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educ week

Net 25 Interview with PCS president Dr. Lemuel Brana

Cobra Itech Services Corporation

Cobra Itech Services Corporation got its name from the 2 leading senior consultants and principals of the company namely Craig Covey and Lemuel Braña. This represents the joining of forces of American and Filipino consultants.  Our key officers are seasoned technical leaders with more than 50 years experience in I.T. from large information technology service providers and from backgrounds in security and intelligence institutions, including the US Air Force, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), executive branch of the US government, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), and Germany's Bundesnachrichtendienst.  cobraitech.com

cobraitech.com

Homeschooling and open Universities in the Philippines

Homeschooling and open universities have proliferated in the Philippines over recent years due to the ease of long-distance communication over the Internet and the rising cost of education and other resources. They permit study at the student’s own pace and allow a more flexible schedule that enables the student to pursue work or other interests while studying. Such programs are supported by Article IV of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which decrees that quality education at every level should be made accessible to all Filipinos, including self-learning, independent, and out-of-school study programs.

Definitions

Homeschooling involves the teaching of children at home, usually by their parents. This form of schooling is recognized by the Department of Education (DepEd) provided that the parent-teacher is a college graduate and is able to provide at least 4 hours of instruction for kindergarten to 7th grade. Parent-teachers may avail of school curricula, lesson plans, teacher-training, and instructional materials through DepEd accredited homeschooling programs. The cost for these programs is considerably less than most traditional private schools. Apart from this, other advantages of homeschooling are that it permits individualized instruction, saves travel time, and promotes family bonding. While there are concerns that children’s social interactions may be limited, this may be counteracted by planning activities involving other children.
Homeschooling means no pressure of learning all things. It is done at anytime, anywhere by the learner, mother or provider. For accreditation purposes a homeschooling clientele must go to the Dep-Ed office for validation or he may choose to enroll in a recognized school of the Department of Education.
An open university utilizes open learning approaches in providing students with courses leading to a degree, certificate, or diploma. Internet technology and print materials are most often utilized, plus occasional face-to-face class sessions. While such an approach may limit social interaction, it is a viable alternative for working students, especially those living or working at some distance from the university. With the encouragement of theCommission on Higher Education (CHED), an increasing number of state and private institutions have been offering such programs since the 1990s.

Homeschooling programs in the Philippines

While any parent who is a college graduate may instruct his or her children, many parents prefer to make use of foreign or local homeschooling packages to facilitate their teaching. Some Philippine homeschooling programs include the following:

• Angelicum College Catholic Home Study Program from elementary to high school.
• Catholic Filipino Academy (CFA) – the first Philippine Catholic homeschool program, co-founded by Bo Sanchez, offers DepEd accredited education for preschool to grade school students. It provides training materials, lesson plans, and textbooks and support from other homeschooling parents. CFA is affiliated with Power Kids Academy, a private school located in Bulacan.
• Colegio de San Juan de Letran Catholic Home Study Program from elementary to high school.
• Harvest Christian School International - the International Christian School of Cebu City, Philippines offering DepEd accredited international and national homeschool and distance learning programs from Elementary to High School. It provides two (2) categories of Homeschooling and Distance Learning Programs: - 1) Online Distance Learning (ODL) and Printed Distance Learning (PDL). Harvest Christian School International (HCSI) has a physical campus in Mabolo, Cebu City, Philippines. Aside from its DepEd Permanent Recognition, its Online and Printed Distance Learning Program are accredited by National Association of Private Schools (NAPS) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA and by Sevenstar Academy, Ohio, USA.
• The Master’s Academy (TMA) – a Christian school founded by the Christ’s Commission Fellowship (CCF) that has been offering a DepEd accredited international homeschool program since 1999. Regular group activities provide children with opportunities to interact as well as to display their talents.
• The School of Tomorrow - a Christian homeschool program for kindergarten to high school levels that has been provided by the United States-based organization Accelerated Christian Education since 1970. It makes use of the latest computer technology in providing an individualized education with a strong religious background.

Open university programs in the Philippines

A great variety of degree, non-degree, certificate, and diploma courses are offered through open universities in the Philippines, most of which are divisions of state universities. The open university programs in the Philippines include the following:

• The University of the Philippines, Open University (UPOU), founded on 23 February 1995, offers degree and non-degree programs, including courses at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral level and certificate or diploma courses. It has been named the National Center of Excellence in Open Learning and Distance Education by CHED. Lessons are given via Internet, learning modules, and occasional face-to-face sessions.
• The Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Open University (PUP OU) has offered non-degree courses since the 1970s and degree courses since 1990.
• The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Open University (PLM OU)
• The Pangasinan State University Open University Systems (PSU-OUS) were founded in 1996 and began at PSU-Lingayen in March 1997 with diploma courses. It now offers a wide range of courses to residents of Ilocos Norte, and Ilocos Sur, as well as Pangasinan.
• The Western Mindanao University Open University System provides a non-thesis master of public administration course, major in organization and management. The students meet with their professors once a month at the nodal centers in Ipil, Sibugay and Pagadian City.
• Bicol University’s Open University, established in 2005, allows students to earn master’s degrees in public administration, local government management, and management.
• The CLSU Open University, founded on August 29, 1997, offers graduate, post-graduate, certificate, and diploma courses. The lessons are administered through printed modules and occasional live tutorial sessions.
• Benguet State University has offered master’s and diploma programs for certain courses since 1997.

Bureau of Alternative Learning System

BUHAY ESTUDYANTE :p

hehehe.. natuwa lang..

