SAIDE

(Simplified Authoring for Instructors using Distance Education)

SAIDE

Introduction
About SAIDE
Screen Shots
Support
Contact

White Papers

SAIDE Program White Paper - Hawaii
SAIDE Program White Pape - IEEE "Revision Distance Education Authoring Tool"

Introduction

SAIDE is an alternative to current authoring methods for use in distance education. Several commercially available distance education authoring tools are available and are presented in the white papers section. An alternative to these tools, SAIDE (Simplified Authoring for Instructors using Distance Education), is presented. SAIDE's easy-to-use feature set is useful to authors/trainers in a non-traditional learning/training environment or a traditional environment requiring a virtual classroom. The technical aspects are details about the user interface and the ways that key features are linked from the interface to the server. The design includes feature interaction, click-able textures, buttons, and boxes, and the user interface paradigm shift from the current authoring methods to a simpler and more intuitive structure. The thrust is to focus on a fully developed and interactive distance education experience via a tool that is simple enough for a novice at using software applications and still powerful enough for a skillful practitioner in distance education.

Simplified Authoring for Instructors using Distance Education, SAIDE is a new authoring tool developed at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology as a response to a key feature of the existing, and growing, market for tools to facilitate distance education and training. The key strategic idea behind SAIDE as an authoring tool is a simple one - usability. SAIDE is focused on the needs of the educator/trainer who has developed some set of materials that need to be delivered, perhaps in the context of live audio/visual, to students at remote-to-the-instructor locations.

SAIDE is designed to enable the instructor to easily organize, deliver, store, modify, and present anything from one shot training sessions to full semester courses and programs. We understand that we are entering a crowded market, but we believe that (at least as of December, 2002) SAIDE breaks new ground with its focus on dynamic ease-of-authoring. As we briefly discuss below, this strategy has resulted in a simple, visually appealing GUI that is backed by a sophisticated, yet manageable, design and streaming interface.

There are multiple tools available for use in distance education and remote-site training. However, most of the tools either are too feature poor or are too complex to use. Much of this is attributable to several factors. First, prior to the advent and (relatively) widespread dissemination of Internet 2 and other broadband technologies, firms creating so-called "Learning Tools" were forced to allocate much of their development resources to streaming technology. Second, many tools are focused on the entire education process, from registration and maintenance of student/participant records to dissemination of exams and other course materials to student record maintenance and (qualified) access. Such tools constitute much of the Learning Management System (LMS) market. Third, many lucrative distance training and education software clients develop their own solutions in-house, either via consultants or internal engineering resources; which is a major component of the LCMS market. We believe that this aspect of the market for training/education tools has encouraged firms to try to emulate custom software by creating comprehensive LMS tools in an attempt to compete in the large corporate market segment.

The Virtual Classrooms are another broad category that includes tools like WebCT, Macromedia Authorware, Aspen, and Mentergy. All of the Learning Tools have a space in at least one of the three categories. Our main focus is on the Virtual Classroom market because that is the best fit - out of the current vernacular used to define the market(s) in question - for SAIDE.

The Virtual Classroom market is quite large and ill defined. In the Virtual Classroom market there are at least ten major distributors. However, because the market is ill defined that number can exceed thirty distributors or various products. SAIDE fits into the market as a "middle end" tool. SAIDE has a growing feature set and will exceed the features of most similar tools and it will maintain the simple to use interface. In the market place SAIDE in a nebulous area. However the market for SAIDE can be clearly defined for our purposes. As SAIDE grows, so too will the feature set. While keeping SAIDE simple for the user on the outside, the inside will add power for the user that most tools cannot provide.

About SAIDE

The SAIDE project was started in January 2002 as a small project. It grew into something far larger. It was obvious from the limited market data that was gathered that SAIDE fills a gap. Too many tools are too expensive or too cumbersome to use. Our closet competitor, Macromedia and Aspen, are each their own different tool, but similar to SAIDE. Each of these tools has benefits and draw backs, and the SAIDE development team has learned from these.

The two publicly available (as of December, 2002) software products most comparable to SAIDE are Macromedia Authorware and Aspen; do not contain the feature set or ease of use that SAIDE provides. It is useful to examine some selected aspects of each product in the context of our efforts.

Macromediac Authorware (MA) is a production development tool and not a full authoring tool, though the complete package has authoring-from-scratch capabilities. From a user perspective, one of the advantages of MA is that it is complete compatibility with all Macromedia products. For example, importing Flash or Director objects is done quite simply. Another advantage is the drag and drop interface, which makes the tool a little easier for the user. However, there is a steep learning curve for users of MA. The problem is in the confusing interface. There are times when programming is necessary, but MA is hard to code with because of the single view interface. Also, the novice user will not be able to produce quality without having some programming experience. It is also very time consuming to create a short class. To create a class all the objects must be imported and organized. The tool isn't very dynamic and the class must be planned out fully for MA to be viable for non-static courses.

