The serious games community is moving toward research focusing on direct comparisons between learning outcomes of serious games and those of more traditional training methods. Such comparisons are difficult, however, due to the lack of a consistent taxonomy of game attributes for serious games. Without a clear understanding of what truly…

Interactive learning environments (ILEs) are increasingly used to support and enhance instruction and learning experiences. ILEs maintain and display information, allowing learners to interact with this information. One important method of interacting with information is navigation. Often, learners are required to navigate through the information…

The main scientific problems investigated in this article deal with technical evaluation of quality attributes of the main components of e-Learning systems (referred here as DLEs--Digital Libraries of Educational Resources and Services), i.e., Learning Objects (LOs) and Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). The main research object of the work is…

With the expansion of e-learning, the understanding and evaluation of already created e-learning environments is becoming an extremely important issue. One way to dealing with the problem is analysis of case studies, i.e. already created environments, from the reuse perspective. The paper presents a general framework and model to assess UNITE, the…

Discussion of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) focuses on what is required to evaluate the efficacy of an ITS. Research and development aspects of ITS are examined; and seven main principles that may be used to design, plan, and implement an effective ITS evaluation are described. (Contains 40 references.) (LRW)

Recommends that potential educational software purchasers examine publications containing software reviews, become involved in workshops that develop evaluation criteria for technical issues and instructional considerations of educational software, and obtain samples of actual software free of charge for review. Suggested periodicals for software…

Discussion of the use of the Internet and World Wide Web for interactive distance education courses focuses on the importance of providing iterative usability evaluation of online courses and strategies to ensure effective online course presentation. Design heuristics are suggested, including feedback, help and documentation, and controls for…

Reviews some of the assumptions underlying authoring guides and evaluation instruments for computer assisted instructional materials and recommends that software design and evaluation criteria be derived from a consistent learning theory base which considers the type of learning, type of learner, and instructional context. (Author/JJD)

The development and evaluation of a potential viewdata-style delivery system for computer assisted learning (CAL) at the Open University are described. First examined are Open University problems with CAL and television delivery systems, which resulted in the consideration of a viewdata approach involving allocation of a small central processor to…

Provides background information on the evolution of a large instructional Web site, "A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust" that was designed and developed by graduate students at the University of South Florida (USF). Design considerations, screen design and navigation, evaluation, and distribution via CD-ROM are discussed. (Author/LRW)

Future CSCL technologies are described by the community as flexible, tailorable, negotiable, and appropriate for various collaborative settings, conditions and contexts. This paper describes the key design issues of a generic synchronous collaborative learning environment, called Omega+. In this approach, model-based genericity is applied to the…

Discusses issues of instructional design for information literacy in the distance environment. Examines the selection of technologies for effective distance learning; ways active learning approaches can be incorporated into distance education information literacy classes; and ways of assessing information literacy learning outcomes in a distance…

Describes development shells and navigation templates that were designed by American Airlines trainers for the development of interactive multimedia instruction. Development time and cost are considered; functional requirements, including learning objectives, are discussed; and development shells for lessons, skills assessment, and proficiency…

Evaluates an interactive, instructional Web site that teaches the basic tenets of human performance technology. The methodology, based on a combination of heuristic and formative evaluation techniques, involved measuring attitudinal reactions to the Web site, learning gains from performance scores on practice exercise, and content, navigation, and…

Discusses how to design and develop an effective Web site to enhance instruction based on a graduate course at California State University at Hayward. Topics include the analysis phase, content organization, site architecture, interface design, testing, and the evaluation process. (LRW)