Reviews

edited by Philip Barker

Technology-based Learning Environments:
Psychological and Educational Foundations
edited by S. Vosniadou, E. De Corte and H.
Mandl, volume 137 in NATO ASI Series F
(Computer and Systems Sciences), Berlin,
Springer-Verlag, ISBN: 0-387-58253-3, 1994.

This publication is one of a collection of texts
that has been produced within the NATO ASI F
series - books published as a result of the
activities of the special programme on advanced
educational technology. Currently, the list of
books in this series totals over 35. The present
volume contains 37 papers that were contributed
to the Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on
Educational Technology held in Crete in the
summer of 1992. The purpose of the Institute
was to bring together lecturers and graduate
students in order to investigate and discuss the
psychological and educational foundations of
technology-based learning environments, and to
debate the implications of recent research
findings in the area of cognitive science for the
development of educational technology.

The papers that make up these proceedings are
organized into four basic sections, each devoted
to a particular theme.

Part 1 contains 10 contributions dealing with
design principles for learning environments. A
range of relevant issues is discussed, some of the
more important of which are: theoretically-based
visions of educational environments; active and
constructive learning; exploratory learning
environments; simulations; socio-cultural issues;
the use of intelligent co-operative systems; role
play; experimentation; and assessing the effects
of a learning environment.

The ten papers that make up the second part of
the book deal with the use of educational
technology to promote conceptual change in the
physical sciences. Some of the interesting topics
discussed in this section include multimedia
environments for enhancing science instruction;
generative problem-solving in school science;
use of hypermedia; model-based reasoning;
promoting the study of conceptual change;
diagnosis and remediation; software tools
integration, environmental education; and the
development of subject-oriented learning
environments for teaching basic electricity, the
human nervous system and physics.

The third part contains eight papers. These
explore, describe and discuss various aspects of
technology-based learning environments
devoted to knowledge acquisition in
mathematics and natural language. The first
five papers deal with topics related to the study
of mathematics, namely the use of multimedia
environments for enhancing student learning in
mathematics; task analysis and didactic tools to
support mathematics tutoring; 'unintelligent'
tutoring in algebra based on psychological
theories and experimentation; the use of
intermediate models for solving word problems
involving the development of arithmetic skills;
and the use of computer programming as a
mechanism to support the development of
open-ended project work. The remaining three
papers deal with specific issues in language
learning, covering the use of computer-based
methods to develop reading and writing skills;
computer facilitation of skilled narrative writing
processes; and the development of a 'flow-
driven' English (as a foreign language) course.

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ALT-J Volume 3 Number I

The final part of the book - containing the
remaining nine papers - is devoted to the theme:
'Taking into consideration the needs of the
learner'. The important issues covered here
include the use of knowledge profiles in a
flexible learning environment; the use of student
models; semantic networks; representational
systems in mathematics and science; the use of
graphics in the computer-aided learning of
chemistry; an investigation into motivation and
co-operation in computer-assisted learning; and
various issues relating to the use of hypertext.
The three papers on hypertext discuss the effects
of visible-link types on learning, knowledge
construction and acquisition in customized
hypermedia environments, and the relationship
between hypertext learning environments and
epistemic beliefs.

I found the contents of this book extremely
interesting from both the point of view of topics
and that of treatment. Obviously, the wide
range of writing styles encountered in a multi-
author book of this type means that continuity
and content often fluctuate from one chapter to
another. However, the editors have done a
masterly job in selecting and grouping papers,
and in ensuring that a reasonably consistent
style has been maintained.

The book is expensive (£47.00 Sterling), so I
have to recommend it for a departmental library
rather than for individual purchase, but I do so
recommend it.

Philip Barker, University of Teesside

Aspects of Educational and Training Technology,
volume XXVIII: Computer-assisted and Open
Access Education edited by F. Percival, R. Land
and D. Edgar-Nevill, London, Kogan Page,
ISBN: 0-7494-1414-6, 1995.

