6.3.1 Functionality of Advanced Courseware
[Refer to Technical Characteristics, Functionality column in Table 6.1.]
There were five general functions of software which received various levels
of emphasis across projects. The choice of functions depended upon the types
of discipline representation to be achieved. While participants did not
reflect major dissatisfactions or problems with the types of limited functions
afforded by the their chosen software packages, there was a general acknowledgment
of the limitations. These limitations may be unnecessary in the future, as the
AthenaMuse software paradigm already illustrates. There is no reason that
educational courseware should rely on only one or two types of representation.
Future courseware projects should buy software with the broadest possible
functionality available. This will allow flexibility for the project to
expand to alternative forms of representation with few problems involving
extensions or porting. In the past, project leaders needed to accept the
limitations of single packages because integrating multiple packages
smoothly was difficult. In future operating systems, there will be a
trend toward tools which operate more smoothly together and will therefore m
ake it much easier to provide integrated functions. The integration of
existing and emerging functions will make it possible to build richer
learning environments in the near future and more extensive virtual
worlds of knowledge in the long term.