Using computer-based learning environments to ... - Semantic Scholar

Using computer-based learning environments to connect learners: Learning through collaboration, communication and talk.

Ron Oliver Edith Cowan University

Correspondence to: Ron Oliver Department of Library and Information Science, Edith Cowan University, 2 Bradford St, Mt Lawley 6050, Western Australia. Phone +619 370 6372 Fax +619 370 2910 e-mail [email protected]

Abstract Computers are often seen as instructional tools whose best use is achieved in settings where students have individual access to individual machines. Much of the software that is produced for education is designed for a single user and computers in schools and higher education are usually organised in settings which facilitate individual and private use. Our research into the use of computers as aids to teaching and learning at Edith Cowan University frequently demonstrates significant value and advantage can be gained from computer-based learning environments that connect rather than isolate learners. This talk will describe our current research at Edith Cowan University into the design and evaluation of computer-based learning environments and will highlight the advantages we find being derived from environments where students are encouraged to collaborate, communicate and talk.

Using Computer-Based Learning to Connect Learners

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Introduction There is growing interest in higher education (HE) in the use of computer-based technologies, and in particular, in the World Wide Web (WWW) as a learning tool. CBL provides financial economies for developing and delivering HE programs and courses while at the same time supporting and encouraging effective and strong instructional strategies. Similarly, the WWW enables the development of complex information sources to support learning and facilitates student-centred instruction and learning (Becker & Dwyer, 1994). The WWW also encourages exploration and inquiry, behaviours that are frequently associated with enhanced learning outcomes (Thuring, Mannemann & Haake, 1995). Much of the instructional design and development for HE programs in Australia is being driven by an awareness of the need to improve teaching and learning. The teaching programs at most Australian universities have traditionally been built on didactic and teacher-directed instructional practices based around mass lectures. More recently, there have been efforts to improve the effectiveness of university teaching and many universities have taken steps to bring this about. It is now quite common to see course design being based on contemporary learning theories that foster knowledge construction. These theories posit that when a learner is confronted with new knowledge, the learner's intentions, previous experiences, and metacognitive strategies are all essential elements in determining what becomes of the knowledge. The effectiveness in any learning environment is based upon the types and levels of cognitive and metacognitive activity engendered in the learners. It is now widely accepted that learning is enhanced in instructional settings where students are engaged in processing personally relevant content and are reflective during the learning process (Jonassen, 1994). The application of this form of teaching and learning environment is ably supported by computer-based learning materials. Multimedia technologies and modern authoring systems have become common tools among innovative university teachers in the preparation and design of learning environments which foster knowledge construction. An example of the popularity of computer-based learning is the fact that in the past 3 years, nearly 80% of the projects in an Australian Government sponsored curriculum project to encourage quality teaching in local universities, have been based on computer-based technologies and delivery methods.

Designing Computer-Based Learning Materials for Higher Education The attributes of CBL materials and environments that make them appealing to university administrators, course developers and students are many and varied. Perhaps the principal attributes are: •

the capacity of computer-based materials to provide independent learning;

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the high levels of learner control supported and encouraged by CBL materials;


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the advantages to be drawn from the multiplicity of media forms supported by modern technologies;

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the access provided to large information and mediabases through WWW technologies; and

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the myriad of ways in which materials can be designed and implemented to suit the needs of individual teachers and learners.