This is a selection of the proceedings of the 1994
International Conference of the Association for
Educational and Training Technology (on
computer-assisted and open-access education)
hosted by Napier University in Edinburgh.
Around 85 papers were presented at the
conference; 44 have been reproduced in full in
this volume, with the inclusion of abstracts from
the rest. Reflecting the organization of the
conference, the papers have been divided into
four sections: Perspectives on Teaching and
Learning; Computer-Assisted Learning (CAL)
and Computer-based Training (CBT);
Multimedia and Hypermedia; and Open and
Distance Learning. Discussions of political

issues, underlying concepts, and project reports
appear in each section.

Clearly, then, the conference attempted to cover
a lot of ground, and quite successfully on the
evidence of these proceedings. As a result, the
book works effectively on two levels: as a useful
update for experts, and as an informative
introduction for newcomers to any of the
subject areas described above. However, as the
editors readily acknowledge, there is
considerable overlap between these areas,
leading to the somewhat arbitrary placement of
some papers.

The use of computer-based technology in the
classroom still continues to excite healthy
debate, as evidenced by some of the arguments
advanced in the first section. There are some
who predict a radical shift towards technology-
based solutions in the near future; others take a
more cautious approach. Separating those
contributors actually using the technology in
teaching/learning situations from the politicians
might assist the reader in evaluating the
arguments. It was also heartening to see the
work of Price, Hobbs and Cheah in which the
use of standard software-development control
and quality assurance procedures are applied to
courseware development. All too often where
courseware development is concerned, software
design is confused with interface design, often
leading to predictably unfortunate conse-
quences.

Sections 2 and 3 will be particularly useful to
those involved directly in the production of
CAL/CBT packages. Many of the papers here
describe applications of some of the better-
known authoring tools, such as ToolBook and
Guide, and the inclusion of a large number of
screenshots gives the reader a real feel for what
is taking place. Jacquetta Megarry's paper on
design challenges is particularly refreshing,
questioning the indiscriminate use of resource-
hungry video in desktop packages. Section 4 is
again largely project-based. The final section,
containing the abstracts, may certainly prove
useful, as readers may obtain full papers from
the authors, though (given this) the inclusion of
full addresses here would obviously have been
helpful. The selection criteria used to determine
whether a paper was included in full or in
abstract form are not included.

The volume has been produced to a very high
standard. The hardback format combined with
good quality print and paper give substance to a

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Reviews

book which would be a very useful purchase on
the basis of content alone.

Lorraine Warren, University of Humberside

Groupwork in Education and Training: Ideas in
Practice by Michael Reynolds, London, Kogan
Page, ISBN: 0-7494-1027-2, 1994.

The intended audience for this book is broad. It
is aimed at practitioners involved in education
and training who use, or want to use, group-
work methods, and anyone interested in the
social, psychological or educational processes
associated with group work. The author states
the overall purpose of the book as being 'to
make sense of the complex array of ideas,
methods and issues' associated with designing
and using group activities, and 'making sense of
the consequences of using them".

My overall verdict is positive. I enjoyed reading
the book, and on several occasions it challenged
my assumptions about the way I work with
groups. The one downside lies in the fact that
the subject area is vast, and to do justice to all
aspects of it would need substantially more than
the 138 pages of this book. To be fair to the
author, however, he acknowledges that he has
gone for breadth rather than depth, and he gives
excellent references for following up particular
points of interest. As an overview of the subject,
then, it offers a well constmcted, easy-to-read
account of many of the key issues.

Chapter 1 addresses the question of why
someone might want to use group methods in
the educational process. It offers a description
of the different types of group methodologies
(for example, simulations, discussions, and
action learning) and how they differ. The
author concludes that the key reason why group
work is so valuable is that it enables learning to
be 'grounded in the personal and social
experience' of the learner, and that it places the
responsibility and (to different degrees) control
of the learning in his or her hands.

