Discussion of the development of distance education for instruction and training due to new technologies and software focuses on questions that need to be asked to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. Highlights include institutional and organizational concerns; content design analyses; development issues; implementation; evaluation; management…

Hypermedia-based courseware used at the University of Alabama for optometric education is described, focusing on these key features: uses of graphics; interactivity and navigation options; and capacity for printing course material, including both text and graphics, for handouts. The system has been found effective in both a multiinstructor…

"Bohr's Atomic Model" is a small interactive multimedia program that introduces the viewer to a simplified model of the atom. This interactive simulation lets students build an atom using an atomic construction set. The underlying design methodology for "Bohr's Atomic Model" is model-centered instruction, which means the central model of the…

Describes projects in a fifth grade classroom that used data collection and graph making activities as part of a collaborative project between the teacher and the library media specialist. Discusses the use of Excel spreadsheets, comparing the effectiveness of different types of graphs, and project planning. (LRW)

Reviews current directions and developments in cognitive theory and instructional design, highlighting cognitive science, constructivism, component-based instruction, customization, and creativity. In a practical implementation, a computerized interactive learning environment which has been developed for university freshmen in theoretical computer…

In this article, the author talks about Moore Square Museums Magnet Middle School, where educators are blending technology more heavily into the teaching of arts and music than most other schools. Arts teachers are integrating computer software with traditional instruction in dance, music, theater and visual arts to spark students' creativity. It…

According to James Robertson, the managing director of Step Two Designs, a content management consultancy, "A content management system supports the creation, management, distribution, publishing, and discovery of corporate information. It covers the complete lifecycle of the pages of one's site, from providing simple tools to create the…

Most science teachers are amazed when grading tests and quizzes, often wondering how and why students have reached a conclusion, particularly when students fail to provide a detailed account of their logic. Ideally, a variety of assessments should be used to identify alternate student conceptions or gaps in understanding, particularly when…

The author reviews the evolution of Web services--from information sharing to transactional to relationship building--and the progression from first-generation to fourth-generation Web sites. (Contains 3 figures.)

It is often claimed that techniques such as "multimedia" and the use of blended learning environments can be used to achieve powerful interactive pedagogies. Indeed, the advent of easy-to-use multimedia technologies has meant that a plethora of digital learning products is now becoming available. Despite the relative ease-of-use of these new…

Sociocultural theories of learning such as Wenger and Lave's situated learning have been suggested as alternatives to cognitive theories of learning like constructivism. This article examines situated learning within the context of computer science (CS) education. Situated learning accurately describes some CS communities like open-source software…

T-algebra is a project for creating an interactive learning environment for expression manipulation tasks of elementary algebra. Our main didactical principle has been that all the necessary decisions and calculations at each solution step should be made by the student, and the program should be able to understand the mistakes. This paper…

Online learning environments offer efficient ways of interconnecting group members and satisfying their communicative needs. However, learning does not proceed through shared communication alone; all groups imply social processes and learning groups demand an additional pedagogical intention. Popular online learning systems satisfactorily enable…

The goal of personalised eLearning is to support e-learning content, activities and collaboration, adapted to the specific needs and influenced by specific preferences of the learner and built on sound pedagogic strategies. One of the major challenges to the mainstream adoption of personalised eLearning is the complexity and time involved in…

The average age of students at Lake Michigan College (LMC) is twenty-eight years old. In the current study, the application of customized internet assessment for Chemistry 101, Introductory College Chemistry, from 2001 to 2005 is compared with traditional assessment from 1996 to 2000. The authors describe the ways in which computerized assessment…