A review of BioTutor which is software to accompany the third edition of Neil Campbell's textbook, "Biology," is provided. The review includes a brief description of the software and a discussion of good and bad features of the software. In the closing words, the reviewer expresses a considerable amount of concern regarding the quality of this…

Presents a group of semiotic principles for software design and uses them to show how they explain different educational possibilities. Discusses interface design and describes Theater in the Computer, a software environment for children, to illustrate semiotic-based principle of interface design. (Author/LRW)

Proposes a three-tiered model of online teaching, consisting of low-level information dissemination, Web-enabled course supplements, and Web-engaged activities. Discusses how existing online course management systems generally do not support the full range of Web-engaged activities currently possible. Highlights stand-alone tools which do so and…

Over 35 firms have listed software applications that can be used by schools in third annual "School Business Software Directory." Each listing includes the name of the software and a general description of its utility. Tables provide detailed listings of the software's functions, type of support the company provides, and the hardware on which the…

Describes a pregraphics course for freshman engineering majors weak in three-dimensional spatial visualization skills. Freshman students scoring less than 60% correct on the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test: Rotations (PSVT:R) were counseled into the course. Gain scores for students after the course on the PSVT:R were shown to be statistically…

Describes the development of an online developmental reading course with asynchronous interaction among the students and instructor. Recommends using research on effective readers and effective reading instruction to dictate course curriculum and instruction; using online course packages to deliver the course; and piloting the course on-campus…

Discusses a three-year research project in which a virtual environment to teach radioactivity in secondary schools in the United Kingdom was developed and tested. Emphasizes the importance of involving teachers through the development process and confirms the importance of school-based evaluation studies in the development and evaluation of…

This status report on instructional software accessibility for individuals with disabilities notes current initiatives to further instructional technology accessibility and reports on a survey of 19 major companies producing instructional software. Only two responses reflected awareness of accessibility considerations and all the remaining…

Describes development of the Courseware Engineering Methodology (CEM), created to guide novices in designing effective courseware. Discusses CEM's four models: pedagogical (concerned with the courseware's pedagogical aspects), conceptual (dealing with software engineering), interface (relating to human-computer interaction), and hypermedia…

Examined whether there was a significant difference in learner outcomes from the use of Arthur (Gilbert & Han, 1999), a computer-based adaptive instructional system that provides personalized instruction to each learner. Found that Arthur does provide a significant difference in learner outcomes. (EV)

Early in his library career, John Shank realized that not only were students choosing Internet resources over library, resources, but Faculty members were, too. Shank is now widely recognized as a librarian who's likely to change that. In his current positions as instructional design librarian at Penn State Berks--Lehigh Valley College and…

Recent developments in digital rights enablement for video, plus inexpensive purpose-built applications such as the Media on Demand system, are now adding video to the montage of rich media objects for learning online. Video libraries and repositories can be customized and stored on local servers for access by place-based or distance learners as…

We propose to use didactical theory for the design of educational software. Here we present a set of didactical conditions, and explain how they shape the software design of Cabri-Euclide, a microworld used to learn "mathematical proof" in a geometry setting. The aim is to design software that does not include a predefined knowledge of problem…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of participation in Read 180, a teacher-mediated, computer-mediated reading instruction program, on the reading proficiency of 4th and 5th grade English Language Learners. The students who participated in the Read 180 program scored below the 25th percentile on the Florida Comprehensive…

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…