Compares empirical results from three experiments using Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) data and search topics that involved three different user interfaces. Results show that marking Boolean queries on text, which encourages browsing, and hypertext interfaces to text retrieval systems can benefit recall and can also benefit novice users.…

Discusses multimedia Web site design that may include images, animations, audio, and video. Highlights include interfaces that stress user-centered design; using only relevant media; placing high-demand content on secondary pages and keeping the home page simpler; providing information about the media; considering users with disabilities; and user…

Presents a framework for interface design that provides people with flexible control over different views for an information space, particularly on the World Wide Web. The agileviews framework defines overviews, previews, reviews, peripheral views, and shared views that help people make decisions about where they should focus attention during…

This brief article gives a description of the Open Croquet Project and its applications. The project's Web site describes Croquet as a "combination of computer software and network architecture that supports deep collaboration and resource sharing among large numbers of users within the context of a large-scale distributed information system." One…

This paper discusses the development of a documentation technique for collaborative interactions. We describe the original version of the technique as used for a single learner collaborating with a software based learning partner; the second generation of the technique, which required adaptation for application to the analysis of group use of…

The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) serves a dispersed patron base, and its library has developed, over time, a circulation system for distributing physical research materials to its patrons throughout the United States. This article discusses the development of this system and its associated interface/database management system…

Students need to know how to find and use information, yet only 31 percent of information searches succeed. Google and Wikipedia are not the only providers of answers, although they are often students' first stops for information. Everyone knows how to open a browser, but can teachers assume they know how to search effectively for information? In…

Interactive whiteboards have made quite a splash in classrooms in recent years. When a computer image is projected on the whiteboard using an LCD projector, users can directly control the computer from the whiteboard. In some systems such as Smart and Mimio, the finger is used in place of a mouse to open and run programs or move windows around. In…

WebTOP is a three-dimensional, Web-based, interactive computer graphics system that helps instructors teach and students learn about waves and optics. Current subject areas include waves, geometrical optics, reflection and refraction, polarization, interference, diffraction, lasers, and scattering. Some of the topics covered are suited for…

Learner centred design methods highlight the importance of involving the stakeholders of the learning process (learners, teachers, educational researchers) at all stages of the design of educational applications and of refining the design through an iterative prototyping process. These methods have been used successfully when designing systems…

Geographic information systems (GIS) are computer-based tools for geographic data analysis and spatial visualization. They have become one of the information and communications technologies for education at all levels. This article reviews the current status of GIS in schools, analyzes the requirements of a GIS-based learning environment from…

Web-based courses and programs have increasingly been developed by many academic institutions, organizations, and companies worldwide due to their benefits for both learners and educators. However, many of the developmental approaches lack two important considerations needed for implementing Web-based learning applications: (1) integration of the…

Statistical clustering is critical in designing scalable image retrieval systems. This paper presents a scalable algorithm for indexing and retrieving images based on region segmentation. The method uses statistical clustering on region features and IRM (Integrated Region Matching), a measure developed to evaluate overall similarity between images…

Describes interfacing a hand-held oxygen probe with a microcomputer and suggests experiments for undergraduate chemistry courses that could facilitate student understanding of aquatic environmental processes which involve dissolved oxygen. Data can be analyzed through the program or exported into other software. Presents results of an experiment…

Develops a probabilistic model of the usage of an awareness-maintaining mechanism in a collaborative hypertext database system. Studies longitudinal time series data of user-database interaction. Finds that the recurring patterns in the occurrences of the awareness-seeking event were related to several contextual aspects of the Computer Supported…