This paper is a publication of the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) Mobile Strategy and Application Development (MSAD) Working Group. In higher education, nearly every user interaction that takes place on a desktop or laptop browser is also attempted using phones, tablets, watches, and more. As students, faculty, and staff…

The goal of this article is to draw a roadmap for designing an "ideal" virtual world for higher education, pointing decision-makers in a general direction for implementing virtual worlds and noting various barriers along the way. When using a roadmap, one can take many different paths to reach a desired destination. Similarly, institutions can…

Societal changes demand educators to apply new pedagogical approaches. Many educational stakeholders feel that serious games could play a key role in fulfilling this demand, and they lick their chops when looking at the booming industry of leisure games. However, current toolkits for developing leisure games show severe shortcomings when applied…

Art history is a hybrid discipline that combines the verbal with the visual, yet the limiting verbal approach traditionally has defined the field. Another problem at the university level is that different types of classes define visually literacy differently; for example, art education programs emphasize perceptual and cognitive angles while art…

The development of potentially powerful computer-based tools within rich learning environments is hampered by the constraints of delivery systems (specifically low-resolution, low-real estate displays). In designing a World Wide Web-based tool for manipulating time-based information, the authors have encountered a lack of guidelines or empirical…

This paper describes how the authors use a mixture of World Wide Web (WWW)-based functionalities and new didactics to teach educational technology students at the University of Twente (Netherlands) about the design of WWW-based learning environments. Topics discussed include: (1) the content of courses about the design of educational WWW…

This paper proposes an automated, third party World Wide Web (WWW)-based evaluation service (i.e., an online questionnaire) that focuses on usability issues of WWW-based courseware and can be used by any WWW course instructor/student. Requirements related to the usability of educational systems are summarized, including the learning environment,…

This paper reports on ReMOTE (Research Methods Online Teaching Environment), a Robert Gordon University (Scotland) project focusing on the development of a World Wide Web (WWW) site devoted to the teaching of research methods. The aim of ReMOTE is to provide an infrastructure that allows direct links to specialist sources in order to enable the…

This paper presents the methods and results of a year-long evaluation study, conducted for the purpose of determining disability accessibility barriers and potential solutions for those barriers found in four World Wide Web-based learning environments. The primary questions used to frame the evaluation study were: (1) Are there any features of the…

This paper presents interface guidelines from research at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) School of Information Sciences in developing a collaborative, problem-based learning environment for the World Wide Web. The lessons learned are based on student use and evaluation of three interface prototypes over the course of 3 years and…

This study investigated the effects of audio and text density on the achievement, time-in-program, and attitudes of 134 undergraduates. Data concerning the subjects' preexisting computer skills and experience, as well as demographic information, were also collected. The instruction in visual design principles was delivered by computer and included…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of presentation interference on students' ability to learn from, and their beliefs regarding, computer-generated presentations. Informed by single-element screen design studies and professional practice, this combined-element study compared a contextually based, intentionally interference free…

This paper presents the design of a project-based study environment on the World Wide Web based upon the e-study concept, i.e., studying by means of Internet technologies. The first section discusses the e-study concept, including Interactive Study Environments (ISE), Interactive Study Systems, and online Study Services. Design guidelines for a…

This paper reports on the first phase of a research project undertaken by a team at the University of South Australia and Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) to design and deliver educational applications of digital learning media and to identify criteria for assessment of the efficacy and quality of the use of such media from a…

This paper describes how student reactions shaped the design of a WWW (World Wide Web)-based course environment at the University of Twente (Netherlands), using the example of a first year course. The first section discusses the importance of user interface (re)design for WWW-based courses. The University's focus on student evaluations of…