However, many of the computer-based environments developed for students today, are designed for individual students working on individual computers. There has been a tendency in recent years for software developers to create learning materials that provide instruction and direction to independent learners and much of this development has led us away from conventional teaching practices which frequently include group and cooperative learning as design elements. Collaborative Learning Research frequently shows that there are clear educational advantages to be derived from collaborative activities among students (eg. Del Marie Rysavy & Sales, 1991, Slavin, 1996). When students work in groups and small teams, student- interactions and activities frequently engage higher-order thinking and involve critical reflection by the students. There are many reasons why collaborative learning should provide assistance and support to learners. Vygotsky (1978) suggests that collaboration helps individuals to make progress through their zone of proximal development by the joint activity in which they are engaged. Talk is an important medium for sharing knowledge and ideas and significant learning can be achieved through interactions supported by talk and discourse. Vygotsky (1978) describes learning, not as an individual process, but rather as part of a larger activity involving the teacher, other students and cultural artifacts of the classroom. Learning is perceived in the form of distributed cognition. In most computer-based learning environments, the language and discourse through which ideas are presented and developed are reduced to print and graphics. The narrative structures with which learners are familiar are often distorted and transformed (Plowman, 1996). The interactions between the learner and the computer instructor are limited to the low levels that can be supported by pointing and clicking and anticipated by program developers. When students are able to interact and communicate among themselves as part of the learning process, some of the communicative disadvantages of the computer-based environment are potentially removed. The interactions of students in social settings can lead to a number of behaviours, many of which have the prospect of influencing learning outcomes. There are a number of learning theories which can been used to describe the nature of collaborative learning. Social-cognitive theories (eg. Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989; Vygotsky, 1978) extend information processing and constructivist learning ideas in ways which are well suited and potentially very powerful in computer-based higher education learning environments. They provide a framework for designing and describing learning environments which reflect the unique nature of teaching and learning in tertiary settings with computer resources. We have applied these learning theories in much of the research and development of higher education materials at


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Edith Cowan University and our evaluations consistently demonstrate positive learning advantages. The following pages describe a number of research projects in which I have been involved in recent years and which have focussed on investigating the effectiveness of computer-based instructional strategies. In all these projects, we have created settings where learners have been encouraged to cooperate and collaborate. Our investigations of resulting communication, discourse and learning outcomes have frequently returned learning advantages. The consistent findings across a range of projects has influenced the nature of the instructional materials we are now developing. We are convinced of the value of collaboration as an instructional strategy for computer-based learning in HE and are now actively seeking ways to create environments which support this form of student behaviour and activity. 1. Situated Learning in Mathematics Education: Connecting Theory and Practice This project involves the use of situated cognition in the design and development process of interactive multimedia as a means to bring about enhanced learning outcomes among pre-service mathematics teachers in their understanding and use of effective teaching and assessment strategies. Situated cognition, or situated learning as it is sometimes known is defined as ‘the notion of learning knowledge and skills in contexts that reflect the way the knowledge will be useful in real life’ (Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989). The model arose out of observation of successful learning situations by the researchers. They set out to find examples of learning in any context or culture that were effective, and to analyse the key features of such models. An analysis of common features found in all the successful models was a set of six critical factors: apprenticeship, collaboration, reflection, coaching, multiple practice and articulation (McLellan, 1991). There have been many attempts by researchers and writers to describe the general aspects of this evolving learning theory. Most have agreed on key points of the theory and have contributed components based on their own interpretations and personal philosophies. Our synthesis of the existing situated learning literature has revealed a number of consistent characteristics. We have found that a useful way to study the theory of situated learning has been to describe the salient features of a learning environment based on these principles (Herrington & Oliver, 1995). Our interpretations reveal that for a learning environment to be considered situated, it needs to display the following features in some form: •

an authentic context for learning that reflects the way in which the knowledge and skills will be used,

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learning derived from authentic activities,

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provide access to expert performances and the modelling of processes,

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provide multiple roles and perspectives,

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support collaborative construction of knowledge,


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provide coaching and scaffolding as instructional supports,

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promote reflection to enable the construction of meaningful abstractions,

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promote articulation to enable tacit knowledge to be made explicit,

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provide for integrated assessment of learning with learning tasks.

