The development of effective contentware requires high level professional and sophisticated mechanisms to design, produce, test, and package them. The first and most crucial step in the process is the constitution and training of contentware development teams. The role of these teams is to design, develop, test, finalize, and package the set of learning modules to fulfill the needs identified in Tool 4.1.

Composition of the Development Teams

Depending on the scope of contentware development, there could be one core team that provides overall instructional and technical leadership supported by "satellite teams" focusing on different curricular subjects. Due to the multifaceted nature of the learning modules discussed above, the composition and expertise of both the core and satellite teams should reflect this diversity. The teams will draw upon other specialists and institutions in the implementation of their work.

For a summary of the composition of a typical development team specifying roles, specializations, qualifications, and experience, see below. The scope of work determines the numbers of each specialty.

Training of Development Teams

The above specialists need to be oriented/trained in:

• The process of design, development and testing of modules
• The actual production
• Testing of modules
• Application of authoring and learning management systems (if this option is chosen)

The scope of the orientation/training program depends on the level of qualifications and experience of the Team members. A typical program may include the following

Initial Orientation/Training – about a week

• Practicum- Development of experimental modules – Two months
• Feedback and evaluation workshop - One week

For a sample program of initial orientation/training, see below: