OCCA is a pedagogical and technical framework under development at MEU that will facilitate the creation of rich online learning activities. It has evolved from the combined requirements of individual curriculum projects and an institutional need to promote standardised approaches.

The framework consists of an extensible set of small client- and server-side components connected by common protocols, rather than any centralised software system. Different component arrangements can support customised interactive interfaces, techniques for reflective & open-ended questioning environments and overviews of the student learning experience. Central to the framework is a State Description Protocol with which 'snapshots' of interactive Web pages can be saved, restored and analysed.

While online interactions do not replace face to face teaching, they can usefully supplement and enhance existing approaches. The flexibility offered by OCCA can empower academics to think beyond what is offered by more rigid delivery methods, for example, by integrated courseware systems or traditional lecture/tutorial structures. The intention is to encourage conception of novel interactive interfaces and interactions that will operate in conjunction with other approaches.

12 internally funded projects at the University will employ the OCCA framework in 1999. The longer term goal of the project is to provide the foundations for a self-supporting community, to share educational ideas, evaluated experiences and software components.

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