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Two interactive multimedia programs have been developed to provide pre-service primary and secondary mathematics teachers with a number of classroom-based episodes presenting alternative forms of teaching strategies and assessment. Users are able to pursue their own investigations of the resource, and examine each example from a variety of authentic perspectives: the classroom interaction, the teacher’s decisionmaking processes, the child’s thinking, expert opinion and written documentation. About 25 short video sequences of 1-2 minutes of the assessment example is presented as the foundation piece. This is supplemented with a video of the teacher’s reflections on the use of the assessment type, and a video of a student’s thoughts on the task (if appropriate). An audio recording of an expert comment is also available, as well as scanned examples of any activities or samples of students’ work used in the video. The role of the learner in using the package has been carefully considered. The resource is used by students in small groups. They are encouraged to design their own investigations, after a sample modelling exercise by the teacher, and to articulate their thoughts and findings both within the group and to the larger class. The implementation aspects of the resource are largely accomplished by the teacher rather than the program itself. Groups explore the resource over several weeks, in collaboration with other students and their teacher, who provides the necessary coaching and scaffolding. Students report their inquiry and findings in presentations to the larger group as part of the unit assessment. We have produced several papers describing the different phases of this research (eg. Herrington & Oliver, 1996; Herrington & Oliver, 1995) 2. Investigating Interactions in Telecommunication Supported Learning Environments This research project has involved a study of learner language an discourse in a range of interactive learning environments supported by various forms of telecommunications. The research has demonstrated that the majority of learning environments are characterised by high levels of procedural and expository interactions and few interactions of a cognitive nature. Our research is looking to ways in which instructional episodes can be designed to encourage and support higher order learning particularly in environments using audiographics technologies. In an audiographics environment, teaching and learning is achieved through a telecommunications link between computers and an audioconferencing medium. Standard telephone connections are used to connect a teacher to students at remote locations with two-way voice and graphic communications. Both the teacher and students can view and manipulate the same information on their computer screens using an appropriate software package. In the local context, extensive use is made of the Australian software package, Electronic Classroom (Crago, 1992). The screens are


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used as the chalkboard while the two-way audio communication is used for the normal student-teacher verbal interaction. A typical setting involves a teacher connected to several remote sites and the establishment of a simulated face-to-face environment through the technology. There are now over 150 rural schools in Western Australia with the technology enabling them to support audiographics teaching and learning. For our study of communications and discourse in audiographics environment, we have used a modified version of the an analysis framework (Henri, 1992) developed for our investigation of interactions in live interactive television (LIT). We identified 5 types of communicative interactions evident in telecommunications teaching environments: social; procedural; expository; explanatory; and cognitive. These interactions are indicative are different forms of communication with cognitive interactions being those most likely to lead to meaningful learning outcomes. Our studies with most instructional applications of telecommunications-mediatedcommunication tend to reveal similar results. In the most recent audiographics study, for example, a number of similar behaviours were evident across all classes and provided some interesting insights into how teachers were using this technology. The audio link was clearly the principal interactive element and it was used to deliver lessons with many of the characteristics of face-to-face teaching. The computer link was rarely used in the lessons in ways that took advantage of the interactive capabilities of the technology more than its display capability. The potential role of the computer in the audiographics teaching appeared not to be fully recognised or appreciated and it was evident that few teachers were aware of instructional strategies and practices that might enable the computer to contribute significantly to lesson delivery. The learning environments that were observed in this study tended to have low levels of learner control and were typically teacher-centred and strongly teacher-directed. While these forms of environments were well suited to the nature of the curriculum being delivered, it was evident that few teachers used instructional models that would enable them to seek higher-order learning outcomes. The interactions provided the means to create a positive and engaging learning environment but were rarely used to seek particular learning outcomes or advantages. There was much evidence of the story-telling mode of teaching where students listened and responded to the information supplied by the teacher. There was little evidence however, of negotiation where the students and teacher communicate on equal terms to pursue meaning or to construct personal ideas and models. For this to be achieved, it would be necessary for more interactions of an explanatory form to be included together with more meaningful communication where feedback plays an important part in the conversation. There would need to be more student-initiated dialogue and questioning directed to the teacher and among learners. This research is on-going and we are currently exploring ways to increase the incidence of higher-order learning in such settings (eg. Oliver & McLoughlin, in press; Oliver & Reeves, 1996; McLoughlin & Oliver, 1995).


