Papers in PDF format

Design for Web-Based Learning
Philip Duchastel
Program in Education and Technology
Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, USA
http://www.nova.edu/~duchaste
Sue Spahn
Program in Education and Technology
Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, USA
http://www.nova.edu/~spahn
"The ways of handling information that work well in 'Old Media' (print and
broadcast) do not always translate gracefully into new media environments." -
McAdams (1995)
One of the main uses of the WWW (the Web) is informal learning through browsing. The Web is also
used for formal education (particularly through various distance teaching programs that offer credit for
following particular courses of instruction), but by far its greatest use is informal learning, in which
people access and learn from information made available by a whole host of organizations and individuals
within a non credit-granting structure. This on-line informal learning may augment more formal off-line
educational efforts, but it more typically takes place simply out of the shear enjoyment of learning.
The great majority of information made available on the Web is not specifically prepared for learning
purposes. Rather, it is more often developed with a view to interest and inform a general and varied
audience. It is in this respect akin to public communication products and less aligned with instructional
products, even though it often finds itself at the interface of both realms. From this ambiguity arises the
design problem for web-based learning materials. This paper highlights some of the principal design
issues involved and proposes the outline of a design methodology that can help developers in their work of
preparing web-based learning materials. It is in this respect but an initial effort, but may well encourage
further thinking in this important area of Web development.
Two perspectives in evolution
The Web can be seen from two perspectives: as a vehicle for the distribution of resources, and as a
medium of expression-representation with its own specificity. The distribution perspective emphasizes the
Web as a network infrastructure that has the great advantage of flexibility and low cost. A simple example
is the case of university course materials (syllabus, readings, lecture notes, etc.) being placed on the Web
and made available to students. The fact that Web information is readily updatable and that users always
access the latest version provides tremendous flexibility by eliminating the outdatedness of printed
materials; and the electronic nature of the medium provides cost savings compared to traditional paperbased
alternatives.
What are being distributed at the moment on the Web are multimedia documents. However, the advent of
Java and other similar languages enable true interactive instructional transactions on the Web and will
likely totally reshape the field of instructional software. What this means for the design of such software
and how it will affect the larger picture of web-based learning is explored in the paper.