WWW94 Education Workshop

I'm interested in the possibilties and practicalities of WWW application to distance learning courses / modules, and its evolution into the future. The following are some points that I'd like to be discussed during the workshop.

Hypertext document organization for structured teaching / learning
For example: Hypertext connectivity is conducive to browsing (eg Biology gopher server at Stanford) or working through a hierarchy to arrive at a specific piece of information (eg UNIXhelp for users at Edinburgh). Using the Web can often be much like navigating through a spaghetti highway. One way of countering this for structured learning is pseudo-linearity both within a document (eg NCSA's Beginner's Guide to HTML) or linking separate documents into a chain (eg Hypertext and Multimedia Info at Brunel). In general, what are the participants' opinions and experiences on using Hypertext / WWW in structured teaching / learning?

Participant interaction on a distance learning course
'MUD/MOO' has been targeted to allow people to communicate in real-time on distance learning courses (see Diversity University). How successful is MOOing (expected to be) for the progression of learning in distance education?

Significance of the Web distance learning impact
The WWW definitely has a contribution to make to distance learning. However, various factors exist that may determine the Web's niche in the field of education. Consideration of these factors may help to focus the evolution and organization of the Web for these distance learning purposes. Some examples that may be worth considering are:


Sami Raza