SUMMARY OF THE IMPEACHMENT COMPLAINT vs CHIEF JUSTICE CORONA

I.  RESPONDENT BETRAYED THE PUBLIC TRUST THROUGH HIS TRACK RECORD MARKED BY PARTIALITY AND SUBSERVIENCE IN CASES INVOLVING THE ARROYO ADMINISTRATION FROM THE TIME OF HIS APPOINTMENT AS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE WHICH CONTINUED TO HIS DUBIOUS APPOINTMENT AS A MIDNIGHT CHIEF JUSTICE AND UP TO THE PRESENT. 

« Midnight Appointments in violation against Sec. 15, Article VII of Constitution

« Arturo de Castro v. Judicial and Bar Council and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, et. al., SC held that the prohibition does not apply to SC but only to executive department and other courts lower than SC.

« Indeed, Newsbreak report showed that he has consistently sided with the (Arroyo) administration in politically-significant cases. Newsbreak further reported when it tracked the voting pattern of Supreme Court justices, Corona lodged a high 78 percent in favor of Arroyo¨

« A table shows that in 10 cases show respondent's voting pattern in cases involving Arroyo government's frontal assaults on constitutional rights prior to his appointment as Chief Justice.

« During his tenure as Chief Justice, Respondent also sided with Arroyo in the following 3 cases such as in (1) Biraogo v. The Philippine Truth Commission of 2010, (2) Bai Omera D. Dianalan-Lucman v. Executive(revoking midnight appointments) and (3) Aquino vs. COMELEC (redefining districts of CamSur)

II. RESPONDENT  COMMITTED  CULPABLE  VIOLATION  OF  THE CONSTITUTION AND/OR BETRAYED THE PUBLIC TRUST WHEN HE FAILED TO DISCLOSE TO THE PUBLIC HIS STATEMENT OF ASSETS, LIABILITIES, AND NET WORTH AS REQUIRED UNDERSEC. 17, ART. XI OF THE 1987 CONSTITUTION.

« Respondent failed to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth as required by the Constitution.

« Some of the properties of Respondent are not included in his declaration of his assets, liabilities, and net worth, in violation of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act.

« Respondent is suspected of having accumulated ill-gotten wealth, acquiring assets of high values and keeping bank accounts with huge deposits (among others, a 300-sq. meter apartment in the Fort in Taguig).

III. RESPONDENT  COMMITTED  CULPABLE  VIOLATIONS  OF  THE CONSTITUTION AND BETRAYED THE PUBLIC TRUST BY FAILING TO MEET AND OBSERVE THE STRINGENT STANDARDS UNDER ART. VIII, SECTION 7 (3) OF THE CONSTITUTION THAT PROVIDES THAT [A] MEMBER OF THE JUDICIARY MUST BE A PERSON OF PROVEN COMPETENCE, INTEGRITY, PROBITY, AND INDEPENDENCE IN ALLOWING THE SUPREME COURT TO ACT ON MERE LETTERS FILED BY A COUNSEL WHICH CAUSED THE ISSUANCE OF FLIP-FLOPPING DECISIONS IN FINAL AND EXECUTORY CASES; IN CREATING AN EXCESSIVE ENTANGLEMENT WITH MRS. ARROYO THROUGH HER APPOINTMENT OF HIS WIFE TO OFFICE; AND IN DISCUSSING WITH LITIGANTS REGARDING CASES PENDING BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT.

« Respondent previously served Arroyo as her chief of staff, spokesman when she was Vice-President, Presidential Chief-of-Staff, Presidential Spokesman, and Acting Executive Secretary.

o Flip-flopping of the Corona Court on FASAP vs. PAL  on a mere letter from Philippine Airlines counsel Atty.  Estelito Mendoza (and also in the flip-flopping case of League of Cities v. COMELEC)

« Respondent compromised his independence when his wife, Cristina Corona, accepted an appointment as on March 23, 2007 from President Arroyo to the Board of the John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC) in violation of Code of Judicial Conduct

o serious complaints were filed against Mrs. Corona by her fellow board members because of acts of misconduct and negligence. Instead, on acting on the complaint, the complainants were removed and Mrs. Corona promoted as OIC board chair

« Respondent has been reportedly using the judicial fund as his own personal expense account, charging to the Judiciary personal expenditures.

« Respondent Corona discussed with litigants (Lauro Vizconde and Dante Jimenez) regarding the  Vizconde massacre case, which was then pending before the SC and accused fellow Justice Carpio for lobbying for acquittal, in violation of Code of Conduct and Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act

« Respondent Corona irregularly dismissed the Inter-petal Recreational Corporation case under suspicious circumstances.

IV.  RESPONDENT BETRAYED THE PUBLIC TRUST AND/OR COMMITTED CULPABLE VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION WHEN IT BLATANTLY DISREGARDED THE PRINCIPLE OF SEPARATION OF POWERS BY ISSUING A STATUS QUO ANTE ORDER AGAINST THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN THE CASE CONCERNING THE IMPEACHMENT OF THEN OMBUDSMAN MERCEDITAS NAVARRO-GUTIERREZ.

« Respondent railroaded the proceedings in the Guttierez case in order to have a Status Quo Ante Order issued in her favor. 

o Newsbreak showed that most of the justices received the Petition after the deliberations, while three (3) justices (Velasco, Bersamin and Perez) who voted to issue the Status Quo Ante Order received the petition a day after the status quo ante order was granted.

« Its issuance violated the principle of separation of powers since the Supreme Court prevented the House from initiating impeachment proceedings.

