DITA for eLearning Content Development

Brian DriscollSoftAssist, Inc.

INTRODUCTION

What Is DITA?

DITA, or Darwin Information Typing Architecture, is a W3C standard for organizing content by concept, topic, and task. First created by IBM, DITA is now an open-source standard that has wide support across many different industries.

The Purpose of DITA

• Create modular, topic-based content.• Single-Sourcing• Multiple Delivery Points

A (very) Brief History of DITA

• 1960s• 1970s• 1980s• 1990s• 2000s

Who Uses It Now?

DITA is used primarily in the technical writing and publishing communities, where it receives a great deal of support.

However, in recent years the DITA standard has received attention from the training industry, from which the DITA Learning Specialization is a result.

THE TRADITIONAL E-LEARNING DEVELOPMENT MODEL

Content-Presentation-Logic (CPL)

Model Overview

• Content created and styled, then added to Presentation layer.

• Logic provides functionality for navigation, interaction.

• Widely used and supported method; common for eLearning produced in PowerPoint, Articulate, Captivate, HTML, and Flash.

CPL ModelAdvantages• Training created with familiar

tools/languages, making it easy to create/edit training.

• Many vendors provide SCORM support and can produce a SCORM package.

• Third-party developers provide ready-made interactions, layout templates, etc to make it even easier to create good-looking training.

• Generally no need for a developer unless creating a complex module or complex interactions.

Disadvantages• Content and Presentation,

and sometimes Logic, are inextricably linked - which severely limits reuse without significant additional effort.

Proprietary Models

Proprietary ModelsAdvantages• Can be tailored to the needs

of the organization• Content can be reused

within the model• Inherently supported by

organization

Disadvantages• Requires significant capital

investment, technical expertise

• Not necessarily user-friendly for course authors

• Content may not be reusable outside of the model

• No community of practice outside the building

USING DITA FOR E-LEARNING CONTENT

John Hunt’s Proposition

• Use DITA standard to create eLearning content that allows authors to:– Minimize duplicate effort– Use material from alternate sources– Supply course topics to alternate deliverables– Build to company-wide standardized methods– Create custom courses quickly

Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs)

SCORM• Provides standard packaging mechanism for Reusable Learning

Objects as launchable assets• Wide adoption by LMS and LCMS vendors• But, only works for web based eLearning content - a single delivery

point... • And, content packaging occurs at the course/lesson levels, meaning

that the smallest reusable piece of content is actually quite large (an entire lesson!)

• There is no standardized content model (so the eLearning content could be built from CPL model or a proprietary model, or something else altogether...)

DITA• DITA provides a structured model for content

(and thus content reuse) at a more granular level (topic rather than lesson)

• Allows content-only reuse, meaning that presentation and logic are completely separate

• Allows content to be reused and/or repurposed across different delivery media (print, online, CD-ROM, etc)

SCORM + DITA

• DITA provides content model and structure for topic sequencing

• SCORM provides delivery structure and packaging

DITA TOOLS FOR CONTENT AUTHORING AND PUBLISHING

Authoring Tools• Can use any text editor to write DITA XML directly – only good for those who are comfortable writing XML

• Use a DITA-aware editor, such as: – XMLMind (Personal Edition is free)

http://www.xmlmind.com/– DITA Open Platform Editor (Free, but requires Eclipse)– Many retail/enterprise editors like XMetaL, DITAStorm,

XMLMind Professional, <oXygen/>, Arbortext...

Publishing Tools

• DITA Open Toolkit• Retail/Enterprise Authoring Tools w/

Publishing built in (XMetaL, XMLMind, DITAStorm)

FIN.(the end)

Talk To Me, Goose

• Email: briand@softassist.com• Phone: (610) 265-8484 x11• Twitter: briand_at_SA (

http://twitter.com/briand_at_SA)