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ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> an Oracle database, which records student data and courseware organization. Student exercises<br />

and logs of student activities are stored <strong>in</strong> the database as well. The databases resid<strong>in</strong>g on the student<br />

workstations <strong>in</strong>clude a subset of the data ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> the central database.<br />

4. Process<strong>in</strong>g and Communication Details<br />

All communication between the m<strong>in</strong>i-server and course manager is handled via the ANDES protocol, which is<br />

based on the Web’s Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). ANDES requests are embedded <strong>in</strong> the path<br />

component of HTTP Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). A request conta<strong>in</strong>s the script arguments and other<br />

necessary data that are passed to the servers for process<strong>in</strong>g. This approach is similar to that used by other<br />

context-sensitive Web-based applications, such as I-Doc [Johnson&Erdem 96] and Dienst [Davis&Krafft 95].<br />

The m<strong>in</strong>i-server sends two k<strong>in</strong>ds of requests: log<strong>in</strong> requests and logout. These functions synchronize the<br />

system and guarantee that students receives the necessary course assets. If the student’s computer crashes <strong>in</strong><br />

the midst a session, before a logout request has been issued, this will be detected the next time a log<strong>in</strong> is<br />

attempted.<br />

The log<strong>in</strong> connection is as brief as possible and consists of an authentication and a check for assets. If there<br />

are assets to be downloaded, the m<strong>in</strong>i-server will <strong>in</strong>form the student how long the download will take. The<br />

student has the option to cont<strong>in</strong>ue with the download or to quit and log on later at a more convenient time.<br />

The assets may either be transmitted immediately us<strong>in</strong>g the HTTP connection, or via electronic mail. When<br />

the download is confirmed, the log<strong>in</strong> function closes the TCP connection and reconfigures the student’s Web<br />

server to run locally. When the system is ready, the student is presented with a ma<strong>in</strong> menu or new<br />

announcement.<br />

The logout function is <strong>in</strong>voked when the student exits the system. Dur<strong>in</strong>g logout, data files conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g student<br />

progress, completed work, event logs and email are uploaded or emailed to the course manager. Contextual<br />

<strong>in</strong><strong>format</strong>ion is added to the transferred files to assure the appropriate process<strong>in</strong>g by the course manager.<br />

5. Generat<strong>in</strong>g Web-Based Courseware Materials<br />

ANDES is designed both to deliver distance courseware and facilitate the creation of such courseware. A<br />

special author<strong>in</strong>g language, called ATML, was developed to facilitate the generation of Web-based courseware.<br />

With<strong>in</strong> an ANDES course, Web pages may be used to present new material, control <strong>in</strong>teractive exercises, or<br />

deliver exam<strong>in</strong>ations. These pages should have a consistent form. For example, all pages may <strong>in</strong>clude a<br />

standard tool bar for navigat<strong>in</strong>g to other pages. Test pages might <strong>in</strong>clude a built-<strong>in</strong> timer widget, which locks<br />

the page after time runs out. A foreign language course might <strong>in</strong>clude multiple pages <strong>in</strong>troduc<strong>in</strong>g vocabulary<br />

items, each of which conta<strong>in</strong>s standard elements like word def<strong>in</strong>itions, examples of uses, and audio clips of<br />

spoken language. Consistency of form is achieved by generat<strong>in</strong>g pages from templates. The m<strong>in</strong>i-server is<br />

configured for each course with a set of page templates appropriate for that course. Each def<strong>in</strong>es a page layout,<br />

conta<strong>in</strong>s a set of fields to fill <strong>in</strong>, and def<strong>in</strong>es the actions that the system should take when the student is done<br />

with the page. Each ATML page description identifies the template to be used, and lists the field entries. The<br />

field entries are <strong>in</strong>dicated with tagged, SGML-like commands. The m<strong>in</strong>i-server dynamically generates HTML<br />

pages from the descriptions, and <strong>in</strong>serts the appropriate CGI process<strong>in</strong>g commands. Developers can comb<strong>in</strong>e<br />

ATML with HTML, or use just one or the other. ATML files can be created with any word processor.<br />

As an example, consider a possible template for onl<strong>in</strong>e exam<strong>in</strong>ations. Each exam <strong>in</strong>cludes a set of questions<br />

and a set of correspond<strong>in</strong>g write-<strong>in</strong> text fields. The page has a title, a button to press when done, l<strong>in</strong>ks to help<br />

pages, etc. Each exam has a fixed duration – exams submitted after the time expires will be discounted or<br />

rejected. Such complex behavior and layout can be generated automatically from the description shown <strong>in</strong> Fig.<br />

4.<br />

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