Semantic Web technologies have been applied in educational settings for different purposes in recent years, with the type of application being mainly defined by the way in which knowledge is represented and exploited. The basic technology for knowledge representation in Semantic Web settings is the ontology, which represents a common, shareable…

The objective of this research was to explore design thinking among teams of high school students. This objective is encompassed in the research question driving this inquiry: How do teams of high school students allocate time across stages of design? Design thinking on the professional level typically occurs in a team environment. Many…

Transformational games are digital computer and video applications purposefully designed to create engaging and immersive learning environments for delivering specified learning goals, outcomes and experiences. The virtual world of a transformational game becomes the social environment within which learning occurs as an outcome of the complex…

As the designer of primary and secondary educational facilities, the author has become familiar with educational thinkers such as Sir Kenneth Robinson, Peter Senge, Ewan McIntosh, Daniel Pink and Howard Gardner--each promoting an approach based on system-thinking, self-directed exploration and multidimensional, interactive learning. In 2009, he…

This practice brief highlights the collaborative work among a disability resource professional, a university architect, and students with disabilities to create a campus recreation center with universal design features. This partnership serves to illustrate that building to minimum compliance standards does not necessarily remove barriers to…

Virtual environments, virtual worlds, simulations, 3D models are loaded with potential, promise, and problems. While learning in virtual settings is still being researched, instructional designers are challenged as to which instructional design practices are best suited for virtual environments (VEs). The problem is there is a lack of a conceptual…

The research presented in this article aims to validate quality assessment parameters for student support at higher education institutions. Student support is discussed as the system of services provided by a higher education institution which helps to develop student-centred curriculum and fulfils students' emotional, academic, social needs, and…

"Ergonomics" is a body of knowledge about human abilities and limitations and how these abilities and limitations should be applied to the design of equipment, machinery, and other devices to ensure safe, comfortable and effective use. Most homes and schools today are equipped with computers for student use. Backpacks have become the…

Using typography as its exemplar with its lack of clear performance criteria, this article questions what is good design and how to measure a designer's accountability. Evaluation criteria are teased out from various perspectives: credibility, ease of use, stakeholder inclusion in the design process, respect for cultural dimensions and whether it…

At Franklin University, we are in the process of creating a master's degree in Instructional Design and Performance Technology. In one of the program courses, Enhancing Learning with Technology, we wanted students to experience applying principles of e-learning while using an industry standard e-learning application. However, we have learned by…

The field of instructional design does not collect and share actual completed instructional designs and designers' reflections on the creation of those designs as an integral, widespread aspect of its practice. This article defines the instructional design case as a means of knowledge building. It lays out the components of instructional design…

Of late there has been growing interest in the potential of technology to support children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) with social and life skills. There has also been a burgeoning interest in the potential use of mobile technology in the classroom and in the use of such technology to support children with ASD. Building on these…

This article describes a recently introduced module at University College Dublin School of Information and Library Studies (SILS), entitled "Information Architecture: Designing the Web." The module provides students with a realistic experience of how information architects apply their skills to produce usable web sites, via a project to…

How to plan an open and distance learning (ODL) unit in higher education is not clearly described in the literature. A number of ODL facilities at residential universities have not been successful because of a lack of planning or because of failure to ensure that all the different systems for ODL delivery were in place and functioning. This paper…

The Personalized Integrated Educational System (PIES) design theory is a design recommendation regarding the function and features of Learning Managements Systems (LMS) that can support the information-age learner-centered paradigm of education. The purpose of this study was to improve the proposed functions and features of the PIES design theory…