Identifies guidelines from the literature relating to screen design and design of interactive instructional materials. Describes two types of guidelines--those aimed at enhancing motivation and those aimed at preventing loss of motivation--for typography, graphics, color, and animation and audio. Proposes a framework for considering motivation in…

What uses of computers have effects on student engagement that seem most predicative of important learning? This research provides some evidence about this, examining empirical associations between kinds of software students use, teachers' pedagogical motivations behind their use, and one measure of student engagement: teachers' estimates of the…

Describes three encyclopedias available on CD-ROM: (1) Grolier's Electronic Encyclopedia; (2) World Book's Information Finder; and (3) Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia. Ideas for how they might be used in the classroom are suggested, information retrieval versus motivation is discussed, learning processes are examined, and stand-alone versus…

Discusses adult learner characteristics, explains events of instruction, and describes how the characteristics of adult learners can be merged with these events of instruction to help facilitate instruction in software use. Highlights include gaining attention; motivation; stimulating recall of prerequisite material; feedback; performance…