Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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HyperMediaCEP 901B - Prosem

Punya Mishra

Matthew J. Koehler

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Agenda

• Meeting with Other Prosem about APA

• Postmortem on last week

• Research Interests

• DKSC in class activity

• Discussion of Readings

• The Big Picture on Hypermedia

• To do for next week

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Elliot Soloway to talk

A conversation with Professor Elliot Soloway on his current research and development activities

• Room 128 Erickson Hall, Friday 1:30 - 3:00

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Last Week - Simulation

• Any issues?

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Research Bibliographies

• A few general rules:– Make a separate page that lists

• A your research interests

• Readings in your bibliography

– Use APA style to list the full REFERENCE of what you read

– Use the prelim format to summarize the reading.

– Don’t use Times Roman

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Research Interests

• Everybody has one now, right?

• Everybody has stuff to read?

• Take 1 minute to share your interests with the rest of the class

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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DKSC

Do you Know any Screens Connected Randomly?

GO DKSC go!

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia

• Combine

– Discussion of Readings and Issues

– With the overview of the field

– Each of the following is a talking point and an opportunity to discuss

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Vannevar Bush

"He [mankind] has built a civilization so complex that he needs to mechanize his records more fully if he is to push his experiment to its logical conclusion and not merely become bogged down part way there by overtaxing his limited memory."

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Vannevar Bush

Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and to coin one at random, "memex" will do. A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.

It consists of a desk, and while it can presumably be operated from a distance, it is primarily the piece of furniture at which he works. On the top are slanting translucent screens, on which material can be projected for convenient reading. There is a keyboard, and sets of buttons and levers. Otherwise it looks like an ordinary desk.

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Big ideas

• Starting with Bush– Hypertext is more in line with the way the

brain works (associates information with other information)

– Should lead to better learning because the act of translating is easier

• Non-linear in one person• Forced into linear• Consumed and translated into non-linear by

another person

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Technology

• Then the digital computer came along, and some people started doing it– Nelson - Xanadu– Hypercard

• Then the internet came, and EVERYONE is doing it– To my chagrin, this includes my parents

(Matt)– To my surprise, it includes my dad but not

my mom (Punya)

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Early Research

• Hypermedia had to be better than text, because it organized information like the brain.

• At the very least, it could do everything linear text could do and more, so it should be no worse.

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Early Research

• Does the brain really work that way?

• Does it mean that’s the best way to learn/teach with it?

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Early Research

• All the studies showed no results, or mixed results.

• Caveats– For the most part, people were translating traditional texts

into the new medium (not creating text FOR the new medium)

– Text on a screen is very hard to read (easier today than back then)

– The systems used for hypertext were basic, and did not support users very well -- PEOPLE WERE GETTING LOST AND CONFUSED

– People were not familiar with hypermedia

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Later on

• Hypermedia:::: good or bad?

• People began to come to the conclusion that it depends

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - It depends

• On the content

– What domain?

– What information?

– Is it inherently linear or non-linear?

• e.g. Cognitive Flexibility Theory for learning in ill-structured domains

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - It depends

• On expertise with hypermedia

– First time users vs. experienced users

– Techies vs. luddites

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - It depends

• On expertise with Computers

– Used to reading text on a screen

– Comfortable with mouse/keyboard

– Are familiar with conventions

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - It depends

• On expertise with hypermedia

– First time users vs. experienced users

– Techies vs. Luddites

– Familiar with the conventions

• Interface, navigation etc.

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - It depends

• On the software and navigation– What tools do you give people to move around the

space?– One tool or two, or more?– Is it easy to see where you’ve been and where

you’ve yet to go?– Is it easy to get back?– ARE PEOPLE GETTING LOST?

– What kinds of models are people creating of the hyper-space

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - It depends

• On individual differences– Textual vs. visual learner– Spatial skill– Active vs. Passive learners– Field Dependence– Internally vs. Externally motivated– Convergers vs. Divergers

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Ford & Chen (2002)

• This study tried to understand the relationship between

– Individual differences (field dependence, learning styles, holistic/serialist bias)

– Learning behavior (what people actually did)

– Learning outcomes

NOTE: The middle one there is an important bridge

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Ford & Chen (cont)

• Found learning styles affected

– How people used the software (which features they favored)

– How they approached the application problem

• Learning Styles did not affect “outcomes” (performance on the task, or score on multiple choice questions)

• Prior experience seemed to affect everything

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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SIDEBAR - What is Field Dependence

• Usually measured by the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT).

• Examples

– Find the “X” in the figure below

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Ford & Chen (cont)

• Findings are at odds with a number of previous studies, perhaps because of any number of differences in this study from previous studies:

– Population

– Domain or Topic

– Measures

– Software features

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Research Questions

• Under which circumstances is hypermedia likely to be beneficial– What user characteristics?– What software features?– What content?– What type of writing is needed?– What is linked to what?

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Research Questions

• For whom is hypermedia likely to be good for?– What type of learners and their individual differences

predict success?

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Research Questions

• How to design the software to scaffold non-linear reading in general?

• How to design software for specific domains or types of users (individual differences)?

• How software can adapt to different users?

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Research Questions

• Is there such a thing as non-linear literacy or fluency?– If so, what does it look like?– Does it parallel visual or textual literacy?– How does it develop in different types of people?

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Research Questions

• How do non-linear representations impact learners?– Motivation– Recall– Knowledge structure / organization– Knowledge application

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia - Research Questions

• How do users navigate the non-linear spaces?– What types of strategies exist?– How do they relate to difference in the content and in

the users (individual differences)?– Do people pick good strategies for their learning

styles?– Does the way they use the software change over

time?

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Going beyond research

• So what if it may not help us learn?

• So what if it may not match how we think?

• Can’t we use it to create a new form of literature – a literature that transcends that Aristotelian cliché, the narrative

• It is a postmodern world (at least so say Derrida, Foucalt, and a bunch of French philosophers)

- Remember, the author is dead. Text is everything

- Texts and meanings are de-centered, fragmented, open-ended and multi-linear

- Intertextuality is everything

- In other words… ‘tis the age of hyper-text

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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Hypermedia as art

• There are lots of examples in print media– Panchatantra, Kathasaritasagara, Choose your

adventure books, Julio Cortazar, Wittgenstein…

– Movies like Timecode

• Text arc: http://textarc.org/

• The Visual Thesaurus at http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

• Eastgate publishes great hypertext (and other hypertextual tools such as Storyspace, Tinderbox) http://www.eastgate.com

• Or our very own Inverso! http://imej.wfu.edu/articles/2002/1/03/demo/inverso.12.12.02.html

Jan 28, 2003CEP 901B - 2003

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For Next Week

• Readings

• DKSC to summarize soon

• Three Monkeys to Give Instructions by Thurs

• One more entry in your annotated Bibliography