Hyperbased delivery

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Hyper-based delivery
CMT105 Lecture 6

• Lost in Hyperspace

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General structure

• Technology
• Educational context
• Technology basics
• Educational applications
• Technology practicalities

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Technology
What is this all about?
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The hype about hyper

• Hypersystems were suggested in the late 50s
• Hypercard was the tool to take the world by
  storm (1988)
• Hyper became an in word about 5 years ago
• Because...
• People thought it meant you could avoid all the
  hard problems of educational software, like
  designing your interaction, modelling your user
  etc.
• Sadly...
• This is just like problems with naive versions of
  child-centered learning

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Key concept

• Locus of control lies with the learner/user
• Distinct from last weeks flow-based systems
• But maybe the user doesnt know
• ...what they know
• ...what they dont know
• ...whats available
• So they are Lost in Hyperspace
• and we havc to save them by
• structuring the environment to educational needs

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Original Hypertexts

• Ted Nelson - Xanadu project
• The world is a document

Part-of and Version-of links
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Paper examples

• Adventure games
• Experimental novels
• A library is really a Hypertext
• (just a problem of accessibility)

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Hypercard

• A document becomes a (5 x 3) card
• Cards have foregrounds and backgrounds
• Cards are organised into stacks
• You can add text, graphics and buttons
• Originally thought to be a database front-end
  for the masses
• Quickly became an interface prototyping tools
• Has an OO programming language (HyperTalk)

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Hypercard environment
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Authoring panel
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Script panel
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Hypermedia

• If you can link between text, why not all media?
• Very recent
• Most media authoring tools now include some sort
  of hypertext facility

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The web

• Strangely, the web is a proper Hypertext
• (potential) interconnectivity of all things
• as Nelson envisaged
• And its free!
• Authoring and usage require no tools
• Works across platforms
• HTML is an SGML DTD
• Just thought you would like to know that!

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Educational context
Where might this enable me to rethink my
teaching?
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Lectures

• Presentation
• that part of a lecture which could be delivered
  by a book could be delivered by a Hypertext
• ...but remember that you cannot be sure a student
  has gone through everything
• Elaboration
• individual students can follow up different parts
  of the material to different degrees depending on
  what they need to know and what they are
  interested in
• couldnt do that in a lecture
• ...but how do they know how much they need to
  know? Please Miss, where do I stop? (or head
  explodes)

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Learning resources

• Information source
• Reference guide
• Indexing and searching
• Replaces some of teacher role
• Can use Hypertext as Oracle
• Can provide a guide to other resources
• Provide an integrated view on other resources and
  hence make them relate to your teaching (like a
  study guide)

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Project/Activity support

• Students using a Hypertext need a reason Why
• Can be just to browse
• Normally there is a purpose
• Hypertexts can be well complemented by project
  based working

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Technology basics
What do I need to make it work?
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Network of media

• If you are using segments of media..
• Why use them? (purpose)
• Where are they to be accessed from?
• How will the learner know they are there?
• There are various design methodologies around

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Navigational problems

• Where am I?
• Where have I been?
• Where can I go next?
• Have I finished yet?
• What does finished mean?
• How do I get where I feel safe? Get out?
• Home and History concepts
• What can I learn about xxx?

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Objectives

• Like other interactions, it is purposeful
• Structure must enable learner to express purpose
• It should be easy to stay relevant to your
  objectives and not get moved off into other areas
• The author must anticipate learners needs and
  plan routes
• or the system must be able to give advice
  dynamically

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Content design

• Works well with most Curriculum Design methods
• Concept mapping fits extremely well
• Concept groupings can be reflected in structure
• see next slide
• Remember the importance of modularity
• Cannot be sure what the learner has or hasnt
  seen yet
• Try to see all the ways in to a content unit
• May use more linear segments occasionally

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Structure design

• Whats in a link? Has a significant effect...
• Links which tell you they are links
• ... and some dont!
• Links which tell you what their content will be
• Links which tell you what sort of thing to
  expect
• Links which tell you their educational role
• Conventions of symbolism become important

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Navigational tools

• Apart from content related navigation
• Provides a (consistent) way of moving and
  locating yourself
• Visualisation tools
• e.g. maps, history lists, relatedness lists
• Reference points
• e.g. Home, Main index, local content
• Navigation models
• e.g. book (yuk!) previous and next
• e.g. tree parent(s), children

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Whats in the web?

• The web is very new (less than 4 years)
• Has made the Internet for everyone
• All the above applies to it
• Plus issues of time constraints
• There is a lot of usable stuff already out there
• The web contains (can contain)
• A Hypertext Markup language (HTML)
• An internal programming language (Javascript and
  Java)
• Access to any programming language (CGI)
• Multimedia (Plugins, special browsers etc.)

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Educational applications
Where can I apply this?
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Lectures?

• Hmm.
• You could linearise a Hypertext to get one
• You can offer some of the things that a lecture
  cannot do
• Probably better than a lecture for a mixed
  ability audience
• Or use the lecture as an index to the Hypertext
  - concentrate on orientation and motivation

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Study guides

• Orient people around other materials
• provide relevance, structure and grouping
• for subject area
• Customise (localise) generic materials to
  particular requrement
• Match to objectives
• A bit like a reading companion to a book

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Layered materials

• Provide a top-level
• summarises what there is to know
• explains what level is expected of the student
• Allows backtrack/background/detail materials
• So people can learn more about what they need
• Helps people catch up to stated objectives
• Allows additional materials
• Pushes beyond the required content
• Keeps people occupied

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Technology practicalities
So, how does it really work in practice?
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Authoring tools

• Specialist
• Hypercard, Supercard, Toolbook
• General
• Director, Authorware, Word(!), Acrobat...
• Web
• Only need a text editor
• Or the free authoring component in many browsers
• But can use Claris Homepage, Adobe Pagemill, M
  FrontPage

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Design processes

• This is very important - will learn more next
  semester
• Think about your users and their needs
• Think about the problems to be solved
• Think about orientation and navigation
• Design structures for the content relating to
  educational needs
• Test it thoroughly

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Material integration

• Most authoring tools handle text, pictures
• audio, video etc. can often be plugged in
• tools are getting better
• Remember - dont use it without a good reason

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Web construction

• Now almost as powerful as other tools
• Highly extensible
• Low cost (apart from development)

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Activities

• To Do
• Take a subject area - preferably the same one
  used for your flow-based example last week - and
  map out a set of interlinkages between the
  concepts and the materials
• Readings
• Exploring Hypermedia, P. Barker, 1993
• Designing user interfaces for Hypermedia, W.
  Schuler 1995
• Rethinking Hypermedia, W. Hall, 1996
• Jonassen