Numerous themes that will help direct future research surfaced in the six literature reviews in this special issue.
One theme is the merging of computer mediated communications (CMC) and hypermedia.
Students can access Internet-based resources and feed them into hypermedia program shells and make the resources more interactive.
An example is the Hamlet project in Reed's review; students can download a literary work in electronic form and then add navigation buttons, pop-up field buttons, and scanned-picture buttons.
The evolving technology is also allowing teachers and students to access hypermedia programs from the Internet-programs written in a variety of languages, including Hot Java, which, in this case, permits students to run programs in real time.
While these two aspects of the merger between hypermedia and the Internet are exciting, little research has been conducted and these themes will probably direct much of the computer-based research in the years to come.
An interesting angle to CMC is e-mail messaging effect on student writing.
Both Berson and Reed alluded to studies that showed that students improve their writing and better attend to their audience when there is an ongoing written dialogue between writer and reader.
Because the framework of learning as a mode of learning crosses all content areas, this may be an important approach for developing a knowledge base in any area, with writing improvement being an important secondary benefit.
Knowledge constructivism is a second theme that can be divided into two categories: oThe use of existing programs that essentially help the users build knowledge structures oStudent creation of programs that reflect what they understand on a given topic (this can be viewed as an alternative format for student work).
The role of learning style is resurfacing in education by way of the realm of hypermedia.
When much of the learning-style research first appeared, there was not much teachers could do with such information.
Facing 120 or more students a day, the concept of individualizing instruction seldom made it past the stage of mere thought.
Much of the hypermedia research involving learning styles is showing that rich hypermedia environments are accommodating various learning styles.
Students, regardless of learning style, perform equally well, although they access different types of information as they learn from the program.
It is only in the Ayersman hypermedia article that learning style was seriously addressed.
It may be that only when programs are detailed and rich can they truly accommodate individual learner differences as an entity.
Programs in science, mathematics, social studies, and writing might be labeled more appropriate for a particular group of students by the developer or teacher; hypermedia programs may be the only type that truly accommodates various learning styles.
With the advent of CMC, the possible merging of CMC and hypermedia, the emphasis on knowledge constructivism, the changing role of the teacher from knowledge source to knowledge facilitator, the growing respect for action research, and the ever-evolving technology, there are a multitude of factors to research.
One theme is the merging of computer mediated communications (CMC) and hypermedia.
Students can access Internet-based resources and feed them into hypermedia program shells and make the resources more interactive.
An example is the Hamlet project in Reed's review; students can download a literary work in electronic form and then add navigation buttons, pop-up field buttons, and scanned-picture buttons.
The evolving technology is also allowing teachers and students to access hypermedia programs from the Internet-programs written in a variety of languages, including Hot Java, which, in this case, permits students to run programs in real time.
While these two aspects of the merger between hypermedia and the Internet are exciting, little research has been conducted and these themes will probably direct much of the computer-based research in the years to come.
An interesting angle to CMC is e-mail messaging effect on student writing.
Both Berson and Reed alluded to studies that showed that students improve their writing and better attend to their audience when there is an ongoing written dialogue between writer and reader.
Because the framework of learning as a mode of learning crosses all content areas, this may be an important approach for developing a knowledge base in any area, with writing improvement being an important secondary benefit.
Knowledge constructivism is a second theme that can be divided into two categories: oThe use of existing programs that essentially help the users build knowledge structures oStudent creation of programs that reflect what they understand on a given topic (this can be viewed as an alternative format for student work).
The role of learning style is resurfacing in education by way of the realm of hypermedia.
When much of the learning-style research first appeared, there was not much teachers could do with such information.
Facing 120 or more students a day, the concept of individualizing instruction seldom made it past the stage of mere thought.
Much of the hypermedia research involving learning styles is showing that rich hypermedia environments are accommodating various learning styles.
Students, regardless of learning style, perform equally well, although they access different types of information as they learn from the program.
It is only in the Ayersman hypermedia article that learning style was seriously addressed.
It may be that only when programs are detailed and rich can they truly accommodate individual learner differences as an entity.
Programs in science, mathematics, social studies, and writing might be labeled more appropriate for a particular group of students by the developer or teacher; hypermedia programs may be the only type that truly accommodates various learning styles.
With the advent of CMC, the possible merging of CMC and hypermedia, the emphasis on knowledge constructivism, the changing role of the teacher from knowledge source to knowledge facilitator, the growing respect for action research, and the ever-evolving technology, there are a multitude of factors to research.