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This paper looks at learner-formulated questions in technology-supported learning applications. Traditionally, technology-supported learning applications request input from the learner. The learner's response is used to assess the knowledge of the learner, to define a navigation path through the material or to construct a learner model. The objective is to add another form of interaction between learner and system, where the learner can pose questions to the system in similar fashion as to a human tutor. The paper discusses ways of dealing with these learner-formulated questions, question formats and existing approaches. It then introduces an approach for learner-formulated questions that is based on the Flexible Structured Coding Language (FSCL). Two specific approaches are presented: the syntax-based and the semantic-based. After a discussion of these approaches, the paper concludes with an outline of future work. (Contains 12 references.) (Author/AEF)

This paper discusses problems concerning the design of educational applications in general, as well as specific problems connected with educational applications meant to be published on the Web. A new approach to the authoring and maintaining of Web-based educational applications is proposed which is based on the concept of hypermedia composites. Hypermedia composites can be seen as a higher level of hypermedia authoring; the hypermedia composite represents a collection of multimedia documents and/or other hypermedia composites. The Hypermedia Composite Data Model allows the possibility of defining many different "classes" of educational applications, to best match the requirements of a particular application. The architecture, components and functions of the Structure Editor, a system that implements the Hypermedia Composite Data Model, are described. Includes six figures. (AEF)

A successful Web-based training (WBT) system must be highly adaptable to already existing training procedures and software in a special environment. In corporate environments internal communication and collaboration is usually standardized throughout the company. The success of a WBT system therefore mainly depends on the ability of the system to utilize the well known communication channels instead of defining new ones. WBT users do not want to deal with new software; companies have their standardized software packages installed on most of their computers and very often do not allow the installation of new ones. These considerations led to the design of GENTLE (GEnerated Networked Teaching and Learning Environment) as a flexible WBT platform rather than a fully integrated software package. This paper demonstrates the concept and features of GENTLE and describes the modules that make up the GENTLE system. Also outlined are the three steps to performing an online discussion using the high-level online collaboration tools of GENTLE. (AEF)

A new Courseware Development Environment (CoDE) is currently being developed for Hyperwave World Wide Web servers. CoDE provides instructional designers with an easy-to-use yet powerful environment to develop online training; students have the ability to access this training using a standard Web browser. Functionality of the Hyperwave server is extended by: (1) a Multimedia Editor, providing the capability for creating highly interactive learning elements with functionality that cannot be achieved in plain HTML format; (2) a Page Editor, providing a convenient way for authoring pages by means of reusing existing elements; and (2) a Structure Editor, providing a way to impose a navigable structure on top of existing collections of pages, thus creating a learning unit. Each of these components, described in detail in this paper, are based on a common tool, called "Tree View," that provides a unified access to a local drive or a Hyperwave server. Figures present diagrams of page template components, saving a learning unit to a Hyperwave server, and accessing a learning unit, as well as screens of activating a macro cell and editing a learning unit. (AEF)

Researchers at the Institute for Information Processing and Computer Supported New Media (IICM) at Graz University of Technology, Austria, are currently developing GENTLE, an electronic lecturing system combined with a digital lecture library, for teachers and students. The system contains collections of lessons, synchronous and asynchronous discussions, an annotation system that allows teachers and student to make remarks, and a background library consisting of static (e.g., digital books, journals) and dynamic (e.g., indexed World Wide Web sites, discussion forums, and a human expert knowledge database) components. Modules of the background library include an information gatherer, content analyzer, cross reference generator, knowledge integrator, background library manager, and knowledge broker. The background library represents a knowledge repository that is automatically enlarged and improved by the users themselves according to their needs. The gained relevant information is used to improve the learning process and to support the courseware authoring. GENTLE has already been used by hundreds of students at the University; feedback gained during the lectures is leading to continuous improvements of the system as well as new research concepts. (Contains 15 references.) (AEF)

This paper presents a novel Networked Learning Environment (Nov-NLE); system components include Hyper-G (a networked hypermedia system) and the Internet. The first section discusses problems with the conventional university teaching model and technology-based solutions to these problems. The requirements and design of Nov-NLE are covered in the second section, including accessibility of course information and information distributed on the Internet, communication channels, and facilitation of administrative tasks. The administration/management, communication/presentation, and educational resources subsystems are described. The third section presents a prototype of Nov-NLE with the following characteristics: (1) is a distributed system in which links are stored in a separate database; (2) allows objects to be added to the system piecemeal; (3) utilizes access rights for every hypermedia collection; (4) includes sophisticated search mechanisms; (5) allows any user can annotate any document; (6) is interoperable with other first generation hypermedia systems; and (7) is multilingual. The concluding section discusses plans for the future of the project. Contains 17 references. (DLS)

This paper describes the ongoing project EONT--Experiment in Open and Distance Learning using New Technologies. The main objective of the project is to examine whether ODL using new technologies is effective. EONT will achieve its goals through experimentation, using an ODL environment based on some of the available new technologies (i.e., computer networks and networked hypermedia systems), one subject matter area, and real learners. Two distance learning universities and five conventional universities from seven European countries will take part in the project. Topics discussed include: (1) the SOCRATES Programme, the European Community action program for cooperation in the field of education; (2) objectives of the EONT project and features and uses of the EONT learning environment; and (3) the implementation approach, including courseware development. Figures present a schematic view of the EONT learning environment, components of the learning environment, methodology components for courseware development, the courseware development model, and a table of courses to be offered. A table showing the structure of the EONT consortium is appended. (Author/DLS)

An investigation into high level event monitoring within the scope of a well-known multimedia application, HyperCard--a program on the Macintosh computer, is carried out. A monitoring system is defined as a system which automatically monitors usage of some activity and gathers statistics based on what is has observed. Monitor systems can give the authors of a program or system accurate statistics on how their product is being used. An attempt is made to gather and process user's actions at a high level, enabling accurate and quantitative statistical analysis to be performed. This type of information is either very difficult or impossible to obtain through other methods. The HyperCard monitor works by inserting itself in the HyperCard message-passing hierarchy and setting up handlers for all messages considered useful for data gathering. Monitor data can be used to analyze a particular user for a particular work session, or to offer a head to head comparison of users over many sessions. Overall, the HyperCard Monitor System was found to be very effective, and many of the general concepts used for the system could be extended to the operating system (OS) level if such an OS provided a facility for generating and interpreting high level events of this nature. Performance on a Macintosh Quadra 700 was very good and the resulting data output was very compact--tests revealed about 50k of data per user per half hour. Contains six references. (MAS)