Successful use of information and communication technologies depends on usable designs that do not require expensive training, accommodate the needs of diverse users and are low cost. There is a growing demand and increasing pressure for adopting innovative approaches to the design and delivery of education, hence, the use of online learning (also called E-learning) as a mode of study. This is partly due to the increasing number of learners and the limited resources available to meet a wide range of various needs, backgrounds, expectations, skills, levels, ages, abilities and disabilities. The advances of new technology and communications (WWW, Human Computer Interaction and Multimedia) have made it possible to reach out to a bigger audience around the globe. By focusing on the issues that have impact on the usability of online learning programs and their implementation, Usability Evaluation of Online Learning Programs specifically fills-in a gap in this area, which is particularly invaluable to practitioners.

A weekly review of politics, literature, theology, and art.

Vols. for 1871-76, 1913-14 include an extra number, The Christmas bookseller, separately paged and not included in the consecutive numbering of the regular series.

In the first book of its kind, art information expert Lois Swan Jones discusses how to locate visual and textual information on the Internet and how to evaluate and supplement that information with material from other formats--print sources, CD-ROMS, documentary videos, and microfiche sets--to produce excellent research results. The book is divided into three sections: Basic Information Formats; Types of Websites and How to Find Them; and How to Use Web Information. Jones discusses the strengths and limitations of Websites; scholarly and basic information resources are noted; and search strategies for finding pertinent Websites are included. Art Information and the Internet also discusses research methodology for studying art-historical styles, artists working in various media, individual works of art, and non-Western cultures--as well as art education, writing about art, problems of copyright, and issues concerning the buying and selling of art. This title will be periodically updated.

Many educators and the public are interested in online distance education, in particular Internet-based schooling. The underlying assumption is that this is a new and untested fad in education. This is due in part to a lack of documentation within academia of the early development of online distance education, and, in part, to a shortage of experienced, practicing online schools. On the Internet, one may become confused by the flurry of activity and by the various claims from organizations that they are providing a revolutionary method of instruction--online teaching. Furthermore, many people are unaware of the long and distinguished history of distance education itself that is the root of current day Internet-based schooling. Despite the uncertainty, the public is clearly demanding online distance education. This dissertation helps to resolve these problems. This study fills various needs for the purpose of showing the effective application of online distance education. Educational administrators, teachers, and the public must be assured that online distance teaching is a valid and proven instructional method. Furthermore, administrators and teachers need to know what to expect when planning, operating, and teaching in an online school. Through historical analysis and the presentation of a practicing Internet-based school, this study fills these needs. This dissertation results from fifteen years of independent study and research by the author, combined with professional experience in the field of online distance education, including Internet-based school design and operation. Conclusions result from published studies in distance education; from research conducted in the 1980s concerning publicly available online distance education; and from experience in developing, administrating, and teaching in an international, Internet-based school that has been in continual operation online since 1986. The author concludes that: (1) online distance education has a proven track record; (2) there is continual demand from the global community for Internet-based instruction, as well as a public demand for traditional institutions to accept this nontraditional method of study; and (3) administrators and teachers can economically create and operate an effective Internet-based school that is accessible to and affordable for individual learners using low-cost personal computers.