Knowing how to use authoring software does not guarantee effective multimedia instruction. Developers should focus on good product definition, design, and content and on skill building. (SK)

Discussion of effective computer-based training (CBT), or computer-assisted instruction, emphasizes that the media used should be selected to support and deliver the message, not overpower it with unnecessary elements. Topics include computer as tutor; design and authoring tools; interaction; procedural versus principled tasks; and information and…

Pacific Bell changed the process for producing computer-based training. The use of models and authoring-shell templates gives course developers greater responsibility and flexibility in designing their training products. (JOW)

Adaptation and personalization services in e-learning environments are considered the turning point of recent research efforts, as the "one-size-fits-all" approach has some important drawbacks, from the educational point of view. Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems in World Wide Web became a very active research field and the need of…

Although Web 2.0 technologies have been recognized as effective means of conducting group learning activities, a critical and challenging issue of Web 2.0-based learning is the lack of mechanisms for promoting information exchanges and sharing among participating students. To cope with this problem, an intelligent blog system is proposed in this…

Despite a growing development of virtual laboratories which use the advantages of multimedia and Internet for distance education, learning by means of such tutorial tools would be more effective if they were specifically tailored to each student needs. The virtual teaching process would be well adapted if an artificial tutor can identify the…

Describes the use of a commercial hypermedia package for the development of an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) for the Army's Mobile Subscriber Remote Telephone. Time comparisons with an ITS developed by programmers are discussed; users' evaluations of the two versions are described; and questionnaires used in the study are appended. (Contains…

This paper examines the concept of learning objects, the advantages they offer, and related issues. Learning objects focus on content, while the Learning Design specification addresses pedagogy. Underlying both of these approaches is the motivation to reuse, which has cost and quality benefits. Despite these benefits, adoption of the two…

This article focuses on research findings concerning the relationship between young children's computer use in the classroom and constructivist education. Three ways of using computers emerged: computers as books or workbooks; computers for word processing; and computer programming of graphics. It was concluded that word processing was most…

Discusses the evolution of authoring tools and hypermedia learning systems based on technological and pedagogical innovations. Highlights include instructional products; computer-based instruction and Web-based instruction; classes of authoring tools; Web-based course management tools; scalability and usability; object oriented designs; learners…

Discussion of computer programming and knowledge-based instruction focuses on three studies of elementary and secondary school students which show that five particular problem-solving strategies can be developed in students explicitly taught the strategies and given practice applying them to solve LOGO programming problems. (Contains 53…

Discusses the issue of education versus training in computer science based on the author's personal experiences. Highlights include early uses of computers, learning programming languages, initial computer-assisted instruction, the use of courseware, Web-based instruction that will need both education and more practical training, and realizing the…

The Educational Object Economy (EOE) emerged from research on end-user authoring tools for multimedia software and, by 1997, developed into a library of over 2000 freely available interactive simulations for learning. The organization's original goals and its ongoing interest in alternative methods of software authoring led to continuing…

This article contains a description of the organization and method of use of an active learning environment named MODeLeR, (Multimedia Object Design Learning Resource), a tool designed to facilitate the learning of concepts pertaining to object modeling with the Unified Modeling Language (UML). MODeLeR was created to provide an authentic,…

The IMS Learning Design specification aims at capturing the complete learning flow of courses, without being restricted to a particular pedagogical model. Such flow description for a course, called a Unit of Learning, must be able to be reproduced in different systems using a so called run-time environment. In the last few years there has been…