editorial15-3 Australian Journal of Educational Technology Volume 15, Number 3, Summer 1999 ISSN 0814-673X Contents Editorial ......................................................................................................... iii-vi Learning about online learning: An approach to staff development for university teachers .................................................... 207-221 Sue Bennett, Ann-Marie Priest and Colin Macpherson The implications of the research literature on learning styles for the design of instructional material ..................................... 222-241 Catherine McLoughlin A decision making simulation using computer mediated communication ...................................................................... 242-256 Robert McLaughlan and Denise Kirkpatrick Interactivity on stage: Strategies for learner-designer communication .......................................................... 257-272 Rod Sims © 1999 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/ 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. ii Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1999, 15(3) AJET’s 1999 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, 1999, 15(3) iii Editorial With this issue we achieve an increase in AJET's frequency, from two issues to three per year. Foreshadowed in AJET Editorial 15(1) and attained after fourteen years of publication, this upgrade is expected to contribute significantly to AJET's reputation and its attractiveness to authors. The increase of frequency has a basis in the record established since publication of AJET was taken up by ASCILITE and ASET, because we have produced six issues, 13(1) to 15(2), in less than 24 months. The circulation of a journal is also an important factor in attractiveness to authors. AJET's print run for 15(3) is 830, the same as for 15(2). Distribution is mainly to the members of AJET's supporting Societies, ASCILITE, ASET, and ISPI Melbourne. The number of subscribers (subscribers are recipients other than members of the Societies) has remained relatively small and constant, at 47 for Volume 15 (1999), compared with 48 for Volume 14 (1998), and 48 also for Volume 13 (1997) (subscription data does not count five Australian libraries which receive complimentary legal deposit copies). The distribution of subscribers is Australia 35, Singapore 1, Hong Kong 3, Europe 5 and North America 3. Whilst the picture with numbers of subscribers is static, the web page version continues on a strong growth path. AJET's home page logged 23,150 "hits" between 11 Dec 1996 and 2 Dec 1999, and has a current access rate of 300 per week. However, lower level pages for which data is available show a slower trend, as shown in the following table. 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, 1999, 15(3) The Eleventh International Conference on College Teaching and Learning Teaching, Learning & Technology: Challenges for Creating Sustainable Change in the New Millennium 12-15 April 2000, in Jacksonville, Florida http://www.fccj.org/Teaching&LearningConference/final.html The Conference's keynote presenters are: Brenda Laurel Author and Technology Visionary, "Dean of Virtual Reality" Terry O'Banion President, League For Innovation Carol Geary Schneider President, Association of American Colleges and Universities Conducted by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning at Florida Community College at Jacksonville in cooperation with [Nine logos for sponsoring companies have been omitted from the bottom one third of page iv, owing to the lack of digital copies] Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1999, 15(3) v Date Home page Vol 15 Vol 14 Vol 13 Search 1 April 1999 13533 - 3183 4029 - 3 Aug 1999 18146 1921 5173 3981 1058 1 Nov 1999 21802 3615 6094 4615 1809 2 Dec 1999 23150 4252 6408 4874 2099 Counters for individual articles were used for the first time in Volume 15. A preliminary examination indicates that for the October-November 1999 period, hit rates are in the range 5 to 25 per week for articles, and 3-5 per week for editorials. AJET has received good coverage from major search engines and library catalogues. For example, the table below records some results from searches for AJET's home page [http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/ajet/]. This record is not intended to be comprehensive or rigorously based upon a random sample, as the purpose is simply to give an illustration of the position AJET has attained to date. It is an encouraging position. Search engine and search string Rank of AJET site (date of search); Notes http://altavista.yellowpages.com.au/ First in 33700 matches (23 Nov 99) journal +educational +technology http://www.anzwers.com.au/ First in 1234 (world) (23 Nov 99) journal of educational technology (select exact phrase option) http://www.looksmart.com.au/ Second match (23 Nov 99) journal of educational technology http://www.yahoo.com.au/ First in 1206 matches (23 Nov 99) "journal of educational technology" (include double quotes) http://www.alltheweb.com/ 5th of 3080 docs (24 Nov 99) journal of educational technology (select exact phrase option) http://www.altavista.com/ First in 1,418,465 matches (23 Nov 99) journal of educational technology http://search.excite.com/ 18th of 4,440,793 matches (23 Nov 99) journal of educational technology http://search.excite.com/ 9th of 852 matches (23 Nov 99) "journal of educational technology" (include double quotes) http://infoseek.go.com/ First in 1,054 matches (24 Nov 99) "journal of educational technology" (include double quotes) http://www.lycos.com/ 9th of 18,268 sites (24 Nov 99) journal of educational technology http://www.directhit.com/ First match in unspecified number australian journal educational (3 Dec 99) vi Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1999, 15(3) AJET is indexed in a number of library reference sites, for example: • ACER's Australian Education Index Core Journals http://www.acer.edu.au/library/list_of_core_journals_indexed_in.htm • National Library of Australia's Australian Journals Online http://www.nla.gov.au/oz/ausejour.html • World Wide Web Virtual Library: Education http://www.csu.edu.au/education/library.html • University of Houston Libraries: Scholarly Journals via the WWW http://info.lib.uh.edu/wj/webjour.html • New Jour: Electronic Journals and Newsletters http://gort.ucsd.edu/newjour/ • Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries: Electronic Journal Access http://horus.coalliance.org/ejournal/ The citation of AJET by major search engines and library catalogues depends in part upon submissions of AJET's URL to them. Whilst this form of free promotion is obtaining good results and will continue, other forms of promotion are also in use. For example, we seek free promotion at conferences, for AJET as an online journal, a print journal or both. We are considering an email list with free subscriptions, to provide an avenue for notifying readers that a new issue of AJET is ready, similar to the list for the electronic journal E Law [http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/]. In the rapidly evolving world of online publishing of scholarly journals, we need to be alert to new options for partnerships and consortia. As examples of trends, we note that the University of Western Australia and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently initiated a new online journal, the International Journal of Educational Technology, [http://www.ecel.uwa.edu.au/ijet/]. Compute-Ed, initiated in 1995 at the University of Sydney and University of Technology, Sydney, has taken an American partner and a site [http://computed.coe.wayne.edu/index.html] at the College of Education, Wayne State University, Michigan. Thanking our review panel AJET's peer review process is demanding upon reviewers, as it strives to provide formative feedback and the best possible presentation of each article. The Editors and the Board acknowledge with gratitude the work done by AJET's 1997-99 panel of reviewers, who are listed at: http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/ajet/about/rev-panel97-99.html Roger Atkinson