V.  RESPONDENT  COMMITTED  CULPABLE  VIOLATIONS  OF THE CONSTITUTION THROUGH WANTON ARBITRARINESS AND PARTIALITY IN CONSISTENTLY DISREGARDING THE PRINCIPLE OF RES JUDICATA AND IN DECIDING IN FAVOR OF GERRY-MANDERING IN THE CASES INVOLVING THE 16 NEWLY-CREATED CITIES, AND THE PROMOTION OF DINAGAT ISLAND INTO A PROVINCE.

« Respondent violated the principle of the immutability of final judgments (flip-flopping) known to have been instigated through personal letters or ex-part ecommunications addressed to the Respondent:

o League of Cities v. COMELEC case involving the creation of 16 new cities,

o Navarro v. Ermita  which involved the promotion of Dinagat Island from municipality to province

o FASAP v. Philippine Airlines, Inc., et al.

VI.  Respondent Betrayed the Public Trust By Arrogating Unto Himself, And To A Committee He Created, The Authority And Jurisdiction To Improperly Investigate An Alleged Erring Member Of The Supreme Court For The Purpose Of Exculpating Him. Such Authority And Jurisdiction Is Properly Reposed By The Constitution In the House of Representatives via Impeachment.
 
« Vinuya vs. Executive Secretary, it was alleged that rampant plagiarism was committed by the ponente, Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo

« It appears that, with a clear intent of exonerating a member of the Supreme Court, Respondent, in violation of the Constitution, formed an Ethics Committee thereby arrogating unto himself, and to a Committee he created, the authority and jurisdiction to investigate an alleged member of the Supreme Court.

VII.  RESPONDENT BETRAYED THE PUBLIC TRUST THROUGH HIS PARTIALITY IN GRANTING A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER (TRO) IN FAVOR OF FORMER PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO AND HER HUSBAND JOSE MIGUEL ARROYO IN ORDER TO GIVE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO ESCAPE PROSECUTION AND TO FRUSTRATE THE ENDS OF JUSTICE, AND IN DISTORTING THE SUPREME COURT DECISION ON THE EFFECTIVITY OF THE TRO IN VIEW OF A CLEAR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE CONDITIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT'S OWN TRO.

« The Supreme Court, under the Respondent, immediately acted upon the Petition and granted the TRO despite the fact that there are clear inconsistencies in former President Arroyo's petition

« It appears from reports that the ponente to whom the petitions were raffled was an Associate Justice. Under the Internal Rules of the Supreme Court, a TRO can only be considered upon the recommendation of the ponente. In view of certain objections against the grant of the TRO, a holding of a hearing within the short period of five (5) days was recommended. Despite this recommendation, the respondent engineered a majority of 8 votes (as against five dissenters) the immediate grant and issuance of the TRO in favour of former President Arroyo and her husband in blatant violation of their own internal rules.

« Despite the conditions laid by the SC for the issuance of the TRO, Respondent allowed the issuance of the TRO notwithstanding the fact there was noncompliance of an essential pre-condition

o Due to the Arroyos' abject failure to comply with Condition 2, the Supreme Court en banc in its November 18, 2011 deliberations, by a vote of 7 V6, found that there was no compliance with the second condition of the TRO.

Consequently, for failure to comply with an essential condition for the TRO, the TRO is not effective. However, by a vote of 7-6, the Supreme Court decided there was no need to explicitly state the legal effect on the TRO of the noncompliance by petitioners with Condition Number 2 of the earlier Resolution.

o However, the SC decided that the TRO was effective despite noncompliance with an essential condition of the TRO. It is notable that Respondent did not chastise Marquez for his outrightly false and public misrepresentation. 

Worse, the Respondent did not correct the decision that was issued despite the fact that the decision did not reflect the agreement and decision made by the Supreme Court during their deliberations on November 18, 2011. 

VIII.  RESPONDENT BETRAYED THE PUBLIC TRUST AND/OR COMMITTED GRAFT AND CORRUPTION WHEN HE FAILED AND REFUSED TOACCOUNT FOR THE JUDICIARY DEVELOPMENT FUND (JDF) AND SPECIAL ALLOWANCE FOR THE JUDICIARY (SAJ) COLLECTIONS.

« Respondent has reportedly failed and refused to report on the status of the JDF
Funds and the SAJ collections.

« There is likewise the reported failure of Respondent to account for funds released and spent for unfilled positions in the judiciary and from authorized and funded but not created courts.

o In particular, the annual audit report of the Supreme Court of the Philippines contained the observation that unremitted funds to the Bureau of Treasury amounted to P5.38 billion

o the Special allowance for Judiciary along with the General Fund, Judiciary Development Fund in the amount of P559.5 Million were misstated resulting from delayed and/or non-preparation of bank reconciliation statements and non-recording /uncorrected reconciling items.

On User Interfaces for Educational Multimedia Applications

P a n a g io t is T a k is Me t a x a s 1

Computer Science Department

Wellesley College

Abstract

This paper addresses two questions related to educational multimedia applications:
• What lessons should we learn from today's Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)?, and
• What the user interfaces should look like in the future?
We address the first question by drawing on our experience from two multimedia projects, that deal
with multimedia proceedings and multimedia lectures. For the second question,  we criticize the
directions that today's research for 3-D  and VR GUIs is going, and we argue that they may not
necessarily be on the way to the optimum user interface, which is none, and we will describe an
alternative path.

