conts16-2 Australian Journal of Educational Technology Volume 16, Number 2, Winter 2000 ISSN 0814-673X Contents Editorial ........................................................................................................ iii-iv Information technology skills in the workplace: Implications for Bachelor of Arts degrees ............................................ 87-103 Robyn Lawson and Christine de Matos Using multimedia to assist students with communication skills and biopsychosocial integration: An evaluation ..................... 104-125 Teng Liaw, Gregor Kennedy, Mike Keppell, John Marty and Ruth McNair Learning tool or potplant stand? Students' opinions of learning from a CAL program in a distance education context ....................... 126-146 Robert Lyall and Suzanne McNamara Issues involved in developing a project based online unit which enhances teamwork and collaboration ................................... 147-160 Rob Phillips and Joe Luca When using sound with a text or picture is not beneficial for learning ............................................................................ 161-172 Slava Kalyuga Factors affecting students’ satisfaction on a web course .................. 173-200 Robin Mason and Martin Weller © 2000 All rights reserved. No part of this journal may be reprinted or reproduced without permission from the publishers. The Australian Journal of Educational Technology is published three times per year jointly by the Australian Society for Educational Technology and the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. For details on submission of manuscripts, subscriptions and access to the AJET online archives, please see: http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/ajet/ ii Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 2000, 16(2) or for manuscript submission contact the Editor, Dr Ron Oliver, Mt Lawley Campus, Edith Cowan University, Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050, r.oliver@cowan.edu.au, or for subscriptions contact the Production Editor, Dr Roger Atkinson, Teaching and Learning Centre, Murdoch University, Murdoch Western Australia 6150, atkinson@cleo.murdoch.edu.au. Members of ASET, ASCILITE and ISPI (Vic) receive AJET as a part of their membership benefits. AJET’s 2000 Editorial Board, nominated by ASCILITE and ASET is: Ron Oliver (Editor), Edith Cowan University Roger Atkinson (Production Editor), Murdoch University Cathy Gunn, University of Auckland Barry Harper, University of Wollongong Mary Jane Mahony, University of Sydney Clare McBeath, Curtin University of Technology Sue McNamara, Monash University Rod Sims, Southern Cross University Australasian Society for Computers Australian Society for in Learning in Tertiary Education Educational Technology http://www.ascilite.org.au/ http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/aset/ Copyright in individual articles contained in AJET is vested in each of the authors in respect of his or her contributions. Copyright in AJET is vested in ASET (1985- 86), AJET Publications (1987-1996), and ASET and ASCILITE (from 1997). Republishing in the online archives at ASET's web site is by permission. Desktop publishing and HTML by Roger Atkinson. Supporting Societies Supporting societies obtain bulk supplies of printed copies of AJET at the same cost as applicable for ASCILITE and ASET members, and access to AJET online articles during the period of restricted access for each issue. Inquiries about obtaining supporting society status may be directed to the Production Editor. ISPI Melbourne Chapter http://www.ispi.org/ Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 2000, 16(2) iii Editorial There is a very seductive attractiveness about "double clicking" upon a "hot link" during screen reading from a list of references in a journal or proceedings article. Within a few seconds the reference you have selected will start displaying on your workstation's screen. You can read the reference immediately, or discard it, or dump it to a printer to create your own hardcopy. You can use your viewing software to search within the article for a word or phrase, and you may save a personal copy for future reference. You may find additional references via an associated search facility at the website which hosts the article. No need to trudge around the library shelves or to wait for inter-library loans. That's the "best case" scenario. Naturally there are a number of "not so good" and "worst case" scenarios. These may include one or more of: • delays due to network problems and slow data transfer rates - sometimes characterised as the "world wide wait" problem • file or server "not found" - the original item has been removed or moved to another, unknown location, or the original server has been disconnected from the Internet, or the citation contained an error • the URL cited is for a publisher's home page or other "high level" page and the reader has to navigate through further links to obtain the desired reference article • the online version provides only an abstract, not a complete article • the content has changed since the original reading by the person who cited the reference • access restrictions may be imposed by passwords or domain name permissions, or "pay per view" procedures may be in force • a reference is available online but the author did not provide the URL • you tend to read from hardcopy and use of URLs during screen reading isn't relevant for you • not applicable because many articles cite few or even no online references. ASCILITE 2000 hosted by Southern Cross University at Coffs Harbour NSW 9-14 December 2000 http://multimedia.scu.edu.au/ascilite2000/ iv Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 2000, 16(2) Nevertheless, citation of online references will continue to increase, in response to the continuing growth and increasing acceptance of electronic publishing for journals and proceedings (Atkinson and McBeath, 2000). In particular, the relatively small numbers of electronic journals, pioneered mainly by universities and professional societies, are now being increased by major commercial publishers of journals adopting Internet based delivery on a large scale. For example, Elsevier promises its subscribers: "Science at the Speed of the 21st Century... Desktop access to the full text of more than 1100 of our scientific, medical and technical journals." (Elsevier, 2000). AJET's editorial policy is to promote and facilitate the citation and use of online references. Editorial action may include the following: • check the URL, and if necessary and possible, correct it - make it a live link only if it is valid and free from a permanent or long term restriction of access • omit the phrase "Available online" or similar expressions, on the expectation that these will become regarded as redundant, in the same way that the words "volume" and "issue" usually are omitted from reference citations of hardcopy journal articles • retain the date of access given by the author and add a date of verification • if the author did not give an URL for a reference which is available online without restriction, add the URL and the date of most recent verification • include in the web versions of AJET articles a "Please cite as" section at the end, to enable readers to "copy and paste" a reference citation, including the URL, to minimise the possibility of errors due to copy typing of URLs • to facilitate the reading of individual articles called up from reference lists in articles, or at sites elsewhere on the Internet, AJET's web version does not use a frames environment, instead giving navigational links via headers and footers. A particular editorial effort is made to add URLs for references from conferences conducted by Australian and New Zealand societies and organisations. In areas of particular interest to AJET's readers, over 60 online proceedings are available for Australian and New Zealand conferences held during the past decade (ASET, 2000). Roger Atkinson References Atkinson, R. and McBeath, C. (2000). Electronic journals and proceedings: Is there a future for small publishers? In Flexible Learning for a Flexible Society, Proceedings of ASET-HERDSA 2000 Conference. Toowoomba, Qld, 2-5 July. ASET and HERDSA. http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/gen/aset/confs/aset-herdsa2000/procs/atkinson.html ASET (2000). Proceedings available online. A brief listing for some Australian and New Zealand professional society conferences in the past decade. [accessed 21 July 2000] http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/gen/aset/confs/conf-procs.html Elsevier (2000). http://www.elsevier.nl/ [accessed 28 June 2000]