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3. Developing Effective WWW-Based Learning Environments in Higher Education This project has been investigating the nature of WWW-based learning environments and instructional design and implementation strategies to improve their effectiveness. Much of the research has been based on investigating student usage patterns and learning behaviours and the use of collaborative activities as instructional supports. In the most recent study, a qualitative research method was used to investigate learning behaviours and student interactions in collaborative learning activities in which a printed guide was used as an instructional support. Observations of student behaviours confirmed our expectations that such WWW learning environments can be used to encourage cooperation, reflection and articulation among students. However, there were a number unexpected outcomes in relation to the influence of the printed guide and the investigative activities on the extent and forms of the interactions observed. In our examination of student dialogue and discourse, using a similar framework to that used in our audiographics research, we found there were considerably more lowlevel interactions than anticipated. In some cases, this was brought about by student uncertainty in the unfamiliar environment, and in other cases it was brought about by students establishing working patterns. It was clear to us after observing the students that any new learning environment would likely reflect this outcome. We would expect if these students attempted other WWW activities now, there would likely be less of these interactions. However those interactions associated with cooperating behaviour would still remain. There were many instances in this study where students exchanged ideas and views that could have led to higher-order processing and thinking but didn't. Even the most cooperative students tended at times not to listen to what their partners were saying and conversations involved many discrete points rather than one or two items developed through discussion and debate. One factor contributing to this appeared to be the lack of learning goals among the students. The activities did not require students to derive any particular or agreed outcome. At the same time, the large amounts of textual information and links appeared to distract students encouraging browsing and unstructured inquiry. The fact that a considerable level of expository interaction occurred with only small amounts leading to cognitive interactions was intriguing to us. It would appear that the design of the activities may have contributed to this. Most of the activities required students to investigate resources, to seek patterns and to compare designs. There was no explicit collaboration involved and students could complete the tasks with minimal collaboration. The activities needed to encourage more discussion and exchanges of views and to better define roles for the students. Our previous research suggests that activities that are more open-ended and more authentic could help to improve the discussion, the exchange and building of ideas between students. We studied factors which appeared to inhibit and enhance interactivity in the form of communication and dialogue and have many ideas now for creating an improved


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environment for these forms of learning. Judging by the outcomes of this research, we judge that a more effective design for this set of learning materials would be one where: •

the WWW-based materials conveyed mainly interactive elements and less textual presentation of lesson content;

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the activities are designed to encourage collaborative efforts by providing less structure and more guidance for student roles; and

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support materials be provided which include textual descriptions of the content, a statement of learning goals and details and guidelines for the learning activities.

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an alternative form of scaffolding is employed. While the guide was intended to provide scaffolding support for students, its effectiveness was limited in that it was not situation-specific.

We intend now to revise our instructional materials to accommodate the changes suggested above and to repeat the study. We will look to see whether the changes are associated with increased levels of student collaboration, reflection and articulation and increased levels of cognitive interactions. It is likely that future replications of the study will in turn lead to the discovery of other potentially valuable design considerations. As we move and more to network-based delivery of instructional materials, we are keen to pursue such investigations in order to be able to create the effective and valuable WWW learning environments for our students. (Oliver & Herrington, 1995; Oliver & Omari, 1996; Oliver & Omari and Herrington, in review). 4. Using Authentic Contexts in the teaching of distance education methods This project involved the development of a range of instructional materials and the use of open learning delivery methods to present a course to pre-service teachers in the methods and strategies for rural education. The content of the course required students to learn: •

how to operate and apply the hardware associated with telecommunications and audiographics;

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the mechanisms and processes by which the telecommunications and audiographics technologies operate;

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the skills required to independently use computers, telecommunications, audiographics and appropriate software; and

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the instructional skills and relevant pedagogy associated with teaching and learning with audiographics and telecommunications in rural schools.

Because this course was to be delivered in an external form, a range of learning materials was developed to form the basis of the independent student activity. The materials that were prepared and compiled included: •

a course guide, a booklet detailing the course, the time frame, the modules and instructional episodes and the activities and tasks to be completed;


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a set of readings describing the technology, its application and implementations;

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video materials showing examples of actual audiographics teaching and learning;

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instruction manuals and guides for the audiographics equipment and resources;

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a CD-ROM with materials to assist audiographics lesson planning;

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instruction manuals and activities for the Macintosh computer system;

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instructional materials describing the use of the audiographics software, Electronic Classroom (Crago, 1992); and

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an electronic document on the World Wide Web describing distance and rural education technologies and their applications.

