1. The Challenge of Moving to Automated Content Development: A Case Study
Adi Kidron, Chief Instructional Designer, Time To Know
The Challenge – Mass Production of Content
Time To Know (T2K) was founded in 2004 as a philanthropic endeavor in response to the many challenges facing
schools worldwide and the lack of meaningful change in education practices. (Later on, a for-profit company was
formed to take T2K to market.) Part of T2K's mission is to create a meaningful and engaging digital learning
environment (Weiss, 2010) addressing the main challenges faced by education systems worldwide: disengaged
students, widening achievement gaps, students unprepared to succeed in our global, knowledge-based economy, and
disappointing returns on technology investments (Cuban, 2001).
T2K offers a holistic solution to 1:1 computer classes that includes: (1) interactive content covering the full curriculum
in two disciplines (Math & Language Arts for fourth and fifth grades) and exhibiting practices of effective pedagogy
(Walters, Dede, Richards, 2009), (2) a Digital Teaching Platform (DTP) enabling real time class management, and (3)
authoring tools to support the design and production of digital content.
Faced with the need to produce hundreds of lessons per year, T2K had to find a way to design and produce quality,
interactive content in a cost-efficient process. The questions in this process were endless: should the product be
structured and unified, or flexible with the ability to be customized for unique instructional needs? Which is a higher
priority – quality or efficiency? Does standardization trump creativity and self-expression? And what should be the
profile of the ideal content developer? What skills must a content developer have, and what is the nature of his work
in the mass production process? And so on.
This article describes the current methodologies, processes, and supporting tools that evolved in order to face these
challenges.
The Guiding Principles
 Templates and reusable features – From the beginning it was clear that templates and reusable features would be
crucial elements in this content factory. Templates promote efficient processes on one hand and a coherent and
consistent end product that supports user orientation on the other. The term 'templates' refers both to software
products and to Learning Design methodologies. Some templates are defined in a' top-down' process (specifying a
unique solution to a given need) whereas others are identified in a 'bottom-up' process (making a generalization
based on different instances of the same need).
 Structured development methodology – The content development methodology is based on the following stages:
analyzing the curriculum, defining the lesson plans, cracking each topic and its lessons while considering the added
value of technology (macro design), detailed planning of lesson activities (micro design), and finally production and
quality assurance processes.

2.  Multi-expertise development team – The critical components of the multi-expertise development team (Kali,
Markauskaite, Goodyear, Ward, 2011) are: a leading content expert, a content writer, an instructional designer, a
creative leader, a GUI designer, a content producer, and a QA checker.
The T2K Solution
T2K's solution is continually evolving. It started with defining methodologies and procedures for executing the different
content development stages (described above) and representing them in simple textual documents (e.g. lesson
cracking, instructional animation specification, screen files, etc).
The first version of the development of the Content Generation Environment (CGE) followed, leading to an
improvement in the process as well as new challenges. The CGE generates, localizes, and manages content for the T2K
Digital Teaching Platform while implementing T2K’s methodologies. It also includes features that support collaborative
teamwork. It was designed to support the content developer, and as such it is easy to use (requiring no programming
or graphical skills) and based on WYSIWYG Editors (instant preview).
CGE includes the following tools:
1. Curriculum Editor Tool
The content developer uses the CET for the macro design level,
where he builds the skeleton of the desired curricular
component (e.g. a full curriculum/ a unit/ a lesson/ a learning
activity/ a differential learning activity/ a group learning
activity/ an activity item).
The CET can create the curriculum in flexible modes (either
bottom-up or top-down) and in a hierarchical view that
displays the sequence of the curricular components in a tree
mode. Gradually, metadata can then be added to each of the
components to reflect its pedagogical meaning (e.g. subject
area, grade, level of difficulty, instructional grouping,
objectives, estimated duration, progression mode, instructions
for the teacher, etc.).
2. Content Generation Tool
The content developer uses the CGT to plan, create, and preview interactive digital activities (the micro design
level of screen sequences). The activities are based on T2K’s proprietary interaction templates and applets, and
the process involves decisions about the chosen template engine (e.g MC question), layout, and specific content
that will be presented.

3. When chosen, the content developer uses the different options presented to him to finalize the pedagogical
definitions needed (e.g. instructions, feedback, progression mode, check ability parameters, etc.).
T2K’s proprietary interaction templates and applets
Lessons Learned
T2K content developers work within structured frameworks for brainstorming and implementing their ideas. The
content developer organizes his thinking and writing processes according to different templates. These templates
therefore represent the end product of the writing process (i.e., the lessons). They can also serve as useful points of
discussion with colleagues (such as other writers, instructional designers, creative, production, etc.) with whom the
content developer communicates throughout the development process.
A T2K content developer designs learning and develops content while integrating: (1) a pedagogical-technological-
creative world view, as expressed by guidelines and standards documents, (2) templates and tools that support
planning and development of the content, and (3) production constraints – time, technology, and human resources –
which influence the ability to carry out the learning design.
Given all of these considerations, the writing itself is a complex and challenging task. It is important to note that some
content developers may find it nonintuitive (as opposed to 'free writing') and need to adapt their work process
accordingly (think top-down instead of bottom-up).
The CGE tools were developed to support some of this complexity, hence making the content developing process
somewhat easier and more efficient. The tools have been gradually implemented in the production process for several
months now. Although it is too early to examine the effects on production, it can already be noticed that the process

4. has become more user-friendly and therefore easier to learn (for new employees), the standardization in the end
product has increased, and the number of bugs has decreased.
When examining the CGE effects on the content developing process, several insights can be found:
 The CGT's ability to preview the screen while designing the content is a meaningful added value.
 Creativity and variation in the final products can still be seen, despite the standardized tools.
 New content developers find it easier to understand the complexity of the process since it is externalized and
represented in the tools.
 Due to the interactive nature of the content development process, content developers need the ability to
move freely between the CET (macro design) and the CGT (micro design).
 The tools should support maximum flexibility (in the way data is presented and accessed) in order to enable
Learning Design processes. Otherwise it would be easier to design the content using another means and
come back to the tool only afterward.
What's Next?
T2K continues to strive to fulfill its vision, while seeking creative solutions for its different challenges. These are some
of the current Learning Design issues facing T2K:
 To continue developing the next generation of CGE tools to support the content development process, with a
special focus on integrating planning and design templates and methodologies (T2K's "Know How").
 To separate as much as possible the Learning Design process from production considerations and constraints
(e.g. separate the data from its visual representation).
References
Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold & underused: Computers in the classroom. Cambridge Mass./ London: Harvard University
Press.
Kali, Y., Markauskaite, L., Goodyear, P., & Ward, M-H. (2011). Bridging multiple expertise in collaborative design for
technology-enhanced learning. Proceedings of the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) conference (pp.
831-835). ISLS.
Walters, J., Dede, C., & Richards, J. (2009). Pedagogical Fit: An analysis of the design of Time To Know.
http://www.timetoknow.com/Data/Uploads/Pedagogical_Fit-Analysis_of_the_Design_of_Time_To_Know.pdf
Weiss, D. (2010). A pedagogical symphony for technology in the classroom.
http://www.timetoknow.com/Data/Uploads/T2K%20Pedagogical%20Symphony%20final.pdf