Discusses designers' need to design educational software for subversive use, recognizing that users fit the use of technology-based environments into contextually tuned "situated" learning environments. In this sense, good design is volatile design, or design which changes with contextual use. These ideas are illustrated with reference to a range…

Virtual reality is an immersive, interactive medium that manipulates the senses in order provide users with simulated experiences in computer-generated worlds. The visual design of virtual reality is an important issue, but literature has tended to stress the medium's instructional potential rather than setting forth a protocol for designing…

This paper presents a model for designing computer-based simulation environments within a constructivist framework for the K-12 school setting. The following primary criteria for the development of simulations are proposed: (1) the problem needs to be authentic; (2) the cognitive demand in learning should be authentic; (3) scaffolding supports a…

A World Wide Web-based course at Winona State University (Minnesota) in the history of modern Germany (1818-1990), offered during the 1997-98 academic year, showcased several teaching innovations. Taught in "studio mode," with a workstation for each student, the course combined seminar discussions with electronic communication via e-mail…

This paper reports on the first phase of a research project undertaken by a team at the University of South Australia and Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) to design and deliver educational applications of digital learning media and to identify criteria for assessment of the efficacy and quality of the use of such media from a…