An Extensible Framework for Building Interactive Courses on Web Sabin Corneliu Buraga Faculty of Computer Science, "A.I.Cuza" University of Iasi Berthelot Str., 16 Iasi 6600 Romania Tel.: +(40) 32 201529, e-mail: busaco@infoiasi.ro Abstract The World-Wide Web, the world's largest hypertext structure, has already in the last ten years a huge development. Recently, many worldwide consistent or semi-consistent collections of scientific data, in specific disciplines, have become accessible on Internet. These sources of information comply with a standard for interoperability. In this paper we propose an extensible framework based on XML (Extensible Markup Language) family for building interactive courses on Web. This framework consists in several parts used for distributed storage of hypermedia, for synchronized multimedia presentations, and for authorization of users (professors and students) to access data. Therefore, increased usage of online courses by non-specialists has increased the need for a more effective and friendlier user-interface experience. One solution of these problems is the use of extensible and adaptable standardized methodologies and languages for annotation of hypermedia information on Web, such as XML (Extensible Markup Language), RDF (Resource Description Framework) or SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language). Our proposed framework is platform independent and can be easily implemented on any operating system. 1. INTRODUCTION The World-Wide Web, the world's largest hypertext structure, has already in the last ten years a huge expansion. Recently, many worldwide consistent or semi-consistent collections of scientific data, in specific disciplines, have become available on Internet. Once simply a means of accessing information stored across various platforms, the Web is now a widely used medium for communication. The Web space has attracted a great deal of attention as a vehicle for delivering distance courseware. Institutions with long-standing involvement in distance education, such as the Open University and Athabasca University are incorporating Web-based elements. Although Web-based course materials have advantages over conventional textbooks and lecture notes, they have a number of common deficiencies: a) Access to course materials is (relatively) slow; b) Courseware does not adapt automatically to individual students; c) Interactivity must be programmed (using Java or other programming languages); d) Features of Web processing (caching and client-side information hiding) interfere with collection of student performance data. A number of attempts have been made to hit some of these problems, but solutions to one problem often obstruct solution of the remaining problems. WebWhacker or TelePort