Usability and educational software design
| When | Dec 05, 1996 |
|---|---|
| Where | King's College London |
My presentation outline was published in the magazine of the group 'Interfaces' No 35 Summer 1997 ISSN 1351-119X –
Issues in multimedia educational software design
This presentation was based on the following definitions and assumptions: Multimedia is the integration by computer of a range of media types which match human modalities. Learning is a social, constructivist activity. Education takes place in society where milestones, outcomes and accreditation are anticipated. Computers know nothing.
Delegates were invited to choose from the statements
below. A ‘multimedia response’ was given to each statement as it was chosen.
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Multimedia educational software will become pervasive as it becomes difficult to buy other than multimedia technology and tools.
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Multimedia is natural to learners, not a superficial gloss to be sprinkled on.
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‘Literacy’ may be redefined if multimedia software becomes participative rather than simply interactive.
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Multimedia provides a richer communication from program to learner, with redundancy supporting cognition.
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Multimedia can provide communication alternatives for learners, empowering the disabled, dyslexic and ‘normal’ alike.
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The time dimension is an issue – text can be read ‘out of order’ and skimmed, but speech and video are normally experienced sequentially.
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Knowledge structures in textual form are well articulated and common in learning, other media fare less well, but structures exist.
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Multimedia interface elements are not well represented compared to those concerned with text and graphics.
The full programme included:
The British HCI Group
A Specialist Group of the British Computer Society
London, Thursday 5th December 1996
Usability and Educational Software Design
School of Education, King's College London, Waterloo Road, London SE1 8WA
(The School of Education is five minutes walk from Waterloo Station)
Meeting Chair and Organiser: David Squires, King's College
Topic: The usability of educational software is often conceived in terms of simply operating the software, without a consideration of the implications of usability features for achieving educational goals. In this sense the integration of usability and educational issues is not considered. This leads to consideration of arbitrary usability features which may or may not be important to achieving educational goals. As multimedia educational software, with attractive and easier to use interfaces becomes available, attention to usability may become even more limited. A feeling that interface problems have been solved may prevail. This would be unfortunate, as it would encourage the continued neglect of the relationship between usability and educational issues.
Programme
9.30 Registration and coffee
10.00 Chairman's Introduction
10.10 David Squires, King's College & Jenny Preece, South Bank University
Towards a set of usability heuristics in educational software design
10.40 Richard Millwood, Anglia Polytechnic University
Issues in multimedia educational software design
11.10 Coffee
11.30 Margaret Cox, King's College
Motivation and educational software design
12.00 Terry Mayes, Glasgow Caledonian University
Why learning is not just another kind of work
12.30 Lunch
1.30 Ann Jones, Open University
Implications from a distance education perspective for evaluation
2.00 Irene Neilson, University of Liverpool
Design issues in engineering CAL: some lessons from TLTP
2.30 Wendy Hall, University of Southampton
Ending the tyranny of the button
3.00 Tea
3.15 Panel and discussion
4.00 Meeting closes
(Words: 682 )
