The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the pivotal role of digital learning and online lecture videos, leading a shift toward blended and flipped classrooms in the post-pandemic era. This shift calls for development and (or) refreshment of novel online educational resources, such as Voice-Over PowerPoint (VOPPT) presentations, specifically designed for…

Open education resources (OER) are taking centre-stage in many higher educational institutions globally, driven by the need to raise institutional profiles, improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning and achieve universal access to education. Many academics attracted to the idea of turning teaching materials into OER have, however, found…

Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) methodology uses Web-based tools to gather student responses to questions on preclass reading assignments. However, the technological requirements of JiTT and the content-specific nature of the questions may prevent some instructors from implementing it. Our own JiTT implementation uses publicly and freely available…

There is a concern that the teaching of subjects is applied not only with support from a set of technological devices, but largely in the proper use of teaching and new technologies. Taking this idea, the authors develop a research and sustainable design that result in educational materials in solid content and technological innovation, also to…

Teachers' competence to estimate the effectiveness of learning materials is important and often neglected in programmes for teacher education. In this lecture I will try to explore the possibilities of designing scaffolding instruments for a "priori" assessment of language learning tasks, based on insights from SLA and cognitive psychology, more…

Quality assurance in instructional development demands an exhaustive formative evaluation effort and applied testing. Unfortunately, this process is expensive and requires large numbers of user testers with characteristics similar to the intended audience. This article presents a procedure for increasing the efficiency of quality assurance efforts…

Discusses what to look for in training materials, focusing on educational value, cost effectiveness, and user support. The special advantages of the computer for training are also considered. (JN)

Five guidelines are presented for selecting educational courseware. Student behavioral objectives should be stated. Motivational and informative feedback should be provided. The type of student control should be appropriate to the learner and the task. The content should be accurate, and the pedagogical approach should be acceptable to the school…

The paper offers a model for the design and evaluation of computer-assisted instructional programs. Components of a diagnostic prescriptive instructional model are delineated, along with use considerations. A sample software program is evaluated according to criteria for the diagnostic function, the prescriptive function, and user considerations.…

Suggests computer assisted instruction software that doesn't provide all necessary components of a lesson can be useful if the teacher identifies instructional functions (Gagne's Events of Instruction) provided by the program and supplies those that are missing. This framework is applied to analysis of a specific computer program. (MBR)

Describes a computer-assisted instructional (CAI) program to accompany a 15-week, college-level, introductory lecture course on the scientific principles of mammalian nutrition. The nature of the program is discussed, and examples of how it operates are provided. Comments on the evaluation of the program are also provided. (JN)

Points out that although there are thousands of software programs available to support educational applications, there is a paucity of suitable courseware. An in-place system for proper evaluation of courseware that, to date, has "approved" more than 200 computer-assisted instructional programs is described. (JN)

The article discusses concerns of producers and users of computer software for those with special needs, reviews current research findings and projects, and reports on a survey of special educators (N=22) that identifies characteristics of desirable software. (Author/DB)

A nutrition lesson on vegetarianism (focusing on vegetarian types, complementary protein, special-care nutrients, and diet planning) that uses a pre-developed plan which concentrates on lesson content and design has been developed. Initial planning and procedures involved in developing the unit (selecting teaching modes, text writing, formatting,…

Describes an alternative approach to evaluation of computer assisted language learning software in the form of a flexible three-component framework. The approach targets operational description, teacher fit, and learner fit, from which teachers can develop their own evaluation procedures. (Author/CB)