Describes how novice software designers interpreted usability sessions and how the designers responded to users' reactions to their prototypes. Describes qualitative analysis of class projects, usability sessions, and interviews with graduate students and proposes recommendations on how to improve the training of educational software developers.…

Provides an example that illustrates the interrelationship of the factors that influence educational software portability. Nielsen's seven-level approach to human-computer interaction is used as the basis for a model for factors that influence portability, and five phases in the life cycle of a software product being adapted are considered. (10…

Discusses results of a survey of 15 educational software developers, which indicate that none of the companies perform any empirical evaluation of their products as part of the development process. Importance and advantages of validation of the effectiveness of a program are considered, and suggestions for encouraging such validation are offered.…

Discusses the interrelationships of the concepts of adaptability and portability of educational software. A conceptual framework for adaptable educational software is offered, a seven-stage model of adaptation is presented, and the research approach of the USE project in the Netherlands--which is concerned with the development and use of adaptable…

Reconsiders and affirms the general model of factors that influence the portability potential of educational software by summarizing the articles in this special issue. Factors that received the most attention include software design and development; overall instructional approach; teacher training; and cultural assumptions. Areas for further…

Discusses usability engineering for multimedia learning environments and considers how it can benefit the design and development of educational software. Describes the design and development of interactive multimedia software for second-language learning that included input from users and field testing for usability. (Author/LRW)

Provides an overview of the articles in this special issue, which deals with the portability, or transferability, of educational computer software. Motivations for portable software relating to cost, personnel, and time are discussed, and factors affecting portability are described, including technical factors, educational factors, social/cultural…

Discusses factors that must be considered when designing educational software for international, multicultural use. Basic design principles are examined, including graphics and content; system factors are described, including language; cultural differences are discussed; instructional strategies are considered; and the software development process…

Discussion of courseware development focuses on a transaction shell approach that stresses flexibility and reusability of the courseware. Topics discussed include high-level programing languages, authoring languages, authoring systems, knowledge structures, and knowledge acquisition; and an example for applying the transaction shell approach to…

Describes a study that was conducted to monitor the eye movement behaviors of microcomputer users working with an instructional game under varying color conditions. Eye movement is discussed; the computer software is explained; and implications of the results for further research and for courseware designers are suggested. (21 references) (LRW)

Describes a study of high school students that investigated the impact of embedding an instructional map into hypermedia courseware on student achievement. Treatment of experimental and control groups is described, results of pretests and posttests are compared, and implications for software designers and teachers are suggested. (Contains 23…

Describes study that was carried out at the University of Calgary to determine how elementary school children conceive of computer-related tasks and how this information might be used to generate animated icons for educational software. Child-computer interaction is discussed, and differences in responses between three age groups are examined. (10…

Discussion of the portability of educational software focuses on the software design and development process. Topics discussed include levels of portability; the user-computer dialog; software engineering principles; design techniques for student performance records; techniques of courseware programing; and suggestions for further research and…

Discussion of cross-cultural media transfer emphasizes computer software portability. Educational aspects of portability are discussed; types of software most suitable to portability are described; educational guidelines for portability that focus on linguistic, contextual, structural, and motivational factors are offered; and a formative…

Explains the function of formative evaluation and the evaluation techniques that can be used in the various stages of educational computing research and development. Topics include computer software design; selecting evaluation standards; and a framework for formative evaluation, including theoretical models, expert consultation, and field…