Chapter 2 focuses on the design of group work
and looks at what factors actually contribute to
the learning outcomes of a group session. The
author's key point is that while the design is
important, the outcomes can be influenced by a
great many things, such as participant
expectations, the group's history or the social
context - good comfort for those of us who
agonize over 'failed' designs!

Chapter 3 gives an excellent overview of some
of the theories that underpin group work. The
author emphasizes how important it is for
trainers and teachers to be aware of the
assumptions, values and beliefs that inform
their approach (theories are seldom value-free),
and adds that no single school of thought is the
'unarguable truth'. He summarizes a few of the
models in current use which can act as a good
starting point for observing the behaviour of
groups, and sets out some complex ideas simply,
though I found that his description of how to
apply these models in practice was less clear.

Chapters 4, 5 and 6 offer examples from
practice which are intended to illustrate some of
the issues associated with learning groups which
tend to be neglected. These chapters make a
number of key points which made me think.
The first is that whatever the intended focus of
an activity, the actual experience of it will be
broader, as participants relate it to their own
individual experience/circumstance. The second
point is that it is easy to assume that there are
neat boundaries that can be drawn around
particular group activities. However, that so
many such activities have unintended
consequences points to the fact that they are
often not as 'bounded' as one might imagine.
The final point, is that the design of a group
session inevitably transmits to participants
certain social values (for example, about who is
in control, what is/is not open to influence). I
found these chapters very thought-provoking.

Chapter 7 looks at some of the newest
approaches to group work, and takes the form
of a series of 'interviews' between the author
and practitioners who are using these methods.
I found the descriptions a little too cursory to be
very useful, but they act well as an introduction
to the subject areas.

This very well-written book is, therefore, a good
introduction to the area of group work, and
although a little superficial in places, it raises
some important issues.

Marion Gillie Partner, Sheppard Moscow Ltd
Management Consultants (Tel: 0181 468 7975)

Teaching and Learning with Audio in Open and
Distance Learning by Derek Rowntree, London,
Kogan Page (Open and Distance Learning
Series), ISBN: 0-7494-1154-6, 1994.

This publication is an audio-print package
intended for teachers and trainers. It consists of

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Volume 3 Number I

a book of 124 pages together with an audio
cassette, presented together in a durable book-
size container. The audio cassette contains
examples of audio teaching which are referred
to in the book. Side A contains fifteen short
clips as illustrative material; Side B contains two
more extensive examples.

As might be expected from an author with
Derek Rowntree's background and experience,
both the book and the audio tape are
introduced in a way which gives excellent,
friendly study guidance to users of the package.
The tape begins with a personal introduction
and advice from the author on how best to
study the material, and the book opens, as all
good training packages should, with a statement
of aims and objectives. This is followed
immediately by a concise summary of the
overall organization of the package and a
restatement of the study advice given on the
audio tape.

The package is divided into five parts: (1) the
case for using audio; (2) examples of the
diversity of audio teaching; (3) examples of
extended audio teaching and their analysis; (4)
making your own audio package; and (5)
evaluating audio packages. The book also
includes a list of 17 specialist references which
are relevant to the use of audio packages in
teaching and training. In each case, the author
has indicated how that reference might be useful.

At an early stage, Rowntree emphasizes that
good audio tuition will probably make use of
both the sense of hearing and sight, and this is
reflected in the exemplary material he has
chosen. In Part 1, he reviews the potential
objectives of using audio in teaching, either as an
aural source or combined with visual materials
and activities. This section is typical of the book
as a whole, in that the layout is pleasing and
well-organized, with excellent use of different
fonts, borders and headings to distinguish
author contributions from examples, and
something like 20 per cent of the pages in the
book feature diagrams and drawings referred to
in the taped examples. I stress the appearance of
the book because it is presented and structured
as a self-study package rather than as a textbook
with accompanying audio tape. Excellent use is
made of boxed instructions and reminders
within the formal textual materials so that the
behaviour and thoughts of users can be
appropriately organized. This means that the
package is free standing and ready for

immediate use by interested tutors or by
students following courses in educational
technology or flexible and open learning, and I
shall have no hesitation in offering this package
to my own students.

