This paper reports on the latest development of the Virtual Apparatus (VA) framework, a contribution to efforts at the University of Melbourne (Australia) to mainstream content and pedagogical functions of curricula. The integration of the educational content and pedagogical functions of learning components using an XML compatible script,…

Discusses multimedia authoring systems based on an analysis of multimedia computer-assisted instruction (CAI) courseware and its development. Topics include the function design of authoring systems; building a model of a multimedia CAI authoring system; and production techniques of the authoring system, including hypermedia. (LRW)

Creating educational software generally requires a great deal of computer expertise, and as a result, educators lacking such knowledge have largely been excluded from the design process. Recently, researchers have been designing tools for automating some aspects of building instructional applications. These tools typically aim for generality,…

Proposes a model for online hypermedia courseware that presents information in a controlled and predefined structure. Measures and evaluates the model's impact on design time and student study time. Finds positive improvements in delivery and dissemination of technical subject matters and provides a better understanding of required development…

Popular electronic tools for learning--tutorials, educational databases, learning nodes, simulations and educational games--are described, and their functions as part of the learning system are examined using Gagne's Events of Instruction model. Figures representing tutorial models are included. (Contains seven references.) (SLW)

This paper presents aspects of modeling, authoring, and presenting structured documents corresponding to teaching material presented in the World Wide Web. In this context, the importance of providing the formalization of the structure of the documents using Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is discussed. Next, specifications for…

This paper proposes a framework for supporting the authoring process of distance learning courses. An overview of distance learning courses and the World Wide Web is presented. The proposed framework is then described, including: (1) components of the framework--a hypermedia design methodology for authoring the course, links to related Web sites,…

Engaging learners on the World Wide Web is more than sending Web pages to the user. However, for many course delivery software programs, the smallest unit of delivery is a Web page. How content experts can create engaging Web pages has largely been ignored or taken for granted. This paper reports on an authoring model for creating pedagogically…

This research explored the thesis that mental model construction can be an effective instructional strategy for mental models learning by constructing a prototype that embodies this approach. The mental model to be learned was the Internet, including the components of the Internet, their functions, and their relationships to one another. To do…