Using ExE
ExE is the “eLearning XHTML editor“, and it’s a great tool. It’s designed to make it easy to both design and package structured teaching resources. No details need to be known about XHTML or about the packaging standards (such as SCORM or common cartridge). It’s open source, of course.
The goal is to create an This is done using the ExE authoring tool. The user interface is quite neat, dividing into the outline pane (structure pages of the course), the authoring pane (author the content of each page, and set properties of the course), and the idevice menu, of which more below.
The ExE XHTML authoring tool in use.
The structure of an entire resource can be set up, and a common style can be applied to all pages, giving a consistent look and feel across the resource. Then, each page can be built up of simple body text (’free text’) and any number of ‘iDevices’. An iDevice is simply a template for part of a page which allows a particular entity, to be placed on the page. These entities could be pedagogical in nature – such as a template for a reading activity, reflection, or quiz; or they may be technical in nature – such as allowing a JAVA Applet to be included. The idea, then, is that iDevices allow each page to be structured as a set of useful and meaningful units. Since iDevices are separable objects, they can be moved from page to page, so the overall resource can be set up very easily.
When the activity has been completely put together, metadata can be associated with it, to make it easy to find and use in a repository. So, for example, when placing into JORUM. It’s then possible to export into a range of formats, including IMS Common Cartridge, SCORM 1.2, IMS Content Package, Web Site, Text file, or even ipod notes!
The latest version of the software is very useable, and it’s good to see a concern for making material easy to create and export. (If Moodle could export SCORM or Common Cartridge, this might not be necessary.)
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Heythrop College, University of London
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