1. Introduction

Multimedia applications for educational purposes have proliferated during the past 10 years.
Some of them have been successful, others have not.  (Here, by  successful  we  mean  the
degree that have helped students learn the material that is presented through the applications.
We are interested in addressing the issue of how the design of user interface has affected their
success and what are the lessons we should learn from them. Clearly, this issue cannot be
addressed completely in a single paper, however, we can speak for our own experience and for
the experience of some of our colleagues. In particular, this paper addresses two questions:
• What have we learned from designing Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for multimedia
educational purposes, and  What the user interfaces should look like in the future?
We address the first question by discussing first the history of GUIs, and then examining in
some detail two case studies from our own experience in multimedia educational applications.
The  first  project  implemented  interactive  electronic  proceedings  while  the  second  used
multimedia to deliver educational lectures.  From these two projects, as well as from projects

that other colleagues have undertaken, we derive a set of guidelines that we believe would be
useful to everyone working on multimedia applications today.
To  answer  the  second  question,  first  we  examine  briefly  the  main  directions  that  user
interfaces seem to explore today, namely three-dimensional and virtual reality user interfaces
(3-D UIs and VR UIs). We argue, however, that this is not the direction that we may want to
go; briefly, the reason is that it is more difficult to manage  a  messy-room  (the  canonical
metaphor that corresponds to 3-D and VR UIs) than a messy-desktop (the accepted metaphor
of 2-D window-based GUIs). Our thesis is that a more natural and efficient user interface is
one that involves sound in the human-to-computer direction, and the extensive knowledge of
book typesetting in the computer-to-human direction.

2. A Short History of Graphical User Interfaces

In the early times of computer history, processing was done in a  batch form. Users had to
stand  in  line  and  leave  their  jobs  outside  the  operator's  room.  The  operator ,  a  person
responsible to feed the computer with data and code was essentially the  only  person  that
communicated directly with the computer. Even though it may seem that the operator was the
user interface, the fact is that in these  early  days  there  was  no  notion of  user  interface.
Communication with the computer was so tedious, both in terms of language and interface,
that the average person could not be trusted in this role.
Things changes slightly (even though at the time it seemed as a huge change) when more
advanced  operating  systems  made  time-sharing  possible.  Now,  the  users  were  able  to
communicate directly  with  the  computer,  through  the  command-line  interface.  Users,  for
example, would type unpronounceable lines of the form

cp A:drctns.txt D:idntknw.txt

and the machine might either perform the task successfully and give no response, or indicate
that  something went  wrong  and  quit.  The  command  line  was  providing  modes  of
communication that were rather difficult to distinguish, and the user would have to memorize
unpronounceable words and cryptic operating system responses.
The  modal  interface was  ugly,  error-prone  and  inconvenient,  partially  responsible  for
attaching the "geek" characterization to programmers. Yet, it has still to depart from our world
because  computer  users  –  contrary  to  popular  belief  –  resists  any  change  to  their
environments, even when the benefits of the change are obvious.
Things became more rational around 1972, when the famous XEROX PARC team came up
with the first graphical user interface (GUI) for the XEROX Altos. This interface employed

the desktop metaphor on which papers and other documents are laid out.  Since the screen of
the computer terminals had a rather small area available for this desktop, users were seeing
only small windows of the whole document.
Despite its strikingly superior idea of the graphical over the modal interfaces, it took them
about 12 years to become known, mainly through Apple's operating system that employed
them in the first release  of  the  Macintosh  128K  in  1984.  Their  popularity  grew slowly,
however, partly due to of a wide-spread macho feeling among programmers that associates
power with intimidation.Today, there is no doubt that the messy-desktop interface — which so closely resembles real
life's desktops — has been extremely successful.  As a measure of its success, we mention the
fact that 23 years after its introduction, a software company stirred lots of excitement – and
revenues – by releasing an operating system with such a graphical user interface. One has to
admit that an idea that excites people so many years after it was first presented, must be a
really good idea, indeed!
GUIs helped the proliferation of users because computers were not intimidating any more.
Even kids that could not read or write, could use a computer, something unthinkable before.
People  realized  that  usability was  much  more  important  than  functionality  –  over  some
minimum  threshold  of  functionality,  of  course.  Ed  Tufte's  1988  aphorism  "Today  the
competition is at the User Interface" still holds true.
Unfortunately, the field of user interface design has not advanced significantly since.  Many
people believe that the advancement will come from real 3-D and visual  reality  interfaces.
However, as we will argue in a later section,  the incorporation of sound into a well-designed
2-D panel would serve the user better.
In the next three sections we describe briefly the experience we gained from two educational
multimedia applications that we have built with colleagues, and will derive some guidelines
from our own and other colleagues' experiences.

3. Case Study 1: Electronic Conference Proceedings

Academic conferences are a long-standing and effective form of multimedia communication.
Conference participants can transmit and receive information through sight and sound, that is,
by viewing individuals, text, and graphics, and by hearing the spoken word.  This same-time,
same-place communication is sufficiently valuable to justify large investments in  time  and
travel funds. Printed conference proceedings, a particular kind of printed books, are attempts
to recapture the value of a live conference, but they are limited by both their delivery medium
and  by  the  significant  differences  from  the  conference  presentation.  We  addressed  this
problem in the CD-ROM multimedia proceedings[2] of  the  DAGS'92  conference[3],  that
delivers text, graphic, audio, and video information  as  an  integrated  whole,  with  extensive
provisions for random access and hypermedia linking.  (For details on this production, see
[4].)
This program uses two basic screens to communicate with the reader of the proceedings, the
talk screen (Figure 1) and the hypertext screen (Figure 2). The figure below shows a typical
shot of the talk screen, which is used to help the reader follow dynamically the talk, and more
efficiently than if he/she were present at the time of the presentation. The movie on the left is
made out of the transparencies that the speaker used, while the one on the right is a short loop
of the speaker speaking. The buttons start and stop the transparencies talk, give direct access
to particularly interesting points of the talk, give information about the speaker, jump to the
hypertext of the paper that is associated with the talk, and go to the list of all talks that appear
in the CD-ROM.

