A model that maps the requisite skills, or knowledge components, to the contents of an online course is necessary to implement many adaptive learning technologies. However, developing a skill model and tagging courseware contents with individual skills can be expensive and error prone. We propose a technology to automatically identify latent…

Discusses GTE (Generic Tutoring Environment) and courseware engineering and argues that GTE's theoretical knowledge base focuses on teaching as a good model for any kind of instruction and thus reduces its generic nature. Two examples of weak automation for instructional design are described that have broader knowledge bases. (Author/LRW)