Automated Development of Dynamically Interactive Textbooks

多媒体电子书现在很普遍。然而，电子技术教科书并不实用，制作起来也不具有成本效益。缺乏的是创新的软件工具，使出版商能够生产这些产品，而无需大量的软件开发投资。电子技术教科书提供了无限的潜力，以加强技术学习过程，并激发更广泛的兴趣，在高科技职业。使电子技术教科书满足这些承诺的关键是真正的动态交互。学生必须能够不仅通过动画，活动方程和图形可视化物理过程，但必须能够看到改变参数值对物理过程的影响。只有通过这种动态的相互作用，才能真正理解物理，电气和化学过程。当前的多媒体技术不提供这种能力。应用研究协会建议利用他们在开发电子多媒体技术手册方面的经验，开发工具，使出版社能够以容易收回的成本制作电子教科书。所提出的软件工具的独特之处在于：（1）提供活动对象之间的联系能力，这是技术文本的一个关键要求;（2）提供动态交互，这是真正改进教育过程的一个关键要求;（3）最大限度地减少开发阶段对程序员的需要，这是经济可行性的一个关键要求。

Multimedia electronic books are now quite common. Electronic technical textbooks; however, are not practical or cost-effective to produce. What is lacking are the innovative software tools that will allow publishers to produce these products without an extensive software development investment. Electronic technical textbooks provide boundless potential to enhance the technical learning process and to stimulate wider interest in high-technology careers. Key to making electronic technical textbooks meet these promises is true dynamic interaction. Students must be able to not only visualize physical processes through animation, active equations, and graphing, but must be able to see the effect of changing parameter values on a physical process. It is only by this dynamic interaction that a true understanding of physical, electrical, and chemical processes are understood. Current multimedia technology does not provide this capability. Applied Research Associates proposes to build on their experience in developing electronic multimedia technical manuals and develop tools that will allow publishing houses to produce electronic textbooks at a cost that is easily recoverable. The unique aspects of the proposed software tools are that they: (1) provide linkage capability among active objects, a key requirement for technical texts; (2) provide dynamic interaction, a key requirement for bonafide improvement of the education process; and (3) minimize the need for programmers in the development phase, a key requirement for economic viability.