The taped extracts in Part 2 illustrate the use of
audio for listening, for listening and looking,
and for listening and doing. In each case, the
text poses questions for readers to consider as
the tape is listened to, and then comments on
the extract afterwards. One very useful feature is
that the text then invites readers to consider
how they might use the strategy they have just
listened to in their own teaching.

It is worth emphasizing that the illustrative
examples are all examples of good practice -
there is no attempt to create a somewhat
artificial exercise of comparing good and bad
practice. However, Part 3 of the package does
compare and contrast two extended examples of
good practice using different techniques. Both
illustrate techniques unique to audio, and could
not easily be provided by alternative means.

The final two sections give clear advice on how
to prepare and evaluate audio packages,
represent an excellent compilation of good
practice in the audio field, and are sufficiently
detailed to allow an instructor to use audio for
the first time.

It will by now be clear that I was very impressed
with the overall quality of this package: its
excellent study guidance (both in the text and on
the audio tape), and the integration between the
text and the audio tape. My single quibble is with
the price (£19.95 Sterling) which is presumably
related to a potentially limited sales volume.
Equivalent text plus audio packages in modern
languages are much more modestly priced.

Dennis Moss, University of Wales, Cardiff

Using Communications Media in Open and
Flexible Learning by Robin Mason, London,
Kogan Page (Open and Distance Learning
Series), ISBN: 0-7494-1149-X, 1994.

As the range of available educational
technologies and their respective proponents
multiply, so does the need for some rational and
enlightened view on what these technologies
offer those who are engaged in the process of
education. Mason's book, as part of the Open
and Distance Learning Series, provides this

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Reviews

evaluation for the subset of educational
technologies she calls communication media.

The book is intended as an introduction to the
subject. It has approximately 120 pages of
content, and is quick and easy to read. It
contains eight chapters, an annotated
bibliography and an index. The structure is both
logical and straightforward. The first chapter
discusses the uses of telecommunications media
in education, and introduces the three main
approaches to using them (computer
conferencing, audiographics and video-
conferencing). The following two chapters are
devoted to the important issues of interactivity
and the implications of using these technologies.
Mason then considers each of the technologies
in subsequent chapters using similar section
headings for consistency. The penultimate
chapter describes nine live projects that are
currently using these techniques. The
concluding chapter explains why the different
technologies do not compete with each other,
and gives some advice on best practice.

In chapter 2, Mason gives her personal view on
what attributes of interactivity are desirable in an
educational context, and evaluates these for
computer conferencing, audiographics and
videoconferencing. The view taken is the
constructivist one - that interactivity can
enhance learning. The author proceeds to explain
how these technologies can facilitate collabora-
tive working and help cultivate a social presence.
Chapter 4 examines the implications for those
using and developing communications-media
applications in education, and the overriding
message is that using these technologies can be
very rewarding for students and staff alike, but
that it requires commitment and hard work. The
message to organizations is that these
technologies do not necessarily mean cost
savings, and that they must provide appropriate
support and investment in infrastructure.

Chapter 5 explores computer conferencing by
outlining the current state of the technology, its
educational uses and its advantages and
disadvantages. The impression given is that
computer conferencing is the most accessible of
the three technologies and is also the most
educationally effective. Chapter 6 examines
audiographics following the themes of the
analysis introduced in the previous chapter.
Audio and graphics seem to work well together,
the graphics being the focal point for audio
interaction - analogous to the OHP in a

conventional lecture. Currently, the main use
for audiographics seems to be for connecting
smaller groups to larger centres for tutorial
purposes, but trends suggest that this
fascinating technology has quite a promising
future, especially when combined with
multimedia functionality. Chapter 7 discusses
the educational uses of video-conferencing;
unfortunately, this is limited (perhaps reflecting
the cost of the technology?). The section on
advantages concludes that one-way video
conferencing facilitates didactic lecture-delivery
over a wide area with the potential of reaching
a large audience, while two-way video-
conferencing is best reserved for small tutorial
groups. Mason suggests that visual communica-
tion courses are probably best suited for
exploiting videoconferencing techniques.

