A person-centered model of instruction has been developed for use in designing instruction in virtual, Web-based environments. This model, based on the work of Carl Rogers, attempts to address several issues raised in the literature regarding: (1) the changing role of instructors and students; (2) the broadening of the notion of learning outcomes;…

This paper provides guidelines for creating REALs (Rich Environments for Active Learning) on the World Wide Web and demonstrates how those guidelines have been applied in a variety of Web-based learning environment contexts. The paper is organized according to the following attributes of student-centered REALs: (1) promote intentional learning by…

The administration of the University of Central Florida (UCF) has found a top-down formula that encourages the faculty to design, develop, and deliver World Wide Web-based academic courses. This paper describes the development of the program, including the growth of UCF, UCF student profiles, the UCF budget model, development of a distributed…

This book provides information for researchers and practitioners on the current issues and best practices associated with electronic learning communities. Fourteen contributed chapters include: "Interactive Online Educational Experiences: E-volution of Graded Projects" (James Benjamin); "Hybrid Courses as Learning Communities"…

Changes in pedagogy, technology, and resources have forced tremendous change in library instruction in the United States over the past few years. One educational factor has changed even more than learning theory or the technology we use to apply and explore it, and that factor is the characteristics of our user populations. Increasing diversity in…

Pedagogical research and empirical studies show that student learning is encouraged by a number of general characteristics displayed by teachers (Ramsden, 1992). One of them is enthusiasm for the subject and for teaching it. User-education in research libraries is often highly repetitive and contact time with students is limited. So the question…

As online education becomes more pervasive and increasingly acceptable in society, there is a need to critically examine the merits and underlying assumptions driving the justification, design, and teaching of such courses. This paper explores some of the symbolisms, namely myths and metaphors, pertaining to online higher education, with the…

The importance of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) technology family in the field of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) can not be denied. The Instructional Management Systems Project (IMS), for example, provides a learning resource XML binding specification. Considering this specification and other implementations using XML to represent…

This paper discusses the development and implementation of a computer-based directed study preservice teacher education course. Specifically, it explains the procedures followed to create the ten multimedia CD-ROMs that comprise the course, and how preservice teachers use the CD-ROMs. Topics to be covered include (1) rationale for course creation;…

This paper presents and discusses the evolution of a metadata-based course portal, the Open Learning Repository (OLR). Different instructional models and learning principles are integrated in order to meet different learning and teaching strategies: different metadata models (domain model, instructional model, cooperative and structural model) are…

The application of emerging digital technologies such as e-mail, the World Wide Web and the Internet in the educational setting has received wide acceptance all over the world. Both corporate and academic agendas have recognized the potential advantages of e-learning; however, as a new field, e-learning courses comes with important issues that…

E-Learning systems that produce personalized course offerings for the learner are often expensive, both from a time and financial perspective, to develop and maintain. Learning content personalized to a learners' cognitive preferences has been shown to produce more effective learning, however many approaches to realizing this form of…

Designing instructionally sound Web courses is a difficult task for instructors who lack experience in interaction and Web-based instructional design. Learning theories and instructional strategies can provide course designers with principles and design guidelines associated with effective instruction that can be utilized in the design of…

This paper describes a domain-specific repository based on the methodology for e-learning systems development. The methodology, which is based on information engineering and object-oriented technology, is used to support navigation for courseware development, designing the curriculum of e-learning components, and e-learning resources management. A…

The term "mobile lessons" is coined for lessons held outside of "artificial" environments, such as classrooms. During these lessons, all actors are mobile and must move to do the required tasks. Themes tackled in such lessons may be as varied as geography, history, ecology, and linguistics. The use of mobile lessons is not a…