The main criterion for the competitiveness of a teacher or expert in the field of science is a good ability to present their knowledge to students in an interactive form without spending a lot of time in preparation. The purpose of the study is to analyze modern editors to create educational information content in the modern educational space and to present a modern tool for creating web books based on the latest IT technologies. Modern editors of web material creation have been analyzed, statistics of situations on mastering of knowledge by listeners, using interactive methods of information submission have been investigated. Using the WYSIWYG concept and analyzing modern information tools for presenting graphic material, an effective tool for teaching interactive web material was presented. An adapted version of the MarkHub online editor based on cloud technologies is presented. Using MarkHub cloud-based online editor for the unified development of educational content can significantly increase the author's productivity in the content creation process. At the same time, the effects of reducing the time spent on formatting the external presentation of the content, making synchronous changes to different versions of the content, tracking the versions of the content, organizing remote teamwork in the network environment are achieved.
In the modern educational space, new technologies are being created every day, and
they are the ones that give the pace of social development. There are many challenges
that need to be addressed quickly to prevent large-scale consequences. This is
influenced by several factors: the surrounding atmosphere, the system of education and
the demand of young people for learning [
Modern approaches and technologies used in the preparation of content in the educational environment, require a lot of time and effort of the author. In preparing educational content (guidelines, textbooks, e-courses), the author often devotes most of his time not to the production of new knowledge, but to their visual design. Dissemination of different forms and mediums of content delivery, as a rule, entails the use of different software tools to create appropriate visual versions of the same educational content. At the same time, insufficient attention is paid to the application of methods and models in risk management, taking into account the particularities of the implementation of IT projects, in particular the methodologies used in the creation of software. In this regard, an urgent scientific and applied challenge is to improve the risk management processes of information technology projects by developing appropriate methods and models that combine the benefits of different methodological approaches to software development.
Many of these tools use the concept of user interface What You See Is What You
Get (WYSIWYG) [
The WYSIWYG Content Generation Approach was first introduced in 1974 in a Bravo
text editor developed by the Xerox PARC Research Center. In the future, this approach
became widespread due to the active introduction of a graphical user interface [
Unlike WYSYWIG, the What You See Is What You Mean approach (WYSIWYM)
implies the use of content preparation methods in which the logical structure and
content of the document are separated from its appearance [
The WYSIWYM concept appeared historically before WYSIWYG, but initially
required the use of a sophisticated tag model of document content markup (similar to
modern HTML and XML markup languages). In the academic world, the typesetting
system TeX (1978, by Donald Knuth [
The next step in the development of the WYSIWYM concept is the emergence of lightweight markup languages (Markdown Language, 2004, by John Gruber), which have taken advantage of the separation of content and form but use a much simpler model of content markup. Lightweight markup languages feature the use of a simple set of special characters to denote various logical blocks of content in such a way that its visual perception is as it is, without the involvement of additional tools, which in turn are only necessary to convert the format of the external content representation.
The rapid development and dissemination of the lightweight markup language family that has emerged in the coming years makes it possible to consider the use of the WYSIWYM approach as a basis for forming the concept of unified development of educational content. The proposed concept implies a technology for creating and disseminating educational content based on the WYSIWYM concept, which will meet the following requirements: ─ support of various formats of external presentation of content; ─ realization of creation of different types of content; ─ lack of significant and specific requirements for the level of technical competence of content authors; ─ the use of tools with a friendly user interface; ─ providing version control and joint remote development of content; ─ extensibility by embedding complex visual elements of content, including those created in WYSIWYG editors. 3
Educational content has undergone several stages of its evolution and the most common of these are oral knowledge transfer, manuscripts, book printing, e-books. Educational systems in some countries already use e-books in training. It is first and foremost accessibility and mobility that helps students to continuously learn. But nowadays, interactive e-books have more advantages than static e-books. The student has the opportunity to interact with different types of content: videos, pictures, tests, presentations, audio files and not interrupt the learning process. All items are in one online e-book.