4. Case Study 2: Multimedia Lectures

This  multimedia  interface  is  designed  as  an  example  of  how  to  use  interactive  video  in
education and training, an area in which multimedia applications will have  a  great  impact.
Because of the size and composition of the production team (five untrained students working
part time) , we were also interested in effective ways of production.
The CD-ROM [5] includes a number of introductory lectures for data-parallel computing. Its
goal is to help newcomers in the area get a quick understanding of the issues related to dataparallel computing. It provides eight digitized talks on several introductory themes. The reader
can  follow  dynamically  a  talk  given  by  experts  in  the  area,  and  see  several  animations
associated with it.  In this sense it gives more to the attendee than the actual attendance of the
talk.

The  functionality  we  provided  included  only  the  basic  operations  that  we  found  readers
appreciate the most. As one can see in Figure 3, we use 80% of the screen for the interactive
movie, while we provide ways to start and stop the talk, see a slide-show of the most important
transparencies (controlled by the reader), get a list of the available talks and get informationabout the speakers. Moreover, we provided access to relevant animations that the can help
clarify the presentation and specialized help, tuned to the particular screen that the reader sees.
We thought very carefully and  decided  to  strip  down  the  previous  system's  unnecessary
complications. Narrowing the system was a rather brave decision: reusing the old  system
would have zero design (but not production) cost; moreover, one tends to only  add things
every time a new version of a product is released. However, we believe that this was a correct
decision, since it allowed us to come up with the final product in a much shorter amount of
time and put the effort saved in the quality of the contents. After all, any (multimedia or not)
product is only as good as its contents!
Particular attention was paid for on-line help. We provide two kinds of help: A one-screen
tutorial which explains how each of the objects of  the  interface  works  (Figure  4);  and  a
specialized help screen to be consulted by the viewer when he/she has questions  during the
viewing of a talk.


A big difference between the printed and the electronic book is that the latter can be a living
document, in the sense that it can be updated in short, regular time periods. Doing the same
for printed books is much more expensive for both the producer and the "consumer". We
wanted our product to be such a document, but burning a CD-ROM does not allow too much
space for "life". During the last three years, the development of the World-Wide Web has
changed the rules of the game. We have taken advantage of this technology by providingcontinuous support via a home page. In this site, readers can find updates of the software
included in the CD-ROM, related publications, direct contact links to the contributors, pointers
to related resources on the internet, on-line help, etc.
This web page can be accessed at URL: http://www.wellesley.edu/CS/lidpc.html

5. Guidelines

Among the lessons learnt, not only from our own experience but also from studying other
multimedia user interfaces, are the ones we mention below. Because of lack of space, we list
them without much elaboration:
• Investigate how users use the system and make it more efficient. This involves releasing a
beta version  to  a  number  of  representative  users,  and  including  their  input,  probably
redesigning the interface. Provide shortcuts for all the common queries.
• Scrolling is evil – avoid it at (almost) all costs. After all, scrolling is inherently sequential
and introduces from the window  what hypertext kicked out of the door: instant access to
relevant information.
• Screen space is valuable and very expensive – use it wisely. Do not force the material
presented to fit around the administrative debris; it is the other way around!
• Fancy slide transitions (zooming in/out, page turning, fading in/out, etc.) are visually nice
but  expensive  in  terms  of  resources  (both  production  and  minimal  system  replay
requirements). Use them only if you can afford them.
• Smooth visual transition from node to node and view of the history of the actions taken
preserves reader's sanity.
• Content editing is very important – a book is only as good as its contents. Expect to spend
most of the production time on it. (And even if you did not expect it, do not complain.)
• Content editing is very difficult – be prepare to put a lot of effort into it. You can only trust
it to experts of the material.
• The previous two guidelines do not suggest that the design of the user interface should be
ignored.  Intuitive interface is essential to usability — people ignore (if not hate) manuals.
(Figure 5 shows an example of the main screen ("The Browser") of a multimedia CDROM accompanying an excellent book, with a confusing user interface.)
• People  like  scanning  visually  the  transparencies/contents,  it  gives  them  context  and
increases their interest in the material.
• Video/audio synchronization is important — and this is rather obvious — but you do not
need experts for this.
• Running two video movies simultaneously from a CD-ROM is not here yet. If you need
to use it, make sure you specify carefully the minimal requirements of the system.
• Keep what works well, damp what does not, no matter how much effort you  put  into
developing. And, if you are not sure what works well, ask about the experiences of others
— "don't get it original, get it right!"
• Always offer specialized help – there is no substitute for it when users really need it.
• The  decisions  behind  the  design  of  a  user  interface  should  not be  the  result  of
compromising or of union of opinions. Democracy should be left to other domains.
• Let the graphic artists do the artistic part — focus on functionality and quality of  the
material.

