A Taxonomy of Interaction for Instructional Multimedia

Richard A. Schwier

This paper rejects the hardware-based "levels of interaction" made popular in interactive video literature to describe human-machine interaction in favor of a new taxonomy of learner-media interaction based on the type of cognitive engagement...

Catalysts, Emphases, and Elements of Virtual Learning Communities: Implications for Research and Practice

Richard A. Schwier

Quarterly Review of Distance Education Vol. 2, No. 1 (2001) pp. 5–18

Examines theoretical and conceptual issues around promoting the growth of virtual learning communities and considers issues around using communication technologies in formal and informal learning environments. Highlights include: the theoretical...

Turning Learning Environments into Learning Communities: Expanding the Notion of Interaction in Multimedia

Richard A. Schwier

World Conference on Educational Media and Technology 1999 (1999) pp. 282–286

Emerging approaches to developing rich learning environments combine multimedia, computer mediated communication, and a host of interactive strategies to connect people in varied and robust ways. But traditional understandings of learning...

Topics: Interaction, Information Communication Technologies, Communication, Virtual Environments

Pursuing the Elusive Metaphor of Community in Virtual Learning Environments

Richard A. Schwier

World Conference on Educational Media and Technology 2009 (Jun 22, 2009) pp. 3072–3082

Social networking software sites are often mistakenly called learning communities, betraying a significant lack of agreement or concern for what actually constitutes a community. However, social networking sites are being used by teachers to engage...

Connections and Contexts: The Birth, Growth and Death of Online Learning Communities

Richard A. Schwier

World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2011 (Oct 18, 2011) pp. 1–10

Much of what we understand about the notion of online learning communities and how they develop, grow, and die away is based on examinations of formal online learning environments— primarily post-secondary courses managed by institutions of higher...

Effects of Postquestions on Learning and Learning Efficiency from Fixed-Pace, Fixed-Sequence Media

Deane K. Dayton; Richard A. Schwier

Educational Communication and Technology: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Development Vol. 27, No. 2 (1979) pp. 103–13

Junior high school and college students participated in three experiments that explored the effects of postquestion treatments on learning from slide/tape presentations. Results seem to indicate that inserted postquestions can increase the learning...

Instructional Designer Disciplinary-Based Formation of Self

Heather Kanuka; Katy Campbell; Richard A. Schwier

Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association 2009 (April 2009)

The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of teaching (teacher perspectives) and learning (student perspectives) across the disciplines in ways that can better prepare instructional designers to work with research-teachers in...

Designing Multimedia for the Hypertext Markup Language

Richard A. Schwier; Earl R. Misanchuk

Annual Meeting of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology 1996 (February 1996)

Dynamic discussions have begun to emerge concerning style of presentation on world wide web sites. Some hypertext markup language (HTML) designers seek an intimate and chatty ambience, while others want to project a more professional image....

The Mythology of Colour in Multimedia Screen Design: Art, Science, and Connoisseurship

Earl R. Misanchuk; Richard A. Schwier

Canadian Journal of Educational Communication Vol. 24, No. 1 (1995) pp. 3–26

Summarizes the results of literature on color use in multimedia screen design for instructional purposes. Discusses problems and the lack of guidance for instructional designers. Suggests renewed research and the development of a connoisseurial...

Interplay of Content and Community Redux: Online Communication in a Graduate Seminar on Theory in Educational Technology

Mary E. Dykes; Richard A. Schwier

Association for Media and Technology in Education Annual Conference 2002 (2002)

This paper summarizes the experiences of an instructor and teaching assistant who introduced online communication strategies in a graduate seminar. This paper drew on the findings of a previous paper (Schwier & Balbar, 2002), and examined how to...

The Effect of Interaction and Perceived Need for Training on Learning and Time Spent Learning from Computer-Based Instruction

Richard A. Schwier; Earl R. Misanchuk

Canadian Journal of Educational Communication Vol. 17, No. 3 (1988) pp. 147–58

Describes study that examined the effects of embedded questions and review frames on learning from computer-based instruction as well as the effect of perceived need for training on performance. Experimental and control group treatments for...