The course comprised five 45 minute sessions with an audiographics link and 8 one hour sessions where students worked independently. The audiographics lessons were delivered by the first author from a remote campus while the second author acted in a support capacity to the students on the remote campus. The program ran across a 6 week period during which time the students were required to complete a range of tasks leading to the final sessions where students worked in pairs to plan and deliver an audiographics lesson to their peers. Throughout the course, communication with the distant lecturer was limited to the audiographics technology and telephone, a restriction that raised students' awareness of the conditions and limitations of learning through such technologies. In the process of conducting the course, we established a series of research questions that we sought to investigate as a means of evaluating the innovations we were using and as a means to improve the course for subsequent implementations. The particular areas of inquiry addressed by this research were: •

students' responses to the alternative instructional format;

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the relative effectiveness of the different components of the program; and

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the extent and scope of the learning;

An evaluation of the course demonstrated high levels of student performance and satisfaction with the course and provided feedback which indicated that the project was very successful in most regards. The evaluation revealed that students were very positive about the alternative instructional format used with most seeing it as superior to conventional instruction. There was evidence that all the characteristic attributes had a positive impact on student learning and there were a number of learning outcomes that most likely could not have been achieved through conventional teaching means. The instruction led to the development of the necessary skills and knowledge needed to develop effective teaching programs with this technology and it was evident that much of the learning came from students activities and experiences rather than from content gained from the course materials. The components of the course which the students saw as most effective were those related directly to practical teaching with the technology. Our secondary aim of developing students ability for selfinstruction also appeared to have been met with most students demonstrating high


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levels of competence and confidence in independent and self-regulated learning activities (Oliver & Lake, in press; Oliver & Lake, 1996). 5. Interactive Multimedia Materials Which Develop Student Understanding of Chemical Equations This project has involved the development and testing of interactive multimedia materials to be used in bridging courses in chemistry by beginning tertiary students with a minimal chemistry background. The IMM materials were designed to improve students' understanding of the particulate/molecular basis of chemical reactions, and their ability to interpret chemical equations and solve problems based on equations. The provision of concrete representations of unobservable entities and processes, and the use of an interactive approach with associated learner activities was planned to facilitate students' achievement of scientifically acceptable conceptions of chemical equations and their application. The materials makes extensive use of the strong visual and processing capabilities of contemporary IMM to provide learners with access to a rich information source and appropriate activities to promote learning and understanding. The design of the materials was influenced heavily by a desire to create a learning environment that would provide students access to a range of accurate demonstrations of chemical reactions at the particulate level together with descriptions of the processes and steps involved. It was intended that the materials would also provide opportunities for students to learn and practice the steps associated with describing and balancing chemical equations. The project involved the development of three discrete modules that introduce students to chemical equations and develop skills in balancing equations and their interpretation. The materials were designed for use in lecture, tutorial or selfinstructional modes. Two modules deal separately with 'molecular' and 'ionic' equations . A third module provides students with practice in the interpretation of equations. Modules 1 and 2 both include instruction relating to eight chemical reactions. The materials were designed: •

to make extensive use of graphics, animations and illustrations in the delivery of its content;

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to provide a number of opportunities for learner interactivity and

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to support many forms of instructional implementation and learner interactivity

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to provide opportunities for learner interactions of a social and communicative nature;

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to serve as part of practice and rehearsal activities associated with self-paced learning; and

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to provide feedback to encourage reflection among learners and to anticipate learning difficulties based on learner responses.


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An extensive evaluation is planned in 1997 to investigate the impact of these materials on students' concept development and we also plan to investigate implementation strategies involving collaborative and cooperative groups. (Garnett, Hackling & Oliver, 1996a; Garnett, Hackling & Oliver, 1996b). Summary and Conclusions Instructional technologies have been an important part of schooling for the past twenty years but it has only been in recent years that higher education systems have begun to embrace the learning opportunities that they afford. In many instances the uptake of technologies in tertiary settings has been technology-led. There has been far less research conducted into the use of computers and associated technologies in this domain that there has been in school settings. There is now a growing body of research to guide university teachers in the use of instructional and computer-based technologies. There are now many organisations and special interest groups associated with university teaching. While much of the initial development of computer-based materials for university teaching was given to programs for independent learners, and to improve teacher -student communication and interaction, we are now seeing more materials being developed to connect the learners as well. There are many advantages to be gained from creating learning environments which are student-centred and collaborative. Our research continues to demonstrate positive outcomes whenever we connect students in technology-based learning programs. The challenge will be to find more and more ways to do this as new technologies emerge and as university learning moves to more open and flexible delivery modes.

