This paper describes ToonTalk, a general-purpose concurrent programming system in which the source code is animated and the programming environment is a video game. The design objectives of ToonTalk were to create a self-teaching programming system for children that was also a very powerful and flexible programming tool. A keyboard can be used for…

This paper describes a methodology for use in teaching an introductory Database Management System (DBMS) course. Students master basic database concepts through the use of a multiple component project implemented in both relational and associative data models. The associative data model is a new approach for designing multi-user, Web-enabled…

The "newSLATE" environment provides a Web-based infrastructure for language learning. Its design and implementation were driven by the difficulties of non-Roman-script text handling. The software features a cross-platform approach to non-Roman text input and handling and a novel method for automatically generating online quizzes from study…

Parameter passing is the mechanism by which various program modules share information in a complex program; this paper was a study of novice programmers' understanding of the parameter construct. The bulk of the data was collected from interviews with eight college students enrolled in a state university introductory computer programming course.…

This document provides testimony on the U.S. Department of Education's efforts to ensure that its computer systems supporting critical student financial aid activities will be able to process information reliably through the turn of the century. After providing some background information, the statement recaps prior findings and the actions that…

Describes tools that make the Web more accessible for people with disabilities and lists some of the basic rules for designing a page layout, focusing on HTML, color, buttons, images, links, image map, forms, columns and frames, applets and plug-ins. Discusses how to evaluate the Web page. (AEF)

The growth of the Internet has greatly increased the demand for server-side programming courses at colleges and universities. Students enrolled in such courses must be provided with server-based accounts that support the technologies that they are learning. The process of creating, managing and removing large numbers of student server accounts is…

Advanced approaches to the construction of software systems can present difficulties to learners. This is true for multi-agent systems (MAS) which exhibit concurrency, non-determinacy of structure and composition and sometimes emergent behavior characteristics. Additional barriers exist for learners because mainstream MAS technology is young and…

In this paper, we present an ontology to represent the semantics of the IMS Learning Design (IMS LD) specification, a meta-language used to describe the main elements of the learning design process. The motivation of this work relies on the expressiveness limitations found on the current XML-Schema implementation of the IMS LD conceptual model. To…

This paper reports on considerations about the common basic functions and components for building a collaborative authoring environment. The paper aims to specify and systematize the technological issues towards the future standardization of such environments, based on the authors' previous research experiences. Standardization includes many…

Describes the "Hyper Apuntes" interactive learning environment, used as a didactic support to a computer programming course taught at the University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain. The system allows students to study the material and see examples, edit, compile and run programs, and evaluate their learning degree. It is installed on a Web…

Addresses the many hidden costs related to the purchase of an authoring program as well as the decision to bring multimedia development in-house. Examines the following concerns: programming skills needed for authoring; the learning curve cost; software and hardware costs associated with multimedia development; and media development cost. (AEF)

Purpose: To identify cases related to design of ICT platforms for industrial alliances, where the use of Ontology-driven architectures based on Semantic web standards is more advantageous than application of conventional modeling together with XML standards. Design/methodology/approach: A comparative analysis of the two latest and the most obvious…

Using modeling languages is essential to the construction of educational systems based on software engineering principles and methods. Furthermore, the instructional design is undoubtedly the cornerstone of the design and development of educational systems. Although several methodologies and languages have been proposed for the specification of…

A considerable amount of experiences in teaching object-oriented concepts using the Java language have been reported to date, some of which describe language pitfalls and concrete learning difficulties. In this paper, a number of additional issues that have been experienced as difficult for students to master, along with approaches intended to…