Benefits and Pitfalls of Using HTML as a CD-ROM Development Tool

Earl R. Misanchuk; Richard A. Schwier

Journal of Interactive Instruction Development Vol. 8, No. 4 (1996) pp. 3–14

Discussion of HTML (HyperText Markup Language) focuses on its use for developing CD-ROMs. Topics include the World Wide Web; cross-platform compatibility; the incorporation of text, graphics, audio, and video; learner control over display...

The Art and Science of Color in Multimedia Screen Design, Part II: Science, Myth, and Legend

Earl R. Misanchuk; Richard A. Schwier

Annual Convention of the Association for Educational Communication and Technology 1995 (1995)

This paper summarizes the results of an analysis of literature on color use in screen design. Fundamental problems with the information base are identified as follows: (1) advise becomes obsolete as newer equipment becomes available; (2) the nature...

Conversation as Inquiry: A Conversation with Instructional Designers

Katy Campbell; Richard A. Schwier; Richard F. Kenny

Journal of Learning Design Vol. 1, No. 3 pp. 1–18

Instructional designers regularly engage in a process of professional and personal transformation that has the potential to transform the culture of institutions through faculty-client relationships. Instructional designers promote new ideas and...

The Critical, Relational Practice of Instructional Design in Higher Education: An Emerging Model of Change Agency

Katy Campbell; Richard A. Schwier; Richard F. Kenny

Educational Technology Research and Development Vol. 57, No. 5 (October 2009) pp. 645–663

This paper offers an emerging interpretive framework for understanding the active role instructional designers play in the transformation of learning systems in higher education. A 3-year study of instructional designers in Canadian universities...

Challenges in the Design of a Hypertext Book in HTML: Lessons Learned

Earl R. Misanchuk; Richard A. Schwier; Elizabeth Boling

EdMedia + Innovate Learning 1999 (1999) pp. 1219–1220

This document is a very brief summary of a larger paper and presentation. It is not possible to discuss the issues presented two pages, so we will restrict ourselves to providing an annotated outline of the topics here, and invite you to download...

Topics: Instructional Design, Multimedia, Developmental Stages

A Preliminary Investigation of Self-Directed Learning Activities in a Non-Formal Blended Learning Environment

Richard A. Schwier; Dirk Morrison; Ben K Daniel

Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association 2009 (April 2009)

This research considers how professional participants in a non-formal self-directed learning environment (NFSDL) made use of self-directed learning activities in a blended face-to-face and on line learning professional development course. The...

Discourse on Designing an Illustrated Hypermedia Book

Earl R. Misanchuk; Richard A. Schwier; Elizabeth Boling

Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia Vol. 9, No. 3 (2000) pp. 223–251

Large-scale hypertext implementations designed to provide information are common enough (especially as websites); however, large-scale instructional equivalents are, at this juncture, rarer. This article discusses: l the design and development of a...

Topics: Instructional Design, Developmental Stages

Synthesis of the Process of Learning through Discourse in a Formal Virtual Learning Community

Ben K. Daniel; Richard A. Schwier; Heather M. Ross

Journal of Interactive Learning Research Vol. 18, No. 4 (October 2007) pp. 461–477

This article reports on the analysis of online discussions among graduate students studying the theoretical and philosophical foundations of educational technology, with the aim of understanding the process of learning through discourse in these...

Topics: Research Methods, Virtual Environments, Information Communication Technologies, Collaboration, Communication, Computers, Community

Visual Design for Instructional Multimedia

Earl R. Misanchuk; Richard A. Schwier; Elizabeth Boling

EdMedia + Innovate Learning 1999 (1999) p. 1621

This poster session provides a public demonstration of the HTML-based CD-ROM "Visual Design for Instructional Multimedia." The work takes the position that creating instructional materials in multimedia requires different strategies and tactics in...

Topics: Instructional Design, Multimedia, Instructional Materials