6. The User Interfaces of the Future: Sound is Essential

One cannot deny that he GUIs of the  '70s  have  been  extremely  successful.  As  we  have
mentioned, a measure of their success is the fact that have  made  computers  accessible  to
virtually everyone —  even to corporate managers. Another is, that they were able to create
excitement many years after their introduction.
However, this success makes surpassing them, much harder. Indeed, this is the experience
we have seen so far with 3-D GUIs, the obvious extension of 2-D GUIs: Visualizing a 3-D
interface, organizing the information inside, navigating through it, programming it, supporting
it — in short, everything — is much harder in 3-D.  However, there have been a number of 3-
D and pseudo-3-D interfaces have been developed so far. Below we mention some of the
more promising of them:
• XEROX PARC's file system visualizer that allows  the  user  to  view  the  files  in  three
different 3-D ways. It is arguably a useful way of visualizing the file system.
• MagicCap of MagicLink, Sony's palmtop computer/information organizer. It is a crude
and not real 3D interface, but it demonstrates good functionality.• QuickTime VR, Apple's approach to MT Architecture Machine Group's "Aspen Movie
Map" project. The idea is simple: A movie is created from thousands of pictures taken
from different angles. The viewer can turn and zoom the camera, but cannot look around
objects. Unfortunately, creating VR movies is still much harder than regular QuickTime
movies.
• VRML (Virtual Reality  Modeling  Language)  that  is  designed  to  work  on  the  Web,
essentially a 3D scene description language plus hyperlinks.
But is this the direction we should be going to? 3-D and VR interfaces consume a large part
of the processor's time,  with diminishing returns. Adding texture color and movability in 3-D
scenes is still a challenge to today's powerful uni-processor machines. It will eventually come,
but it needs more powerful, parallel machines. Our main objection is, however, that even if
they are eventually delivered in an economical way, they will just replace the messy desktop
with a messy office, which may be much harder to manage.  Shneiderman's pseudo-3D office
[7] is an indication of how difficult would it be to manage a screen in which  documents,
applications ant tools are hiding in every corner of the 3-D space. We believe that, what we
need instead is a virtual administrative assistant, where we can just ask for a particular file,
using an approximate description, and have it available without having to look for it ourselves.
(Microsoft's PERSONA research project, a parrot called a "conversational assistant" is a good
step in this direction.)
Recall that the user interface is the "thing" between the human and the computer that helps
them communicate. This is a two-way communication, from human to computer and from
computer to human, and they  do not have to be symmetrical. We will, thus, examine them
separately.
From  human  to  computer:  Sound  and  touch-screens. Humans  are  efficient  when
communicating among themselves. They primarily use their voice, but also crude drawings on
a piece of paper, and gestures. Sound is, therefore, essential for their communication. We
believe that the next generation UIs should give the users the ability to find their way around
the information using simple phrases like "Find the file that I used this morning," "Open the
emailer and prepare a letter for John," and "Remind me to call home at 5 PM." This is not
very difficult computationally: Given any restricted domain, we can quickly come up with a
short dictionary for it. The sound interface does not have to understand every word in the
language, it only has to recognize roughly the same number of words that today's  menus
contain, plus a few more (articles, numbers, etc.). Indeed, it has been observed [8] that the
current state of the art in speech recognition and speech synthesis is quite adequate for this
application.  As  an  example  of  a  successful  product,  we  mention  AsTeR,  the  impressive
mathematics (TeX) reader created by T.V. Raman[9].
Sound is not enough, of course. A touch screen and a stylus is helpful for drawings and text.
Lots of progress has been made in this direction lately, and new cost-effective products have
reached the market of PDAs.
From computer to human: Sound and 2-D images. Sound can also be used in the other
communicating direction. It is very often the case that we prefer to hear a message read to us
in order to understand it quickly. This message could have been recorded by the originator, or
the system software could read it to us. But listening without seeing has limited impression.
What the screen should provide is 2-D images, carefully designed and laid-out. We have a
five-hundred years experience in designing and typesetting book pages, and this experience
will help a lot in designing the screen shots of such an interface. We should built on this
strong experience before going to more exotic 3-D designs.

Instructional Design for Multimedia

As a teacher or a trainer, you must have taught, conducted or attended a

number of classes or training sessions. You would have noticed that some

classes were well planned and some others were not so. This happens not

only in face-to-face instructional situations but also in educational audio, video or

computer programmes. It may also happen in the instructional print materials like

self-learning material, textbooks, handouts etc. The effectiveness of any

instructional programme or instructional material depends upon an appropriate

planning or designing, what is called in professional parlance, “Instructional Design”.

Instructional Design is relatively a young discipline. If we unravel the meaning of the

term, it is made up of two words, and . In its literal meaning,

means a set of events that facilitate learning. The word is a

generic term, which means “a creative pattern”. These days we read about Designer

watches, Designer clothes, etc. This means that the watch or the dress is specially

designed, hence unique. To make an item unique through the process of designing,

we use knowledge, observation and creativity. The purpose of designing instruction

is to plan and create situations that enhance learning opportunities of the individuals.

This means that the instruction has to be planned if it is to be effective and designed

in some systematic way. This section for example, has been designed to facilitate

your learning about the meaning, theories, models and application of instructional

design for multimedia.

Instructional Design - Concepts

There are several words and phraseologies associated with the word 'Instruction'.

Most common ones are , and

. According to Mukopadhyay (2001) 'Instructional Science

provides the theoretical construct to the process of instruction'. 'Instructional

Technology is the applied aspect of Instructional Science based on Instructional

Design'.

The meaning of Instructional Design is indicated by the word 'Design' itself. Design

has been claimed as a science by itself. (van Patten, 1989). In layman's language,

'Instructional Design means the plan of action with a purpose'. For our

understanding in this section we will describe instructional design as a separate

entity, which is separate from Instructional Science and Technology. Instructional

Design is a discipline of study and has evolved over the last forty years as a science.

It is a young profession deriving its inspiration and contents from areas of

communication, psychology, media etc. to form its own theory. Various authors have

defined instructional design in their own way. Some of the definitions are given in the

box below:

Instructional Design simply means using a systematic process to understand a

human performance problem, figuring out what to do about it and then doing

something about it (McArdle, 1991).

