Developmentally appropriate courseware can play a crucial role in enhancing children's learning and development. Research studies have demonstrated that early childhood educators face major challenges in selecting and updating developmental courseware that supports young children's development. The primary purpose of this study was to assess…

The topic of this paper is to describe the development of an interactive application that can be used in teaching English as a second language using children's stories in mobile devices. The aim of this experimental study has been to find out the potential of using the developed interactive mobile application in improving the learning skills such…

Most boys and girls interact differently with educational software and have different preferences for the design of educational software. The question is whether the usage of educational software has the same consequences for both genders. This paper investigates the characteristics of drill-and-practice programmes or drills that are efficient for…

In the age of "publish or perish," publishing academic journal articles is a must, not only for professors but also for graduate students in Taiwan. Increasingly, Taiwanese research universities are requiring masters and PhD students to write theses and dissertations in English, with an added caveat for PhD students to publish two or…

E-learning in corporate training has been growing rapidly because of the pursuit of time and budget efficiency in course development and delivery. However, according to previous studies, efficiency does not always guarantee training effectiveness, which is the major concern of human resource development. It is therefore necessary to identify the…

Presents a group of semiotic principles for software design and uses them to show how they explain different educational possibilities. Discusses interface design and describes Theater in the Computer, a software environment for children, to illustrate semiotic-based principle of interface design. (Author/LRW)

In the digital age, instructional designers must possess both a sound instructional design knowledge base and solid project management skills that will enable them to complete courseware projects on time, on budget and in conformance with client expectations. Project management skills include the ability to apply repeatable processes, along with…

Discusses the possible lack of credibility in educational interactive computer simulations. Topics addressed include "Shopping on Mars," a collaborative adventure game for arithmetic calculation that uses direct manipulation in the microworld; the Alternative Reality Kit, a graphical animated environment for creating interactive…

Identifies key factors affecting conceptual gains from using a CAL (computer-assisted learning) package and their application to a college practical laboratory class. Considers students' biographical characteristics, design features of the CAL package, and the way that the CAL was integrated into the curriculum. (Author/LRW)

Examines factors affecting the cultural appropriateness of Web-based course-support sites. Identifies a strategy for accommodating different values of these factors in Web-based course-support systems, based on a set of 10 design guidelines. Describes and evaluates the TeleTOP Method from the University of Twente (The Netherlands) to illustrate…

Discusses the effects of individual differences and cognitive styles on student learning in hypermedia programs and presents a cognitive model to illustrate how students with different cognitive styles react to non-linear learning in hypermedia by analyzing the findings of previous studies. Suggests implications for the design of hypermedia…

Provides an account of the design of the Lesson Planning System, a hypermedia performance support system (PSS) predicated on task performance to support novice teacher-education students in lesson planning. Reports on an initial research study to investigate the effectiveness of the software and discusses the role of PSSs in teacher education.…

Describes a computer-assisted learning program called Link, which was designed for psychology students to review their understanding of correlation. Results of a summative evaluation showed that use of Link contributed to students' understanding of correlation, as did the use of paper-based instructional materials. Suggests implications for…

Describes the evolution of courseware development and compares existing development methods, including traditional programing languages, authoring languages, and authoring systems. The use of a product which includes a customized courseware generator or authoring system is proposed, and an example is described that used HyperCard to teach the…

Outlines stages in the development of computer aided instruction in the University of Waikato French department, including the creation of the authoring language Proforma. Adaptations of Proforma to allow parallel versions of test materials are discussed, screen layout is described, and some aspects of test administration and timing are outlined.…