CACTUS

摘要

Novice users often face many difficulties in mastering current highly interactive systems. In this paper we describe CACTUS, an interactive system used to develop tutorial courses for software applications. CACTUS tutorial courses provide more adequate and more dynamical explanations than currently existing teaching components, since they are task-oriented and provide just-in-time context-dependant explanations. These tutors are also able to follow-up the user activity and act according to what they perform. CACTUS is an environment that uses the model-based design technology. In particular, CACTUS uses declarative hierarchical task-models to derive guidance instructions. Additionally, CACTUS releases tutorial course designers from part of the intensive workload of developing tutor programs as these guidance components are currently developed. This system helps to generate application tutorial courses based on a metaphor that represents the contents of the courses as if they were textbooks, sothat learning an application is assimilated to reading a book on certain subject and performing some activities.