Internet Processing
Web-based training involves interactions between trainee and computer and between the various Internet computers tied into the training system.
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The trainee's interaction with the computer application reflects the performer's interaction with the environment of the skills being performed. The interaction is determined by the dynamics of that environment and the part the trainee plays in it. So we have to deal with so-called active Internet pages.
Active pages are distinguished from pages that are simply changing -- as in a movie. Pages could contain text and/or static graphics or be motion picture clips, yet still be passive. When you watch a movie, you don't alter the scenes that appear on the screen.
Both static and dynamic pages can be viewed non-interactively in that no page content is modified because of the viewing, just as we read books or watch television without affecting the content, even though our views may change in the process.
Alternatively, both static and dynamic pages could be changed in special ways to reflect degrees of interaction with the user, a function of how you manage your skills. This active process adds another layer of interaction between your computer and the Net, one which, alone, can be complicated. It involves serious analysis of the environment of the skills being trained. Information isn't simply handed to you. For examples of interactive environments, you might read my book, particularly Chapter 8.
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Early in the days of the Internet, researchers developed client/server technology, where one application (a server) provides a service for another application (a client). The relationship might also describe the interaction between the Web and the local computer (or browser) engaged in the study or training of skills. But in this case, the entire Web may be viewed broadly as the server for the client application.
However, the clear sense of receiver/provider can get lost in the intricacies of the network relationship if the computers in the system can "talk" to each other. Each computer might then be a server in certain respects (as a specialist), yet be a client in other respects. The parts could become interdependent, just as we are in ordinary life. It can get very complicated.
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Parallel Distributed Processing
The Internet offers the possibility of parallel distributed processing of the information content of skills environments, or what is otherwise known as neural computing, or neural networking, or connectionism, among other terms. This has the potential for game playing, or team or system training, as well as enhanced individual training -- which brings us to topics like components, interfaces, persistence, scalability, multi-tier architecture, security, and clustering, among other things. You might consult the programming literature, parallel programming, or neural networks for details of these topics.
Distributed processing is a collection of ideas and methods growing out of an older theory known as parallel programming. Distributed processing involves delivering information to the various computing components in a network to be processed in parallel, and is being applied to business transactions, or commerce -- transactions involving money. The subject is particularly important, here, because business transactions make up a large class of skills environments. These business situations are among the many environments that could be simulated.
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