New authoring tool for content providers
Teachers today have to compete not only with television but also the Internet and mobile devices, all of which vie for the attention of the younger generation. Incorporating audio visual content into the learning process can help get children more interested in the subject material. In this way, they are also more likely to retain information and turn it into knowledge. However, technology is only a means of delivering the message. The content itself is the heart of any edutainment application. Content providers are not software engineers and thus need a simple yet powerful tool to create applications. The EU-funded 'Creative authoring tools for edutainment applications' (U-Create) project sought to develop a new prototype to make this possible. The U-Create met with content providers to gain a better understanding of what they wanted in an authoring tool. Once these specifications were determined, the system architecture could be defined. Emphasis was placed on having a user-friendly interface, making it easy to incorporate digital storytelling, mixed reality and other effects. Feedback from a small community of users was used to optimise the prototype. In general, satisfaction with the new authoring tool was very high. Based on these results, U-Create developers, which are primarily small companies, planned to proceed with commercialisation. A website was also set up for more information on how easily content providers can produce their own edutainment applications.
