Describes two World-Wide-Web-based products designed to make the Web more interactive and accessible to less technically inclined language professionals for course development. The eWeb is a set of functions that support large-group and individual synchronous/asynchronous communication and material development. HomePage Maker allows interlinking…

Examines the status, issues, and trends of multimedia instructional support. Presents examples associated with the development of CD-ROMs and interactive Web sites to illustrate important considerations for such development. Some issues considered include: degree of interactivity, performance, accessibility, dependability, and development dynamic.…

Illustrates the advantages and difficulties of using multimedia in the second language French classroom from the point of view of both the teacher and the learners. (Author/VWL)

A 1987 project to develop materials for computer-assisted instruction in Thai and Indonesian and to train teachers in their use is described. Three different sets of Thai materials based on authentic materials were developed and field tested. One concerned the layout and function of a Thai monastery compound, another was an advanced exercise in…

This final report describes a 3-year project at one elementary school in Renton, Washington, which used hypermedia to develop supplementary reading materials for students with and without mild disabilities in integrated elementary classrooms. The hypermedia software provided reading selections designed to supplement a basal reader series by…

Some of the elements instructional designers must consider when designing screens for computer based instruction (CBI) include legibility, readability, and particularly font size. The purpose of this study was to determine which size font is most effective for CBI. Participants were 163 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in an…

This paper presents guidelines for World Wide Web-based instructional design, based on the 3Ls (i.e., linking, layout, and learner support). The first section, focusing on macro level design, discusses nodes and links, including how nodes work, determining nodes, node size, presentation format, characteristics of links, and kinds of links. The…

The University of Canberra (Australia) has made courseware on the subject of computer operating systems available on the World Wide Web for a number of years, using a very simple hypertext format. Server logs have previously been analyzed to determine the amount of student usage. This paper reports on a restructuring of the courseware designed to…

The Computer Assisted Teaching Unit (CATU) was instituted at Queen Mary College in 1973 to provide aid to the Faculty of Engineering in developing and implementing computer-based learning procedures to support the undergraduate teaching program. Earlier computer programs had simulated electrical and nuclear systems to give students the opportunity…

A total of 163 microcomputer programs evaluated by the Educational Products Information Exchange (EPIE) Institute through December 1983 were examined in order to identify strengths and weaknesses in instructional and technical design. Programs were evaluated in a variety of areas including the arts, business education, computer languages, computer…

The future of computers in education and the research needed to realize the computer's potential are discussed in this report, which presents a summary and the conclusions from an invitational conference involving 40 computer scientists, psychologists, educational researchers, teachers, school administrators, and parents. The summary stresses the…

This report describes the progress and plans of the Scottish Microelectronics Development Programme (SMDP), which was created to stimulate the development of microcomputer software and the use of microcomputers in both curriculum and management through the loan of hardware to a selected group of projects based in schools and colleges. Included are…

This paper presents a critical review of computer assisted instruction (CAI); an overview of recent intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs), including current perceived shortcomings; major activities of the field, i.e., analysis of teaching/learning processes, and extending and developing artificial intelligence techniques for use in intelligent…

This paper presents a basis for judging the merits and shortcomings of computer software for vocational education and contains a comprehensive evaluation tool for educational software. The historical development of computer hardware and software as used in education is addressed. A discussion of the evaluation of educational software stresses the…

The nine reports contained in this monograph describe in some detail projects to improve instruction initiated in 1974 at Memphis State University. The initial pages describe the criteria used to select the programs for funding. The nine projects fall into five areas: 1) computer-based instruction; 2) video technology; 3) individualized…