues on securing the online teaching/ learning system.

Introduction to Open Source Products

Web-based teaching has become one of the main stream teaching and learning methods in most of the higher education institutions. To support teaching and learning activities over the Internet, Web-based teaching has been implemented with various technologies. Among the various solutions, using the open source technology to construct a platform for supporting online teaching and learning has attracted a great deal of attention. To better understand the open source technology and how it can be used to support online teaching and learning, we will first take an overview of the open source technology in this chapter. We will investigate the roles played by the open source technology. We will also examine the strengths and weaknesses of the open source technology in general. At the end of this chapter, a framework of the book will be presented to give an overall picture of the discussion in the book.

Trends and Advances

In this chapter, we will discuss the advances in open source products and the trends in the technologies used for developing online teaching/learning systems. The topics of trends and advances discussed in previous chapters will be summarized in this chapter. We will also look at new features and new ideas in the application of the open source products that will potentially have an impact on the online teaching/ learning systems. The discussion will start with the advances in the network related open source tools. As more and more university courses are taught online, there is an increasing demand for faster and more reliable network technologies. A lot of effort has been made to improve network hardware and software. In this chapter, we will examine some of the new network and telecommunication related technologies and how these new technologies will impact online teaching and learning. Then, we will look at the advances in server operating systems and services. We will investigate the trends in server software, hardware, and services. We will discuss the new and emerging technologies that can potentially improve servers’ performance and reliability.

Class Management

In the previous chapter, we discussed the issues related to the database which is used to store student information and course information. After the network, server, and database have been set up properly, our next task is to develop a learning management system to support class management. In this chapter, we will examine the open source tools used for class management. Learning Management System (LMS) software is commonly used to support course setup, management, and assessment. The first part of this chapter will focus on various open source learning management systems. Some commonly used open source LMS software packages will be introduced. We will investigate how these LMS software packages can be used to manage classes and course materials.