Considers the relevance of human-computer interaction (HCI) guidelines for educational interface design, including why educational software is different from other products; differences in goal focus; performance and learning; and experiments that investigated transfer of learning, including implications for the design of educational technologies.…

Discussion of technology focuses on instructional technology. Topics include inquiry and technology; curriculum development; reflection and curriculum evaluation; criteria for technological innovations that will increase student motivation; standards; impact of new technologies on library media centers; software; and future trends. (LRW)

Discusses quality assurance for Web-based courses, based on experiences at the University of Pretoria. Topics include evaluation of courseware; the concept of quality, including quality control, quality assurance, and total quality management; implementing a quality management system; measurement techniques; and partnerships. (LRW)

Defines social and instructional interaction and outlines key elements influencing the design of adaptive computer-mediated learning. Discusses options for the design of interactivity: Web-based, groupware, programming tools, and hybrid course design programs; proposes a graphical model for choosing design tools balancing interactivity and…

Discusses how children's descriptions and evaluations of computer software are important ways to learn about how computers can be used in the learning process; describes how these evaluations can be an informal way of "child-testing" educational software. Offers examples of children's comments and suggests three Web sites that feature children's…

In the fall of 2002, Visions In Education, a charter school for home-schooled and independent-study children, opened Visions High School Academy (www.visions academy.org), a virtual project-based high school. The five educators who started the program--Mark Jackson, Fred Lamora, Celine Darby, Jennifer Russell and the author--identified three…

One of the traditional problems in courseware development that is recognized as hard to solve, is the communication and co-operation between various disciplines in project teams that are working on a courseware product [Alber (1996) "Multimedia: a management perspective." California: Wadsworth; Boyle (1997) "Design for multimedia learning." UK:…

For five years, Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT), a unit within the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG), has worked with faculty and staff to develop the eCore, an electronically delivered core curriculum for the University System of Georgia. The eCore contains courses leading to the completion of the first two years of…

The current paper describes the design and development of a qualitative analysis course and an interactive web-based teaching and assessment tool called VSE (virtual structural environment). The widespread reliance on structural analysis programs requires engineers to be able to verify computer output by carrying out qualitative analyses.…

A project to convert part of a Chinese language course ("Standard Chinese: A Modular Approach") to the PLATO computerized teaching system is reported. The project involved: (1) transcribing all the first sequence audiotapes for the first six instructional modules (these tapes present the material of each lesson); (2) rewriting the lesson…

This paper discusses some of the common threads shared by three dissimilar cases of multimedia authoring: multimedia conference proceedings, multimedia courseware development, and multimedia information kiosks. The benefits and pitfalls of academic development are reviewed and points of wisdom are shared. The paper draws on the experiences from…

A current project is underway to develop a multimedia system that would support the teaching and learning of Chinese characters, as well as provide a platform for conducting research into the cognitive aspects of Chinese language acquisition. Although the number of commonly used Chinese characters amounts to thousands, there are many structural…

This paper speaks to the challenges, risks, and rewards of teaching about linear functions in a technology-rich environment from a constructivist perspective by describing a Foundations of Algebra class, which was designed and taught to junior high school students in such an environment in the summer of 1991. The design and implementation of the…

A study investigated technical methods for simplifying and improving the creation of software for teaching uncommonly taught languages such as Chinese. Research consisted of assessment of existing authoring systems, domestic and overseas, available hardware, peripherals, and software packages that could be integrated into this project. Then some…

While many tools exist for the development of individual Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) pages, few exist for the development of complete hypermedia courses. The HTML Course Creator (HCC), developed by students at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point, New York), allows instructors who are not HTML experts to rapidly develop and easily maintain…