RadioGraphics, Vol 16, 1489-1494, Copyright © 1996 by Radiological Society of North America
Development of cross-platform computer-based tutorials
JA Cooper and BK McCandless
Department of Radiology, Albany Medical College, NY 12208-3479, USA.
The development, distribution, and support of computer-based instruction in
radiology is complicated by the fact that many radiology departments use
computers with different operating systems: Macintosh and Windows. A
program for developing cross-platform on-line documentation was adapted to
develop a graphical hypertext tutorial that would run identically on both
types of computers. A tutorial for interpreting ventilation-perfusion scans
was created that would run on the Windows platform. The graphics were
converted to Macintosh format, and the identical source information was
recompiled to run on the Macintosh platform. It was found that the
tutorial, with its hypertext, full-color graphics, graphical links,
searching, user annotation, and bookmarks, could be displayed and operated
identically between platforms. Cross-platform tutorials must be developed
on a Windows- based computer but require only one source file for both
Windows-based and Macintosh computers. These tutorials can be distributed
free of charge, and minimal training is required for those who already know
how to use Windows on-line help.
