Discussion of the development of educational software focuses on a project at the Dutch Open University to develop a pedagogical design specification method for educational software that is not bound to specific instructional design principles or learning theories. "SHOC-TOOL" is described as a supporting tool for use with interactive…

Learners are active actors in learning environments and not mere consumers of instructional designers' products. In line with mediating paradigm instructional conceptions of students are analysed. These conceptions act as cognitive filters that affect students' use of both instructional interventions and support in learning environments. To gain…

This paper advances a framework for architecting usability properties in the e-learning instructional design process. To understand the framework for architecting usability properties into the e-learning instructional design process, the following have been defined: instructional design process, e-learning instructional design process, usability…

Evidence from multimedia research is far from being conclusive because of producing confounding effects or of neglecting parameters. Motivation plays a major role in this shortcoming as traditional multimedia theory is mainly based on cognitive factors, widely ignoring the fact that motivation significantly influences learning resources. Within…

This study investigated the extent to which teaching the recommended methods for problem-solving presented in third-grade mathematics textbooks adhered to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards and instructional design criteria. Results indicated that there were more variations than similarities within and across textbooks in…

Mobile technologies offer the opportunity to embed learning in a natural environment. This paper describes the design of the MobileGame prototype, exploring the opportunities to support learning through an orientation game in a university setting. The paper first introduces the scenario and then describes the general architecture of the prototype.…

In the right hands, learning objectives are great tools for clarifying thinking, breaking down learning into component parts, creating a logical order to learning, and demonstrating that a learning intervention is successful. Mostly, however, they have become cliches. With the industry's tendency to use them as pro forma media bites, they tend to…

The paper deals with the possibility of enriching the curriculum in mathematics, informatics and art by means of visual modeling of abstract paintings. The authors share their belief that in building a computer model of a construct, one gains deeper insight into the construct, and is motivated to elaborate one's knowledge in mathematics and…

Twenty-eight students (aged 9 to 17) freely explored a science Web site structured either in an outline (linear) format or "puzzle" (non-linear) format for 2.5 hours. Subjects then engaged in tasks involving locational memory and informational recall. The results indicate that presence of metacognitive skills was a necessary but not sufficient…

Designed learning environments embody conjectures about learning and instruction, and the empirical study of learning environments allows such conjectures to be refined over time. The construct of embodied conjecture is introduced as a way to demonstrate the theoretical nature of learning environment design and to frame methodological issues in…

This study examines the guidance role of the instructor in the teaching and learning process. The paper x-rays the need for the learners to be consciously guided by their teachers as this facilitates and complements the learning process. Gagne's theory of conditions of learning, phases of learning and model for design of instruction was adopted to…

In this article, the authors describe a method for assuring the quality of curriculum design based on techniques that have been used in industrial settings for over 30 years. Quality Function Deployment assures that the needs of the customer are considered at all levels of product design and a graphical matrix called the House of Quality serves as…

The need for information literacy in the curriculum has been recognized in several educational and workforce standards. These standards present a prescribed view of information literacy that emphasizes the economic need but undervalues the social nature of information and the experience students possess as information users. Theorists and…

Purpose: This paper aims to define the need for a route modelling language in e-learning, identifying requirements and candidate languages, before providing a recommended approach. Design/methodology/approach: Several sources of requirements are drawn from the literature then used to review available approaches to route modelling. The best…

Currently, e-learning systems are mainly web-based applications and tackle a wide range of users all over the world. Fitting learners' needs is considered as a key issue to guaranty the success of these systems. Many researches work on providing adaptive systems. Nevertheless, evaluation of the adaptivity is still in an exploratory phase.…