Turning the Tables: Authoring as an Asset Rather than a Burden.

We argue that authoring of Intelligent Tutoring Systems can be beneficial for instructors that choose to author content, rather than a time-consuming burden as it is often seen. In order to make this a reality, the authoring process must be easy to understand, must provide immediate benefit to the instructor doing the authoring, and must allow for incremental development and improvement. We describe a methodology that meets all of these needs using concept maps as a basis for authoring. The methodology creates a basis for intelligent support that helps authors improve their course organization and content as they work on the authoring task. We also present details of the rapid prototype being developed to apply the methodology and the initial experiences from its use.