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Online Articles - Web-based Learning
Advanced Educational Uses of the World-Wide Web. Abstract: Because of its characteristics, educational uses of WWW can evolve along two major axes: use of the technology on a closed corpus of educational material, for the hypermedia and distance delivery capabilities of the web on one hand, and use of this technology on an organized structure of links for an open corpus of material that was not necessarily meant for educational use but which can be "redirected" and exploited in guided educational explorations. These two axes are not antagonistic, but can be alternatively or complementary exploited. In this paper, we analyze those features of WWW that are most interesting for educational purposes and show possible sophisticated pedagogical uses of the web. Authors: Bertrand Ibrahim, University of Geneva Stephen D. Franklin, University of California Irvine.
Affordances and Constraints of the Internet for Learning and Instruction. Abstract: The Internet promises dramatic changes in the way we learn and teach, the way we interact as a society. The changes of a coming epoch are already taking shape. In higher education, most students have access to Internet resources. But many who have access have shown reluctance to make use of those resources. An attempt to understand this reluctance has led to an analysis using James Gibson's model of affordances. This paper contrasts the Internet with other fundamental educational infrastructures throughout history. It offers an analysis of literacy, printing and electronic publishing in terms of human affordances along with the constraints associated with each medium. Authors: Martin Ryder, Storage Technology Corporation, and Brent Wilson, University of Colorado at Denver.
An Educational Environment Using WWW. Abstract: In this paper the authors present a WWW student-centered educational environment that has been realized using a particular methodology which allows students to be inside an informative area. In this area they are able to focus on the topics they prefer, to satisfy their particular instructional needs and also to make an educational and engaging path, through a specific set of tools. A Mosaic sensitive map makes it possible to start the navigation in the organized cyberspace, by choosing one of the displayed topics. After choosing the topic the students are interested in, they have a set of tools by which it is possible to access to the following functionalities: a) virtual classroom; b) digital libraries and museums; c) attending to seminaries and conferences; d) making cooperative work. This set of tools can be different according to the chosen topic. Authors: Mariano Fiorito, Dario Iovane, and Pietro Pantano, Universita' degli Studi della Calabria.
Creating a Virtual Classroom for Interactive Education on the Web. Abstract: The World Wide Web provides new opportunities for distance education over the Internet. The Web, when combined with other network tools, can be used to create a virtual classroom to bring together a community of learners for interactive education. The Cornell Theory Center, a national center for high performance computing, is investigating the use of emerging network technologies for training computational scientists and researchers in the concepts of parallel processing. This effort is being built on electronic educational materials already on the Web and will evaluate the effectiveness of various collaborative tools. Authors: Dan Dwyer, Kathy Barbieri, Helen M. Doerr, Cornell Theory Center.
Tool for Developing Adaptive Electronic Textbooks on WWW Abstract: An Electronic textbook is a popular kind of educational applications on World Wide Web (WWW). We claim that adaptivity is especially important for WWW-based educational applications which are expected to be used by very different groups of users without assistance of a human teacher . In this paper we describe an approach for developing adaptive electronic textbooks and present an authoring tool based on this approach which simplifies the development of adaptive electronic textbooks on WWW. Authors: Peter Brusilovsky, Carnegie Mellon University and Elmar Schwarz and Gerhard Weber, University of Trie.
Varying the Texture: A Study of Art, Learning and Multimedia. Abstract: An article describing and demonstrating the Art Explorer, a web-based multimedia art history package. There has been considerable interest over the past few years in the teaching potential of multimedia. In the UK, several universities have expressed this interest by collaborating and producing multimedia materials for tertiary level (collegiate) courses in a wide range of disciplines. Here, we describe the development of some multimedia software, called Art Explorer, developed at The Open University. Art Explorer allows users to discover some of the concepts and methods fundamental to a study of Art History. Authors: Nicola H. Durbridge and Matthew P. Stratfold, The Open University.
Web-Authoring as an Educational Tool for Engineering Materials. Abstract: This paper examines a university-level exercise in which engineering students created HTML pages. Writing the Web pages was more than an interesting introduction to the World Wide Web; it produced an integrated learning experience for students and at the same time, created a useful educational resource for future use. The very nature of and the skills required for Web-authoring inspired motivation among students and provided an effective means of deepening the understanding of the core subject matter in addition to developing important professional skills. Author: Steven Soltesz, Mahidol University.
Web of Resources for Introductory Computer Science. Abstract: As the field of Computer Science has grown, the syllabus of the introductory Computer Science course has changed significantly. No longer is it a simple introduction to programming or a tutorial on computer concepts and applications. Rather, it has become a survey of the field of Computer Science, touching on a wide variety of topics from digital circuits to human- computer interaction. Without sufficient resources, students can be overwhelmed by this broad range of topics. With sufficient resources and an interface to tame the potential flood of resources, they can better comprehend the class topics. Author: Samuel A. Rebelsky, Dartmouth College.
WILT: A WWW based Interactive Language Teaching Tool. Abstract: Learning a foreign language is more than memorizing all of the grammatical structures that are possible in a language. Native speakers know what structures are possible, but more importantly when encountering new words they know what structures are probable, what "sounds right". Teaching this type of intuition to foreign language students is one of our primary goals. Source: Jonathan A. Lieberman and Nadine O'Connor DiVito, The University of Chicago.
revised 4/10/98