Instructional Design is the science of creating detailed specifications for the

development, evaluation and maintenance of situations which facilitate the

learning (Richey, 1986).

Instructional Design is the entire process of analysis of learning needs and goals

and the development of a delivery system to meet the needs (Briggs, 1977).

In simple words, instructional design is a pedagogic or teaching device that makes

instruction as well as the instructional material more engaging, effective and

efficient. The statement “whereas physicians engineer health, architects engineer

space, instructional designers engineer human performance” (van Patten, 1989)

focuses on the importance of instructional design.

Learning theories have significant bearing on instructional design, as there is a

logical development from learning to instruction. Instructional design optimizes

learning outcomes while learning theories are the backbone of any instructional

design. Instructional design is the articulation or the manifestation of the learning

theories, and its main aim is to optimize learning by using the known theories of

learning.

Strain (1994) states that a wide divergence of views exists among the researchers in

instructional design regarding the relative contribution of various schools of

psychology and claims that instructional design has grown out of the systems

approach with its roots firmly in behaviorists psychology that has dominated

instructional design since the 1960s. However, Hannafin and Reiber (1989) point out

that instructional design developed in the 1980s by Gagne, Merrill, Reigeluth and

Scandura is largely due to the influence of cognitive theories of learning. Of course

the emphasis has been on how information is retrieved, selected, processed and

perceived. More recent developments are due to Constructivist learning theories.

Instructional designers no longer depend on any one theory. They draw upon and

incorporate from different learning theories, mix those with other information and

apply the results to meet human needs (van Patten, 1989).

Let us examine the three basic schools of theories of learning, namely, Behaviorism,

Cognitivism and Constructivism. These three schools of learning theories have

implications for instructional design. A brief introduction to the three learning

theories is given in the table-1.

In short, behaviorists believe that learning results in changing the learning behaviour

whereas cognitivists believe that learning occurs when learners add new concepts

and ideas to their cognitive structure. Constructivists believe that the learners

construct knowledge for themselves -- each learner individually. All the three

learning theories have implications for instructional design.

Learning Theories and their Implications for

Instructional Design

Behaviourists

Cognitive psychologists

Constructivists

emphasize changes in behaviour as the outcome of learning.

Behaviourist principle of reinforcement, retention and transfer of learning are

important design considerations, as learning is facilitated by reinforcing the correct

performances. Statements of behavioural objectives allow the learners to know

specifically when they have achieved their objectives. In this way, learners can

monitor their own progress. The knowledge of objectives serves as a reinforcing

agent. The frequency of reinforcement is also a design issue. Presenting the content

of the instruction in smaller steps, followed by testing and reinforcing performance

immediately, does this. Retention of the information for the learners is also important

for the instructional designer. Materials that provide more reinforcing activities help

in the retention of what has been learnt.

like Piaget, Bruner and Ausubel contend that learning is

an internal process that cannot be observed directly. Learners first remember and

then retrieve information from the memory. Cognitivists emphasize on how the

human mind works. They put particular emphasis on memory. The implication of this

theory for the instructional designers is that they could use various techniques like

chunking, mnemonics and meaningful organization of content and give practice for

storing and retrieving information. Practice implies provision of increased

opportunities to the learners for reward and reinforcement. Cognitive structures are

created through practice, which leads to an efficient use of long-term memory. For

example, instructional designers include pictures used in video programmes or

practice exercises in the self-learning material that offer opportunities for practice.

Practice is important in learning cognitive tasks as well as motor skills.

promote an open ended learning experience where methods and

results of learning are not easily measured and are different for each learner. The

implication of constructivism for the instructional designer is that the learners should

attach themselves to the content domains. Constructivists believe that learning

occurs when it is situated, contextual, problem based, social and authentic.

Learning theories influence Instructional Design in a significant way. Learning

theory becomes an essential element in the preparation of instructional design

professionals because they permeate all dimensions of instructional design

(Schiffman, 1991). There is no one single theory which designers keep in mind while

designing the instructional strategies and content. Ertmer and Newby (1993) feel

that the behavioural approach can effectively facilitate mastery of the content,

Design orientation,

Methods of instruction that can be broken into more

and

methods that best facilitate learning under different situations,

cognitive strategies are useful in teaching problem solving tactics, and

constructivist strategies are suited for dealing with ill defined problems.

Instructional Design: Theory and Model

Let us examine a few instructional design theories and models. Before we do so, let

us see the difference between a theory and a model.

A provides a general explanation for observations and explains the behaviour

whereas a is a mental picture that helps us to understand something that we

cannot see or experience directly (Dorin, Demmin and Gabel, 1990).

There are various instructional design theories and models developed by various

authors. Let us explore what is an instructional design theory. Reigeluth (1999)

defines an instructional design theory as the one “that offers explicit guidance on

how to better help people learn and develop”. The kinds of learning may include

cognitive, emotional, social, physical and spiritual learning.

Reigeluth (1999) states four major characteristics that all instruction design theories

have in common. These are:

Design orientation,

Identification of of instruction and situations

Methods of instruction that can be broken into more detailed componentmethods,

Choice of Methods.

The design theories have become important as they help the stakeholders to

develop a vision of the instruction early in the design process (Diamond, 1980). This

vision is in terms of ends (how learners will be different as a result of it) and the means

(how those changes in the learners will be fostered). Banathy (1991) states that

instructional design theories should allow for much greater use of the notion of “user-

designer”. This means that the users play a major role in designing their own

instruction.

These theories are also important as they provide guidance at three levels

(Reigeluth, 1999). These are:

learning tool features that best allow an array of alternative methods to be made available to learners,

methods that best facilitate learning under different situations,

system features that best allow an instructional design team to design quality-learning tools.