Let’s analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the most common WYSIWYM editors used in the educational space (Table 1, 2).
eaSdnuidbtlopirmrfoeosreTcteohxdatet,issmupaaprtokeruxtpst ── NAibcielitayntdoedaissyplianytefrrfoamce.1 to 4 panels, ─ cNroeatgeracpohloicraslchienmteerfsa.ce to
Python plugins [
─ Automatic command completion. ─ It is not possible to add in(During the process of code-typing, teractive material. the editor recognizes the programming language and proposes to finish the command, as when writing a SMS to a friend, you are already given a ready-made version of the word). ─ There is an auto-save feature so that a person does not lose their job in an emergency. ─ Dark background of the editor allows to increase the contrast of the text.
─ Does not auto-indent after ─ Syntax highlighting. colon.
Notepad++ is an open ─ The ability to auto-complete the co- ─ There is no syntax check.
source text editor for de. ─ Does not show docstring
Windows with support ─ Work with many tabs at one time. users (ability to comment
for a large number of ─ Small file size and easy to install. on algorithm or command).
markup languages [
─ The modal user interface
seems strange to people
who are used to Windows
user interfaces;
─ The habits of working with
Vim is a text editor, one ─ Ability to work with multiple docu- this editor (commands,
of the most powerful ments simultaneously; scripts, syntax) will not be
editors with the free- ─ Auto-completion. with you, if you switch to
dom to customize and ─ Unicode support. another editor, they will
reautomate through ad- ─ History of words, commands. main in Vim;
vanced add-ons [
Emacs is a family of
extensible text editors
[
additional modes. ─ This editor is in some sense ─ Each function or variable can have an entire operating system, its own documentation, like a data- so some users run because base, and if you click on it you can of the lack of bits or the see the contents. need for a regular and ─ Ability to customize editing parame- simple editor.
ters. ─ It is not possible to add in─ Modifying editor features using teractive material.
Elisp language. Editor Advantages Disadvantages ─ The set of paragraph styles is limited to exactly those styles that are specified in ─ Provides complete control over mar- the original document gins, headers / footers, spacing / in- class. dentation, alignment, types of multi- ─ Very low prevalence of level list markers. .lyx format. Not one packaLyX is a word processor ─ eTdhietorer, isEmaawces-lls-twyloerkveedrssiopnreacdosnhteroetl ─ Igte eisxceapdtvLisyaXbleopetons.know itttenhhneasttteshoatefdrulypcosotuufyrroeducoaofcnnoudscmtuacsenontonltnys- iccmnhhetiaennnrtgfgsa”.ecfetorfraocprkacirnoagllllaesblyovsrteaertmsiivo,enapsnrdoofj“edbcortsac,nua-- ─ TLLmahyaTeXyre,eoXviasestronlaomgpew.atnaysytatrfotuenaddctdwioiinnthsibrefionrgmdaitsttirnagct[e1d3b]y the- ─ sYcoreuencaanccionrcdrienagsetothyeoufornttasstoesn atnhde ─ tYeorauctwivilel mnoattebreiaalb.le to masee all the text on the screen without ke a space between paragaffecting the margins and other for- raphs as the editor cleans it matting of your final result. up, so you will first need to ─ You can export the document in va- choose a style that suits rious formats. you according to the text
structure.
─ A large number of macropackages.
LaTeX is the most po- ─ Supports any language within a
singpular set of macro ex- le document.
tensions of the TeX ─ Mathematical formulas are
extremecomputer layout sys- ly simple to type.
tem, which facilitates ─ The user needs to know only a few ─ Requires knowledge of
elethe collection of comp- easy-to-remember commands that mentary basics of
typesetlex documents [
cument, and almost no knowledge of ─ Focuses on multitasking how the document is formatted. environments.
─ It is not possible to add in
teractive material. ─ Simultaneous training and use are not supported, which makes the approach to the development of technology more serious. ─ No WISIWIG. It is necessary to have the skills to work in a text editor.