A chapter concerned with live project case
studies is very useful and puts the material
covered in previous chapters into context. The
case studies come from all over the world and,
taken together, are inspiring. Each project
includes an evaluation of its educational
effectiveness with pointers for success, though it
would have been interesting to have had more
information on the curriculum design aspects of
the projects.

In the concluding chapter, Mason is emphatic
about the fact that the three technologies
discussed in her book do not compete with each
other. Each technology supports different
learning styles, and the context in which they
are used is different. Good pragmatic and
pedagogic reasons are given for adopting these
technologies. Communication media are
important elements in the emergence of a new
type of learning environment ('close distance
education') that will capture the best of our
conventional learning environments and our
newer open and distance learning systems. The
book finishes with some best-practice advice.

Mason's clear intention with this book is to
provide an easily accessible introduction to
communications media for education, and this
she does very successfully. Specialists and non-
specialists alike will find the book easy to
understand, and it may even inspire them to try
out the technologies for themselves. Indeed, it
will most likely leave many readers with the
question: 'How do I redesign my course to
include one of these technologies?'

Geoff Elliott, Cardiff Institute of Higher
Education

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ALT-J Volume 3 Number I

Computer-based Learning in Science -
Proceedings of the International Conference
CBLIS '95 edited by Graham M. Chapman,
Open Education and Sciences, Opava, Czech
Republic, ISBN: 80-901974-0-X, 1995.

CBLIS '95 was held in Opava (Czech Republic)
in July 1995, and provided a forum for
researchers and practitioners interested in
technology-based science education. The
proceedings consist of 60 contributions selected
from a total of 110 papers originally submitted
for review.

The papers are grouped into 11 sections which
vary greatly in size - from a single paper
(forming the section on Intelligent Software) to
12 papers (in the section on Teaching Packages).
This reflects quite well the focus of research in
computer-based education generally, where
solutions are required relatively quickly to
address current teaching problems. Systems
utilizing aspects of artificial intelligence, on the
other hand, can have significant time, cost and
complexity overheads due to the additional
dimension of embedded 'intelligence'. As a
result, far fewer projects aim at using potentially
useful techniques drawn from the field of
artificial intelligence.

The first section (Invited Lectures) consists of
four invited contributions which provide a
broad overview of some important issues arising
from the development of computer-based
education in science. In this review, I shall
present a short summary of each of the invited
papers before providing a brief guide to the
remaining sections of the book.

In the opening paper by Philip Barker, the main
issues covered concern cognitive engineering
and interface design. Some of the key cognitive
engineering concepts introduced here are mental
models, learning styles and the use of
metaphors. Interface design issues explored by
Barker include interactivity, graphical user-
interfaces, hypermedia, and intelligent
interfaces. Each of these issues is discussed in
the context of designing human-computer
interfaces to support effective learning.

The second of the invited papers, by Graham
Chapman, provides a brief review of some
recent trends in computer-based learning and
hardware development. Chapman places
considerable emphasis on a few key issues and
identifies the use of expert computer program-
mers as perhaps his most important message.

Chapman argues that expert programmers must
be used, and that the production of quality
courseware necessarily involves a close co-
operation between academics who are subject
experts and computer programmers who
provide production expertise.

Milos Lansky takes a somewhat philosophical
view of computers in education in the third of
the invited contributions. Lansky makes
parallels between the work of Comenius (a
sixteenth-century Czech scholar) and computer-
based learning. This analysis results in nine
statements (or guidelines) which indicate that
historically important pedagogical concerns
remain relevant in computer-based learning.