The other similar major commercial product, Aspenc, is similar to SAIDE in many ways. In has a similar interface, although the interface is more complex then SAIDE's. Aspen is fully integrated with the major standards for distance education. They are SCORM, AICC, and IMS compliant and are able to function with other tools that follow these standards. Aspen has a full LMS; however the focus will only be on their Virtual Classroom tool. The feature list for Aspen is quite long, so only the key features are considered here. Aspen is 100% web based, it is modular and is able to be used in most distance education setups. Features that SAIDE shares with Aspen include PowerPoint importing, a sharable whiteboard, and instant messaging. Unlike SAIDE, the application, does not reside on a single local server. Rather, it resides on a web server that can accept connections. It is modular, although there was no great detail available on the Aspen website regarding how the modularity works or what parts are modular. The sharable whiteboard is a much needed addition to any Virtual Classroom. The instant messaging seems to be redundant, with the chat and the question and answer support. The drawbacks to the Aspen Virtual Classroom are that since it is 100% web based, no single user is the server. Therefore, if the web server where Aspen Virtual Classroom resides becomes non-responsive, so do all classes taking place on Aspen. It seems that Aspen is only able to import PowerPoint and no other slide or textual presentation, unlike SAIDE, which supports the Microsoft Office suite and other file types. This is a very limiting factor with a Virtual Classroom. While PowerPoint and live video do make up the bulk of distance education traffic, documents, images, video, and other media are still used. While Aspen is a good Virtual Classroom, many features are still missing.

Most people consider Virtual Classrooms as a subset of the overall LMS market. Both product markets share many common features. First and most important for the many firms currently present and the (no doubt) considerable number of entities preparing products for market entry, are current and projected market sizes in terms of total revenues.

The sheer number of firms in the distance learning and education industry may see the second key common feature; barriers to entry are very low. One needs only several (admittedly first-rate) programmers and an x86 machine or two to create a prototype Virtual Classroom and/or LMS. Because of this feature and the overall attractiveness, there are many firms competing in the distance education arena. While consolidation and acquisitions will be a feature of this market - as is the case with software in general - we believe that the overall attractiveness of the market combined with the real needs that are served by tools such as SAIDE, Macromedia, and Aspen assures that there will be many new entrants for the foreseeable future.

The other key components of the market, degree of differentiation (or monopolistic competition) and price, are evidently related. Currently, pricing is largely determined primarily by feature sets, and secondarily by target markets. This is true of SAIDE; our focus on the SUI and the connection between it and the server has made SAIDE quite price competitive. Full-scale LMS are priced in ways that reflect the large number of features, breadth of scale, and the corporate training and education market that has had such a large influence over the design and development of these systems.

Differentiation appears to be largely a function of feature sets, and, again, SAIDE is intentionally differentiated in this respect. Since the SAIDE feature set is designed to be easy to use without additional support, our product possesses an additional advantage as we separate ourselves from the many other choices for authoring. We are also explicitly not focused on the large corporate market, which enables us to maintain close contact with our targeted segments, another factor that will enhance our product differentiation efforts.

The market for Virtual Classrooms and LMS is crowded and highly competitive, with many complementary and efficiently designed products. The underlying philosophy and strategic vision behind SAIDE, that of an authoring tool that allows instructors with prepared course materials to efficiently and effectively deliver quality education and training experiences to large numbers of individuals at a large number of remote sites, permits our product to be and remain differentiated in a market with low barriers to entry and emerging price competition between firms.

SAIDE is both a simplified authoring tool and a virtual producer. It assists with creating simple classes or it can create an entire semester of classes quickly and easily. Design was a prime concern while creating SAIDE. Not only must the interface be easy to use and very intuitive, but it must also be efficient. The design ensures that instructors are able to build a class both statically and dynamically. The instructor can change his class layout "on the fly" and produce a new syllabus without much effort. We also have designed SAIDE to ensure a user who is not interested in using any of the more complex tools is still able to use SAIDE. This means that anyone can produce a class quickly and without actually having to learn our software package at all. Interactivity was also a key concern. We overcame that hurdle with the Chat window and the intelligent design that is being implemented in upcoming versions. SAIDE is a tool to be used in any distance education setup either existing or not, with little or no user training. Not only is SAIDE easy to use, but also the learning curve for generating high quality productions is quite shallow.