Interactive Web-based Instruction: What Is It? and How Can It Be Achieved?

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Shortridge, Anne
Copyright Year	2001
Abstract	Today, the use of the Internet to teach university curricula is common place. However, few theory-based guidelines have been published to support course authors as they attempt to move their teaching out of the traditional classroom and into cyberspace. In addition, issues and trends discussed in literature across a number of disciplines indicate that there is a critical need for web-based courseware to be interactive. However, a concise definition of interactivity does not exist. The goal of this article is to provide interested readers with a model for achieving interactive web-based instruction. The model includes a possible definition for interactivity called adequate dialogue and a description of courseware components that successfully increase interactivity and learning outcomes based upon this definition. Course authors may decide to adopt these same interactive components or choose new ones that meet the criteria of adequate dialogue. The model is the result of the author's work on a grant at The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (UAF), which included the design, development, and evaluation of two undergraduate web-based distance education courses. A blend of qualitative methods that included document analysis and interviewing were used to evaluate the UAF courseware; analysis of the data that employed data and investigator triangulation indicated that the author's model is worthy of replication. *To navigate to and from the text of this article to the illustrations and graphic examples provided via hyperlinks, please use the back button on your browser. This article was formatted to allow readers with older browsers to view all of the content. The following definition of interactivity was taken from two sources: Moore's (1990, 1996) theory of transactional distance and Laurillard's (1993) discursive, adaptive, interactive and reflective conversational framework. Moore's concept of transactional distance describes the nature of distance in educational settings. Laurillard's conversational framework discusses the character and complexity of academic learning, the roles of students and teachers in the learning process, and the strengths and weaknesses of various technological mediums as support mechanisms for those roles. Since computer and web-based instruction may be considered a type of distance learning where direct access to the teacher is limited, the definition of interactivity described in the next few paragraphs may be applied to any web or computer-based courseware. Direct access may be limited because the teacher is not present in person or the content is presented in an artificial environment that is incapable of flexible, expert reasoning. For …
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Alternate Webpage(s)	http://www2.hawaii.edu/~rinake/webcontent/files/Interactive_Web-Based_Instruction.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article