The significance of design thinking and systems thinking for design has gained much recognition in recent years. In comparison to design thinking, scholarly discussion about systems thinking has a much longer history and includes more multiple and divergent perspectives. This paper reviews and critiques the essence of design thinking and systems…

One useful framework for understanding and articulating instructional design to change biased beliefs is the Martin and Reigeluth model for affective development, appearing in Volume II of Reigeluth's "Instructional-Design Theories and Models" (1999). Using this recently developed framework to examine a Web-based multimedia instructional program…

This article proposes a categorization model for online distance education environments, based on two different aspects: interaction and content. The proposed categorization, which was based on the experience acquired in developing, implementing, and operating different remote training courses, is aimed at providing evidence to help educational…

It is well established that Web-based courseware must not restrict itself to the mere delivery of instructional material, but must be grounded in some sound model of instruction and learning. This paper discusses one such model, based on the best of instructional design principles and tries to overcome two of the most serious problems that are…

Scaffolding refers to a temporary support framework used during construction. Applied to teaching and learning it describes measures to support a learner to become confident and self-reliant in a subject. In a Web environment scaffolding features need to replace the instructor. This paper discusses an approach to Web-based scaffolding based on the…

Instructional design for Web-based teaching and learning environments causes problems for two reasons. First, virtual forms of teaching and learning result in little or no direct contact between instructor and learner, making the evaluation of course effectiveness difficult. Second, the Web as a relatively new teaching and learning medium still…

A number of projects over the past decade, in a range of educational contexts, have sought to link forms and patterns of communicative interaction to improvements in knowledge, conceptual understanding and reasoning skills. These initiatives have produced dialog models, methodologies for developing these in ways that lead to the design of…

Guidelines represent an important instrument in the development of Web-based Training (WBT). They help to create reliable, portable, and interoperable standardized WBTs of high-quality. The development of guidelines can be considered as a key success factor regarding the effectiveness of WBTs. The effects of guidelines can be both favorable and…

Design of feedback in an online workshop is considered from the perspective of legitimate peripheral participation. A tool for gathering and reporting feedback in an online workshop was developed and tested in the context of ongoing practice. Social and software design issues are considered together. Discussion includes: feedback and online…

E-Learning technology today is used primarily to handcraft training courses about carefully selected topics for delivery to employees registered for those courses. This paper investigates the integration of e-learning and knowledge management technology to improve the capture, organization and delivery of both traditional training courses and…

Computer programming is a domain of knowledge that is generally considered difficult by students, many of whom experience low levels of achievement and become disillusioned. This paper suggests that cognitive load theory needs to be taken into account when designing instructional materials for this domain. The cognitive load that is experienced by…

In the context of higher education, the development of students' problem solving skills continues to be an area of much ongoing research. Effective teaching of problem solving requires the adoption of process-based approaches that reveal to students the ways that experts solve problems, and the coaching of students in higher order and…

Standardization initiatives in the field of learning technologies have produced standards for the interoperability of learning environments and learning management systems. Learning resources based on these standards can be reused, recombined, and adapted to the user. However, these standards follow a content-oriented approach; the process of…

Heuristic evaluation is a methodology for investigating the usability of software originally developed by Nielsen (1993, 2000). Nielsen's protocol was modified and refined for evaluating e-learning programs by participants in a doctoral seminar held at the University of Georgia in 2001. The modifications primarily involved expanding Nielsen's…

Education is moving towards revenue generation from such channels as electronic learning, distance learning and virtual education. Hence learning technology standards are critical to the sector's success. Existing learning technology standards have focused on various topics such as metadata, question and test interoperability and others. However,…