References Becker, D., & Dwyer, M. (1994). Using hypermedia to provide learner control. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 3(2), 155-172. Brown, J.S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32-42. Clements, D. H., & Nastasi, B. K. (1988). Social and cognitive interactions in educational computer environments. American Educational Research Journal, 25(1), 87-106. Crago, R. (1992). Electronic Classroom 2.0. Brisbane: Revelation Computing. Del Marie Rysavy, S., & Sales, G.C. (1991). Cooperative learning in computer-based instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 39(2), 70-79. Garnett, P., Hackling, M. & Oliver, R. (1996a). Using interactive multimedia to support concept development in introductory chemistry teaching and learning. Proceedings of 1996 ECU Teaching Forum. EDU: Edith Cowan University. Garnett, P., Hackling, M. & Oliver, R. (1996b). Development of an Interactive Multimedia Package Designed to Improve Students' Understanding of Chemical Equations. Proceeding of 1996 WASEA Conference.


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Henri, F. (1992). Computer conferencing and content analysis. In Collaborative learning through computer conferencing(pp 117-136). Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Jonassen, D. (1994). Towards a constructivist design model. Educational Technology, 34(4), 34-37. Herrington, J. & Oliver, R. (1996). The effective use of multimedia in education: Design and implementation issues. In C. McBeath & R. Atkinson (Eds) The Learning Superhighway: New World, New Worries. Proceedings of Third International Interactive Multimedia Symposium, (pp 169-176). Perth: Promaco Conventions. Herrington, J. & Oliver, R. (1995) Critical characteristics of situated learning: Implications for the instructional design of multimedia for higher education. In J. Pearce & A. Ellis (Eds) Learning with Technology, ASCILITE’95 Conference Proceedings, (pp 253-262). Melbourne: ASCILITE. McLellan, H. (1991). Virtual environments and situated learning. Multimedia Review, 2(3), 30-37. McLoughlin, C. & Oliver, R. (1995). Analysing interactions in technology supported learning environments. In R. Oliver & M. Wild (Eds), Learning without limits, 2 Proceedings of the 13th Annual National Computers in Education Conference, (pp. 49-62). Perth, Western Australia: ECAWA. McLoughlin, C. & Oliver, R. (in review). Maximising the Language and Learning Link in Computer Learning Environments. British Journal of Educational Technology. Oliver, R. & Herrington, J. (1995). Developing effective hypermedia instructional materials. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 11(2), 8-22. Oliver, R., Herrington, J. & Omari, A. (1996). Creating Effective Instructional Materials for the World Wide Web, In R. Debreceny & A. Ellis (Eds) Proceedings of AusWeb 96: The Second Australian World Wide Web Conference, (pp 485-492). Lismore, NSW: Southern Cross University Press. Oliver, R. & Lake, M. (in press). A teaching program in rural education: Learning though experiential activities. Education in Rural Australia. Oliver, R. & Lake, M. (1996). Teaching and learning with distance education: A tertiary perspective. In (J. Abbott & L. Willcoxson Eds.) Teaching and Learning Within and Across Disciplines: Proceedings of the 5th Annual Teaching Learning Forum, (pp 111-118). Perth: Murdoch University. Oliver, R. & McLoughlin, C. (in press). Interaction patterns in teaching and learning with Live Interactive Television. Journal of Educational Media. Oliver, R., Omari, A. & Herrington, J. (in review). Exploring student interactions in collaborative World Wide Web computer-based learning environments. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia. Oliver, R.. & Omari, A. (1996). Teaching and learning with the WWW in the undergraduate multimedia program at ECU. In R. Debreceny & A. Ellis (Eds) Proceedings of AusWeb 96: The Second Australian World Wide Web Conference, (pp 293-297). Lismore, NSW: Southern Cross University Press.


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Oliver, R. & Reeves, T. (1996). Dimensions of Effective Interactive Learning with Telematics. Educational Technology Research and Development, 44(4), 45-56.. Plowman, L. (1996). Narrative, linearity and interactivity: Making sense of interactive multimedia. British Journal of Educational Technology, 27(2), 92-105. Slavin, R. (1996). Research on cooperative learning and achievement: What we know, what we need to know. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 21, 43-69. Thuring, M., Mannemann, J., & Haake, J. (1995). Hypermedia and cognition: Designing for comprehension. Communications of the ACM, 38(8), 57-66. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.