conts16-1-ed


 

Australian Journal of 
Educational Technology 
 
Volume 16, Number 1, Autumn 2000 
ISSN 0814-673X 

  
 

Contents 
 
Editorial ......................................................................................................... iii-iv 
 
Towards research based designing for understanding fundamental 
concepts: The case of the web delivered generative virtual  
classroom for teacher education ................................................................. 1-12 
 Lynette Schaverien 
 
An evaluation of the use of multiple perspectives in the design  
of computer facilitated learning ................................................................ 13-25 
 David Kennedy, Norm Eizenberg and Gregor Kennedy 
 
Staff development for online delivery: A collaborative, team  
based action learning model ...................................................................... 26-44 
 Allan Ellis and Renata Phelps 
 
An interactive conundrum: Constructs of interactivity and  
learning theory ............................................................................................ 45-57 
 Rod Sims 
 
Designing learning environments for cultural inclusivity: A case  
study of indigenous online learning at tertiary level ............................. 58-72 
 Catherine McLoughlin and Ron Oliver 
 
Towards a communicative model of collaborative  
web-mediated learning .............................................................................. 73-85 
 Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic and Carolyn Webb 
  
 
© 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(1) 

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(1) iii 

Editorial 
  

 

Welcome to the first issue for 2000, an issue in which we have reprinted a 
selection of the best papers from ASCILITE’99, the 16th Annual 
Conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in 
Tertiary Education held at the Queensland University of Technology in 
December 1999. ASCILITE conferences are renowned for the quality and 
depth of their papers and it was this fact that prompted our decision to 
publish some of the papers in AJET, to extend their availability and 
visibility to a broader audience. As readers will be aware, the review 
process for ASCILITE conferences is very stringent and 1999 was no 
exception. All papers were submitted to a double blind review process 
and reviewers were also asked to nominate the best papers from the lists 
that they reviewed. Through this process, this collection of papers has 
resulted. The presented papers are those that received the highest 
recommendations from the reviewers and represent a range of issues and 
outcomes in the use of instructional technologies in higher education. 
 
In the first paper Lyn Schaverien describes the design and development of 
the Generative Virtual Classroom, a web-based environment supporting 
teacher education in technology and science. Lyn’s paper describes the 
process by which the concept and product were developed and discusses 
her plans for research to explore its use in mainstream teacher education.  
The second paper was written by David Kennedy, Norm Eizenberg and 
Gregor Kennedy and describes An@tomedia, a CD-ROM based learning 
environment for learning anatomy. The paper describes an evaluation of 
the product in classroom use and reports feedback from both tutors and 
students in its discussion. 
 

  
 

 

Flexible Learning for a 
Flexible Society 

 
The Australian Society for Educational Technology and 
the Higher Education Research and Development Society 
of Australasia are hosting Conference 2000 at the 
University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Sunday 
2 July to Wednesday 5 July, 2000. The call for abstracts 
deadline is 20 February 2000. 
 
http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/aset/confs/aset-herdsa2000/  
  
 



iv Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 2000, 16(1) 

In the third paper, Alan Ellis and Renata Phelps describe the early phases 
of a systems approach to staff development for online delivery being 
undertaken at Southern Cross University. The paper describes key issues 
that emerged as indicators for others attempting similar forms of learning 
outcomes for staff development. In his paper Rod Sims provides a 
theoretical perspective on interactivity in technology-based learning 
settings. The paper provides a comprehensive review and synthesis of the 
literature describing interactive learning and discusses the forms of 
engagement that can be achieved. 
 
Catherine McLoughlin and Ron Oliver’s paper describes a project 
undertaken at Edith Cowan University to develop online materials for 
Indigenous Australian learners. The paper provides a discussion of the 
cultural issues associated with designing such learning materials and 
provides examples of the design guidelines that informed the design and 
development of the materials. Finally Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic and 
Carolyn Webb have provided a paper that reports on explorations of 
Web-mediated collaborative learning, leading to their description of the 
communicative model of collaborative learning built on Habermas’ theory 
of communicative action. 
 
These six papers provide a snapshot of contemporary Australian work in 
the design and development of technology facilitated learning 
environments for higher education. We hope that you enjoy reading them 
and will find them useful additions to the literature base that informs and 
guides your own work. 
 
Ron Oliver 
Editor 
  
 

 

   

 

ASCILITE 2000 
 

hosted by 
 

Southern Cross University 
 

at Coffs Harbour NSW 
 

9-14 December 2000 
 

  
 

http://multimedia.scu.edu.au/ascilite2000/