Online Version - Last Updated - 20 Jan 2012 |
 |
| Home |
| |
| Procedures and Resources for Authors |
|
| Information and Resources for Volume Editors |
| |
| Orders and Subscriptions |
| |
| Published Articles |
|
| Upcoming Volumes |
| |
| Contact Us |
| |
| Useful External Links |
| |
| CRPIT Site Search |
A Reference Architecture for Instructional Educational Software
Pollard, J. and Duke, R.
Our extensive research has indicated that high-school teachers are reluctant to make use of existing instructional educational software (Pollard, 2005). Even software developed in a partnership between a teacher and a software engineer is unlikely to be adopted by teachers outside the partnership (Pollard, 2005). In this paper we address these issues directly by adopting a reusable architectural design for instructional educational software which allows easy customisation of software to meet the specific needs of individual teachers. By doing this we will facilitate more teachers regularly using instructional technology within their classrooms. Our domain-specific software architecture, Interface-Activities-Model, was designed specifically to facilitate individual customisation by redefining and restructuring what constitutes an object so that they can be readily reused or extended as required. The key to this architecture is the way in which the software is broken into small generic encapsulated components with minimal domain specific behaviour. The domain specific behaviour is decoupled from the interface and encapsulated in objects which relate to the instructional material through tasks and activities. The domain model is also broken into two distinct models - Application State Model and Domainspecific Data Model. This decoupling and distribution of control gives the software designer enormous flexibility in modifying components without affecting other sections of the design. This paper sets the context of this architecture, describes it in detail, and applies it to an actual application developed to teach high-school mathematical concepts.
Cite as: Pollard, J. and Duke, R. (2005). A Reference Architecture for Instructional Educational Software. In Proc. South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC) Conference 2005 : ICT Building Bridges, Sydney, Australia. CRPIT, 46. Low, G., Ed. ACS. 43-52.
(from crpit.com)
(local if available)