Text formatting
Sublime
Thus, an analysis of the editors and the state of the market for educational content creation technologies allowed us to offer a cloud-based online editor, MarkHub (https://markhub.io), which allows you to generate web books using Markdown markup language with advanced native notation. Investigating other editors, it is clear that modern approaches and technologies take a lot of time when designing a product. This is a major benefit of our online editor, with the MarkHub online editor not only simplifying the interface but also shortening the time when working with MarkHub.
The main advantages of the proposed solution over other editors are:
─ extended Markdown notation;
─ two windows for work, one of which you write, the other reformat your text in a
proper visual appearance;
─ the ability to work together;
─ sync content with Google Drive and GitHub;
─ support for media, audio files, images, tables, direct links, tests;
─ export in SCORM, PDF, EPUB formats;
─ help material in the form of tips for content collection;
─ versatility of browsing the web through your phone, tablet or laptop.
The main element around which MarkHub’s cloud-based online editor is built is
Markdown Markup Language [
In general, documents written with Markdown are a standard TXT file that is open in all applications. It should be noted that the TXT file will not have a visual design, it will require editors such as MarkHub or StackEdit. The document will only contain commands for the editor. Below you will see an example of how a TXT file was modified with the Markhub editor.
The syntax of this technology is very simple. When writing, you need to use characters such as: # (grid), - (dash), * (asterisk), and so on. For example, if you want the author to make a title in a document using MarkHub, just put # - # in front of the title.
One of the reasons why we put Markdown technology at the heart of the editor is the existence of strict rules that cannot be ignored – service marks.
To sum up, Markdown technology has strict rules for content design. This can be
considered a benefit, because the author who worked with MarkHub notation will easily
understand the design of the material. In addition, the result will be predictable and live
up to expectations with a clear and simple notation. If small bugs do occur, they can be
quickly identified through a preview mode that automatically transforms the commands
into visual content visualization. Thus, Markdown is a popular and progressive way to
quickly design content that, thanks to its versatility and simplicity, saves considerable
time when writing technical text, scientific articles or educational materials. In turn,
such advanced editors as MarkHub will significantly simplify and diversify the text
based on Markdown principles and principles [
As for tools inside the online editor, there are many options for creating content: ─ text; ─ lists (ordered and unordered); ─ definitions and quotations; ─ drawings from external sources (photographs, diagrams and diagrams in different notations, mathematical graphs and diagrams); ─ circuits built using standard blocks and connectors; ─ tables; ─ mathematical formulas; ─ literal blocks (fragments of printouts, program listings, etc.); ─ links and footnotes; ─ media content; ─ tests.
Let’s take a look at the steps of preparing educational content in an e-book format in the cloud-based online editor MarkHub. The user interface in the editor is built using the WYSIWYM concept – the main elements of the interface are the source editor (left in the center) and the preview area (right in the center) (Fig. 1). The user in the editor works with the source text (content), applying to it the rules of Markdown markup language, and in the preview area, continuous rendering (formation “on the fly”) of the appearance of the content is carried out. At any point in time, the user can use the Build button on the top toolbar on the right, which allows them to generate an e-book and place it online on MarkHub server resources for further dissemination and use through the link. The appearance of the generated web book is shown in Fig. 2.
The proposed toolkit in a single MarkHub platform provides a huge impetus for competitiveness among other authors. Interactivity can easily capture the reader’s attention, and the easy content creation functionality will reduce the time spent on routine operations by 30% and move on to the more significant tasks of the learning process. Using the WYSIWYM approach to unifying educational content development can significantly increase the author’s productivity in the content creation process. This becomes possible on the basis of: ─ reducing the cost of time to format the external presentation of content, ─ making synchronous changes to different versions of content, ─ tracking versions of content, ─ organization of remote teamwork in a network environment.
All these workflows have a high proportion in the author’s educational activities, so their optimization is important in the current conditions of rapid creation and dissemination of information in the world.