Automatically converting an electronic publication into an online course

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for creating an extended electronic publication based on an electronic publication, wherein the extended electronic publication enables delivery of an online course corresponding to the electronic publication, the method comprising:

receiving the electronic publication comprising informational content, standardized markup language tags, and standardized markup language attributes, wherein the standardized markup language tags and standardized markup language attributes specify styling and layout of the informational content for presentation on a standard electronic reader, wherein the electronic publication is in EPUB format;

adding metadata for digital assets to the electronic publication, wherein the metadata for the digital assets is embedded in the electronic publication in a manner that causes the standard electronic reader to ignore the metadata while presenting the electronic publication, and wherein the digital assets along with the metadata for the digital assets enable delivery of the online course corresponding to the electronic publication, wherein the metadata is specified as a value of a non-standard attribute, wherein the non-standard attribute is ignored by the standard electronic reader, wherein the metadata is encoded in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, and wherein the metadata for each digital asset includes a universally unique identifier (UUID) that is unique across the extended electronic publication; and

creating the extended electronic publication by packaging the digital assets with the electronic publication containing the added metadata for the digital assets, wherein the extended electronic publication includes multiple references to a first digital asset, wherein the metadata for each reference to the first digital asset includes a distinct UUID, wherein the metadata for each reference to the first digital asset includes a user interaction feature, and wherein a state of the user interaction feature for each reference to the first digital asset is maintained independently of states of user interaction features for other references to the first digital asset.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the user interaction feature enables a user to post a comment for the digital asset, and to read comments for the digital asset that were posted by other users.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the user interaction feature enables a user to communicate with an instructor.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the user interaction feature enables a user to demonstrate proficiency by answering a series of questions related to the digital asset.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the user interaction feature enables a user to manipulate the digital asset.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

uploading the extended electronic publication to a publication server, thereby enabling users to download and read the extended electronic publication on standard electronic readers; and

importing the extended electronic publication into an online course delivery platform, thereby enabling users to take the online course corresponding to the electronic publication.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein said importing the extended electronic publication into the online course delivery platform comprises:

deriving a course hierarchy from a table of contents section of the extended electronic publication;

extracting course contents from the extended electronic publication based on the course hierarchy;

determining styling and layout of the extracted course contents based on the standardized markup language tags and standardized markup language attributes in the extended electronic publication;

extracting metadata from the extended electronic publication; and

associating digital assets with the extracted course contents based on the extracted metadata.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the method further comprises:

maintaining version information for a set of elements in the extended electronic publication;

receiving updates for a subset of elements in the extended electronic publication;

creating new versions of the subset of elements based on the updates;

performing a quality assurance process on the new versions of the subset of the elements; and

upon completion of the quality assurance process on at least a subset of the new versions,

uploading the subset of the new versions to the publication server,

importing the subset of the new versions into a staging area of the online course delivery platform, and

updating the online course based on the imported subset of the new versions.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein files for the electronic publication are stored in a directory, and wherein the method further comprises:

creating a separate directory to store files for digital assets that are only used in the online course; and

storing digital assets that are only used in the online course in the separate directory.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform a method for creating an extended electronic publication based on an electronic publication, wherein the extended electronic publication enables delivery of an online course corresponding to the electronic publication, the method comprising:

receiving the electronic publication comprising informational content, standardized markup language tags, and standardized markup language attributes, wherein the standardized markup language tags and standardized markup language attributes specify styling and layout of the informational content for presentation on a standard electronic reader wherein the electronic publication is in EPUB format;

adding metadata for digital assets to the electronic publication, wherein the metadata for the digital assets is embedded in the electronic publication in a manner that causes the standard electronic reader to ignore the metadata while presenting the electronic publication, and wherein the digital assets along with the metadata for the digital assets enable delivery of the online course corresponding to the electronic publication, wherein the metadata is specified as a value of a non-standard attribute, wherein the non-standard attribute is ignored by the standard electronic reader, wherein the metadata is encoded in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, and wherein the metadata for each digital asset includes a universally unique identifier (UUID) that is unique across the extended electronic publication; and

creating the extended electronic publication by packaging the digital assets with the electronic publication containing the added metadata for the digital assets, wherein the extended electronic publication includes multiple references to a first digital asset, wherein the metadata for each reference to the first digital asset includes a distinct UUID, wherein the metadata for each reference to the first digital asset includes a user interaction feature, and wherein a state of the user interaction feature for each reference to the first digital asset is maintained independently of states of user interaction features for other references to the first digital asset.

11. A method for creating an extended electronic publication based on an electronic publication, wherein the extended electronic publication enables delivery of an online course corresponding to the electronic publication, the method comprising:

receiving the electronic publication comprising informational content, standardized markup language tags, and standardized markup language attributes, wherein the standardized markup language tags and standardized markup language attributes specify styling and layout of the informational content for presentation on a standard electronic reader, wherein the electronic publication is in EPUB format;

adding, by computer, metadata for digital assets to the electronic publication, wherein the metadata for the digital assets is embedded in the electronic publication in a manner that causes the standard electronic reader to ignore the metadata while presenting the electronic publication, and wherein the digital assets along with the metadata for the digital assets enable delivery of the online course corresponding to the electronic publication, wherein the metadata is specified as a value of a non-standard attribute, wherein the non-standard attribute is ignored by the standard electronic reader, wherein the metadata is encoded in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, and wherein the metadata for each digital asset includes a universally unique identifier (UUID) that is unique across the extended electronic publication; and

creating the extended electronic publication by packaging the digital assets with the electronic publication containing the added metadata for the digital assets, wherein the extended electronic publication includes multiple references to a first digital asset, wherein the metadata for each reference to the first digital asset includes a distinct UUID, wherein the metadata for each reference to the first digital asset includes a user interaction feature, and wherein a state of the user interaction feature for each reference to the first digital asset is maintained independently of states of user interaction features for other references to the first digital asset.