Discusses highlights of a literature review on guidelines for formative evaluation of courseware and the development of a formative evaluation instrument by the Kanata High Technology Training Association (Ottawa). The eight dimensions of the resultant questionnaire are listed and a copy of the evaluation instrument is included. (MBR)

This overview of aesthetics and aesthetic education covers definitions and approaches to aesthetic education; discusses two notable ways educational technologists can influence aesthetics in learning situations with use of visuals and music; and lists strategies educational media producers can incorporate in productions to enhance aesthetic…

Introduces some general concepts and techniques of artificial intelligence (natural language interfaces, expert systems, knowledge bases and knowledge representation, heuristics, user-interface metaphors, and object-based environments) and investigates ways these techniques might be applied to analysis, design, development, implementation, and…

Makes suggestions and forecasts relating to the nature of the developing partnership between teachers, students, and microcomputers and to the development and use of educational software to truly optimize learning in United Kingdom schools. (MBR)

Describes two studies designed to identify and validate principles of effective microcomputer manual design. In the first, instructional science students rated design principles of four computer manuals using a computer manual checklist; in the second, instructional effectiveness of these design principles was tested by comparing microcomputer…

Describes the variety of types of products produced by instructional designers, discusses the role of the designer, lists the critical instructional design attributes needed by instructors who design and implement loosely structured instructional products, and discusses prototype evaluation methods for less flexible, instructor-centered products.…

Describes use of authoring systems--software packages which guide authors through the programming process, eliminating the need to know how to program--as a practical solution to the problem of teachers developing their own microcomputer courseware. Some representative authoring systems, their benefits and costs, and specific products are…

Examines the role of students in the formative evaluation of instructional materials and reviews research on criteria for selecting students for the evaluation process. Studies that investigated the following criteria are described: (1) level of verbalization; (2) aptitude; and (3) cognitive styles field-dependent and field-independent. (18…