Discusses a goal-oriented project, focused on open learning environments using computer networks, called Distance Learning in Multimedia Networks that was part of the Finnish Multimedia Program. Describes the combined efforts of Finnish telecommunications companies, content providers, publishing houses, hardware companies, and educational…

Presents an experimental approach for devising training measures to help small and medium enterprises in Italy effectively use teleconferencing tools. Highlights include interviews and surveys that determined training needs; computer tools used, including networks, the Internet, and the World Wide Web; and guidelines to make training more…

Describes the use of video tutoring for distance education within the context of a post-graduate teacher training course at the University of Exeter. Analysis of the tapes used a protocol based on non-verbal communication research, and findings suggest that the interaction of participants was significantly different from face-to-face…

Examines the role of virtual environments as conceptual learning tools in science at the United Kingdom Open University and the notion of presence, or reality. Interviews with competent computer users about their feelings of presence when using virtual environments indicate that audio feedback and ease of navigation are important. (Author/LRW)

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)

Describes AHMED (Adaptive and Assistive Hypermedia in Education), a computer learning environment which supports the evaluation of disabled children's cognitive skills in addition to supporting openness in learning materials and adaptivity in learning events. Discusses cognitive modeling and compares it to previous intelligent tutoring systems.…

Addresses areas of situated knowledge (metacognitive skills and affective skills) that have been ignored in intelligent computer-aided learning systems. Focuses on model-based reasoning, including contextualized and decontextualized knowledge, and examines an instructional method that supports situated knowledge by providing opportunities for…

Investigated whether there is a significant difference in the rate of gain in test scores between students who use an integrated learning system (ILS) and students who do not. Nine dependent variables from the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress examination for third grade students provided the data. (Contains 23 references.)…

Examines data from three surveys of undergraduates at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst that were collected over a five-year period to uncover the nature and source of change in students' computer use and ownership. Results show personal ownership rising, use of word processing and email increasing. (Contains 9 references.) (Author/LRW)

This survey of cooperative extension educators focused on the relationship between viewer interaction and acceptance of programs delivered via satellite. Discusses program effectiveness, relations between the extent of audience interaction and levels of acceptance (cognitive, affective, and behavioral) of programs, and the need to place greater…

Describes two studies carried out at the Open University (United Kingdom) that investigated students' perceptions of, and reactions to, a tutor's comments on written assignments based on the Kelly Construct Repertory Grid technique. Outlines two theoretical perspectives: schema theory within cognitive psychology, and social constructivist theory…

Describes the development of a distance learning course at Keele University (United Kingdom) for staff training in the use of information technology for people with special needs. Discusses course design, learner needs analysis, course content, instructional design, and formative evaluation. (Contains 24 references.) (LRW)

Discusses a new, informational-based cybernetic conception of the early development of child consciousness. Suggests a solution to the fundamental problem of formulating and creating the optimal cognitive preconditions of successful child-computer interaction, and analyzes some negative aspects of using intelligent computer and communications…

Discussion of desktop videoconferencing and its use for remote tutorials focuses on limitations in current methods for assessing video channel quality, which is thought to affect the effectiveness of the tutorial. Outlines a new scheme for tutorial content quality analysis and discusses results from tests with higher education students. (Contains…

Addresses issues facing designers of Web-based university level courses, drawing from experience in distance education. Topics include a paradigm shift to distributed learning; technologies involved in an ideal online course; study guides; assignments; asynchronous and synchronous communication; email; interactive skill building; and theoretical…