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Navigational Interface Design for Multimedia Courseware
Article

, , Brunel University, United Kingdom

Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia Volume 8, Number 2, ISSN 1055-8896 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville, NC USA

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Abstract

This paper is concerned with the design and construction of navigational interfaces to multimedia courseware, in partic-ular a Virtual Module for the education of undergraduate degree students. A distinction is drawn between multimedia and hypermedia navigation, in that multimedia environ-ments provide explicit navigation, whereas hypermedia en-vironments provide implicit navigation. Multimedia naviga-tion is most appropriate for a learning environment, such as the Virtual Module that has been developed. Three different types of navigational tools for traversing different structures of information are discussed. For hierarchically organised subject material, a single menu list is considered to be the most appropriate means of navigation. Two types of menu are distinguished: sibling menus that maintain context, and child menus that descend the hierarchy. The interface of the Virtual module provides a combination of child and sibling menus and sequential tools. The menus are used for navigat-ing topics and subtopics, and the sequential tool is used for navigating pages. The final navigational interface has the advantages of allowing the student flexible navigation, prov-ing an indication of progress through the subject material, whilst constraining their route.

Citation

Evans, C. & Edwards, M. (1999). Navigational Interface Design for Multimedia Courseware. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 8(2), 151-174. Charlottesville, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 13, 2024 from .

© 1999 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)

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References

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