Multimedia

Media is a Latin word and is used to describe ways to convey messages and

information. When we talk about media we think of newspapers, magazines, radio,

TV, audio- video programmes, computers, etc. Many prefixes are used with the word

Media like , , , etc. The most

common buzzword used in education is Multimedia, which is the integration of text,

audio, video, graphics and animation into a single medium. Instructional multimedia

is the integration of various forms of media in the instructional process. It is the

technology that combines print, radio, television, animation, photographs, and other

forms of illustration. Integration of different media multiplies the impact of a

message. The focus is on instruction and learning. According to the research reports

by Mayer and McCarthy (1995) and Walton (1993) 'multimedia has gained

acceptance with many benefits derived from its use. Learning gains are 56%

greater, consistency of learning is 50-60% better and content retention is 25-50%

higher'. Instructional multimedia focuses on what the learner is expected to do upon

the complexion of the instruction.

On the one hand, research on multimedia has established learning gains of

significant order over the conventional instructional strategies, and on the other, has

shown how instructional design is a tested, well-researched mechanism of

enhancing human learning. By logical extrapolation, we can say that instructional

multimedia can be more effective, if it is backed up by scientific instructional design.

Instructional Design for Media

Media has become an integral part of education. There are two major forms of

media-radio and television (mass media) and audio and video (modular media). The

radio and television as media depends upon the audio and video programmes.

Hence, from the software angle, we can examine the modular media, though their

implications for instructional design will be widely different when we integrate

inflexible mass media like radio and television or flexible audio and video

programmes in designing our multimedia instructional system. To avoid complexity

and also to allow space for creativity of the teacher in designing instruction through

multimedia, we will focus on instructional design of modular media, namely the audio

and video programmes. There are, however, several formats and status within the

overall scheme of instruction. Let us examine some of the possibilities (Table-3).

Thus as shown in table-3, there are at least 12 alternative possibilities. Instructional

design is spread among the 12 possibilities in the matrix. The Integrated and

Reinforcing programs are part of the multi-channel learning system (MCLS) context.

Conventionally, instructional design components are: objectives, content (content

analysis and level validation), transactional methods (lecture, video, audio, etc. or in

combination) and evaluation (interim and end of learning). In self-learning print

materials all these are explicit. In audio/video that is not usually true, though both

objectives and evaluation can be built into the programme, in the script and at the

production stage.

The audio/video programmes are close to linear Programmed Learning Material

(PLM). An examination of raw scripts would indicate that these are developed frame

by frame, except for the end-of-frame questions and answers, as is common with

PLM. In the conventional audio/video format, there is no way of skipping frames

except through fast-forward. In videodisc or CD-ROM, there is random access

facility and one can skip frames.

Figure 1 illustrates the instructional design process in audio and video media. The

instructional design of media largely depends upon two components, namely, the

content, duly analyzed and sequenced and choice of media format. Objectives and

assessment can back up the media effectiveness.

The design presented above is for non-interactive audio and video programmes.

With suitable modification, it is possible to use the design for creating interactive

video and audio.

Instructional Design for Multimedia

We have discussed so far how multimedia is a single, integrated medium that

consists of media like text, audio, video, graphics, animation, etc. The major

challenge in designing instruction through multimedia is, therefore, the

and their for optimizing human learning with reference to the

stated instructional objectives. We must, hence, consider the various components

that constitute the instructional design for multimedia learning system such as

objectives, content, media options, and evaluation options.

the first challenge is to specify the objectives of the multimedia learning.

The objectives must be stated in behavioural and measurable terms. They can range

from simple to complex, from lower to higher order learning. The objectives may

belong to the domains of cognition, psychomotor and affection.

the content of any instructional design is necessarily informed by stated

objectives of learning. Depending upon the objectives the content will also range

from simple to high level of complexity. The choice of content must also ensure that

there is adequate and correct provision for the achievement of objectives.

as mentioned above multimedia essentially incorporates several

media like text (as in printed text), audio, video, graphics, animation etc. It is

important to match the learning objectives and decide the media to synchronize the

design and learning from it. Each media can offer either the whole or part of the

content with or without referring to one another. For example, dissection of a frog can

be shown through animation and also through a video programme. But as

multimedia offers interactivity, learners can actually feel the dissection if it is

animated and the multimedia programme runs like an actual dissection. Similarly, for

language learning through multimedia, audio is very important.

evaluation is part of instructional design. Without evaluation,

one would rarely, if ever, understand the achievement of objectives, which is the

primary goal of instructional design. Evaluation options must include both

summative and formative evaluation. However, in both the cases of formative and

summative evaluation, we can choose from online, offline, paper and pencil versus

performance tests, etc.

In this section, we have dealt initially with fundamental issues of learning theories,

and concept, theory and models of instructional design. We then have followed it up

with our conceptualization of educational multimedia. In the final section, our

challenge was to build up the synthesis of our learning in designing instruction for

multimedia.

The challenge is in the synthesis of the three dimensions of media option and

content with reference to the learning objectives. Depending upon the purpose and

actual application of the multimedia instructional system, this design can be used for

designing teacher as well as the learner-guided designs. The learner-guided

designs (Banathy, 1991; Mukhopadhyay, 2001) can lead to differentiate instructional

design that suits individual learner.

Finally, instructional design for multimedia learning system must be a document

indicating the stated goals, choice of content with specifications of levels of

difficulties, the choice of instructional methods and media, and strategies of

evaluation. The documented design must incorporate instructional design of the

micro components of the multimedia learning system as well.

In the next section we will discuss the process of scriptwriting for multimedia.