HCI for on-line Learning

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HCI for on-line Learning

• Alan Dix
• Lancaster University
• www.hcibook.com/alan

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what Ill talk about

• what is HCI
• some issues and guidelines
• top down analysis of e-learning
• from economics down

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what isHumanComputer Interaction?

• not just the screen design!
• every aspect that affects the user

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broader HCI issues

• stakeholders
• users model of systems
• task analysis
• organisation

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Internet and CSCW
(computer-supported cooperative
work)

• value
• lots of decision points
• marketing
• what you say matters
• community

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but details matter tooexample colours

• styles
• cold north west - drab, low contrast
• hot south east - bright, movement
• human eye
• contrast not colour
• distractions

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good use of colour

• using conventions (red for alarms etc.)
• branding parts of an interface
• occasional emphasis
• redundant coding
• i.e. in addition to other means
• e.g. web link colours - also underlined
• for diagrams, etc.

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bad use of colour

• over use - without very good reason (e.g. kids
  site)
• colour blindness
• poor use of contrast
• do adjust your set!
• adjust your monitor to greys only
• can you still read your screen?

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four rules of navigation

• knowing where youve been
• or what youve done
• knowing where you are
• knowing what you can do
• knowing where you are going
• or what will happen

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navigation and e-learning

• ? where you are going when you havent learnt it
  yet!
• history is complicated
• overviews and maps
• breaking rules for pedagogy
• suspense dont say whats coming
• control only progress when allowed

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the golden rule of design

• understand your materials
• , people, machines, learning models

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physical things

• directness of effect
• push and it moves
• locality of effect
• here and now
• visibility of state
• small number of relevant parameters

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whats special about computers?

• complexity of effect
• computation
• non locality of effect
• in space networks
• in time memory
• hidden state
• large number of invisible variables

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understanding the media

• time
• network delays, initialisation, layout time
• space
• screen size, fonts and spacing, precise location
• colour
• safe 216 ...
• interaction
• standard navigation

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design of pages

• content rich heavy text
• v.s
• image rich CD ROM style
• 
  or ...
• the quick
  and the dead

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interactions

• internet delay experiment
• fast (1 s) and slow (5 s) delays
• menu-based information system
• perfomance time accuracy
• post test questions

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interactions

• internet delay experiment
• fast (1 s) and slow (5 s) delays, menu-based
  information system, perfomance time accuracy,
  post test questions
• results
• longer delays ? slower performance
• longer delays ? better memory
• why?

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interactions

• internet delay experiment
• longer delays ? slower performance
• longer delays ? better memory
• why?
• reading during gaps interstitial learning
• high cost of failure more concentration
  more processing

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education top down
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what is the core business of an educational
institution?

• Education
• teaching and learning ? e-learning
• Validated certificates
• e-exams, e-assessment ?

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economics of education

• Professor Alans formula!
• StudentStaff Ratio ? Student Contact Hours
• Class Size ? Staff Contact
  Hours

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e-learning?

• Effective Class Size
• Students per Cohort
• ? Nos. of Cohorts in Course
  Lifetime
• Preparation Hours per Delivery Hour
  
• (relative to normal delivery)

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user interfaces

• development
• choice of content, design of materials
• management
• monitoring progress, marks, etc.
• the oldest IT systems in education!
• learning
• student and staff together

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IT in learning?

• information
• communication
• c.f. Ann Light
• simulation
• as tool
• Note taking etc, e.g. classroom 2000
• as actor (teacher, assistant)
• Elisa, student models

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information

• paper
• narrative sequential
• web
• episodic non-linear
• knowledge is non-linear
• but much of memory is (e.g. bus tours)

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communication

• who
• studentteacher, studentstudent
• how
• public or private
• issues
• timeliness, notification, belonging
• efficiency?
• email vs. FAQ process

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communicationthink about dynamics

• process matters
• email gt FAQ more efficient?
• lost sense of community
• start-up
• good when everyone uses it?
• zero point value
• freshness
• bulletin board or web pages
• need constant change or notification

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simulation

• faster than life
• economic models
• more accessible than life
• virtual landscapes
• more flexible than life
• physics and ARK
• biased and correlated coins

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as tool eClass

• Georgia Tech, Atlanta
• http//www.cc.gatech.edu/fce/c2000/

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lecture using liveboard - electronic whiteboard
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write on electronic slides
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later students replay slides, audio and video
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eClass - lessons

• low intrusion (during lecture)
• no interpretation
• indexing (c.f. video)

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as teacher

• early detection
• e.g. spelling checking
• N.B. no learning of bad habits
• low judgement