Abstract: Systems and methods for collaborative authorship of content for a distributed delivery system are provided. The system comprises a server configured to store and regulate access to one or more course materials developed by one or more authors, wherein the one or more course materials comprise information to be taught to a student. The system further comprises one or more client computer systems configured to communicate with said server, each of the one or more client computer systems comprising a display configured to show a hierarchy of course materials, a messaging module configured to send and receive content-related event messages to and from the server, and a user interface module configured to update the display in accordance with content-related events. The server is configured to send event messages to the one or more client computer systems. In some embodiments, the one or more client computer systems are configured to synchronize content with the server.