User-driven mobile authoring system

Abstract

Technology-rich schools generate impressive results for students such as higher test scores and job placement rates. While some existing commercial tools can leverage these advantages, they still lack some components key for adequate use in classrooms, like open educational resources and a constructive feedback system available on a mobile platform. To address these shortcomings, a software architecture is proposed that utilizes a system of object-oriented atoms and containers to generalize a user-drive content creation and distribution service. From back end to user interface, it is designed to offer users with little to no programming experience an intuitive drag-and-drop mobile content creation and sharing service, backed by a web service for deployment on a remote cloud that manages all data storage and sharing and requires only an intermittent internet connection. This design gives rise to the Educational Mobile Authoring and Sharing System (eMASS) to produce a service that educators and students can use on the Apple iPad. It is designed such that educators can collaboratively develop and revise content, share it selectively or publically, and receive answers and feedback from their students. The system enables the rapid creation and sharing of multiple-choice plaintext modules, and leads the way toward more powerful content in the future.