The final invited paper, by Peter Wright,
addresses the problems surrounding educating
the educators. Here the main concern is the
preparation of technologically literate teachers
who can act as both advocates and role models
for the use of computers in education. Both in-
service and pre-service teacher training are
considered as means by which teachers in
general can become catalysts in the widening
educational use of the new technologies.

It is impractical to present a detailed discussion
of the wide range of topics addressed in the
remaining sections of the proceedings. Since
some effort has been made to organize the
proceedings into sections, however, a list of the
areas covered can provide an indication of
content. Topics addressed are: (a) Review
Lectures (b) Teaching and Learning:
Educational Strategy (c) Teaching and
Learning: CBL Structures (d) Monitoring of
Performance (e) Software and Hardware
Developments (f) Intelligent Software (g)
Teaching Packages (h) Teaching with
Simulation (i) Interactive Programmes (j)
Networking and Distance Learning. The book
also has a preface, contents list and author
index.-The preface is light, to say the least, and
gives little more than the location of the
conference and the names of the organizers,
papers committee and sponsors. The inclusion
of an author index will be of use, though (in line
with many proceedings) the absence of a
traditional index prevents the work being used
efficiently as a reference source (perhaps the
main use to which academic books of this kind
are put).

Even better than the inclusion of an index,
however, would be availability on CD-ROM
along with an appropriate search engine. This

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Reviews

would allow the primary target audience of the
book, academics, to use the information
effectively in their work. The falling costs of
CD-ROM publication could make this a viable
option for many conference proceedings and
would greatly increase their utility.

Copies of these proceedings can be obtained
from: Open Education & Sciences, PO Box 84,
746 20 Opava, Czech Republic.

Stephen Richards, University of Teesside

ISDN Applications in Education and Training
edited by Robin Mason and Paul Bacsich,
London, The Institution of Electrical Engineers,
ISBN: 0-85296-860-4, 1994.

This is an edited collection of papers describing
the exploitation of ISDN for distance
education. It is unfortunate that the publisher
chose to print the acronym ISDN in huge letters
on both the spine and the front of the book
since it misleads the bookshop browser. It is not
a book primarily about ISDN, though it does
describe the benefits and limitations resulting
from its exploitation in education and training.

A summary on the back of the book explains
ISDN:

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is
the provision of a digital-based coupling between
two sites, using the ordinary telephone network
and the existing twisted-pair cables into
customers' premises, for the purpose of conveying
data at a relatively high speed as a cost-effective
alternative to high-speed leased communication
lines. As a result it provides a motion-video
communication link operating at several frames a
second (using special compression/decompression
hardware) to organisations that would otherwise
be unable to justify a leased line.

While the importance of this infrastructure
provision must not be understated, the excessive
enthusiasm over ISDN in this book is
unwarranted, and the subject is often needlessly
incorporated. However, this comment should
not put off the potential buyer looking for a
source of information that explains the
ramifications of exploiting ISDN as a
transmission medium for both passive and
interactive distance learning.

The book consists of 13 chapters divided into
three sections, plus a concluding chapter, an
index and an extensive glossary.

The first section introduces the nomenclature of
digital communication standards. It identifies
the requirements for fast transmission of text,
images and speech, together with the possibility
of exploiting data compression techniques. The
problem of re-synchronizing speech (which is
difficult to compress) with its corresponding
moving image (which is not so difficult to
compress) is briefly mentioned. Since basic-rate
ISDN is not capable of transmitting television-
quality video in real time, various compromises
are described (e.g. using monochrome only, or
accepting a jerkily changing image) with
particular reference to their use in education
and training. This first section also describes
what is meant by audiographics, video-
conferencing and computer conferencing, and
relates them to their exploitation in education
and training. Some interesting views on the
future methods of teaching are expressed,
including the fundamental need for interaction
in order for learning and monitoring to take
place.-The section ends with a world view as to
which countries have adopted ISDN, its
continued and future use as a means of com-
municating information not specifically targeted
at education and training, and ISDN's strategic
relationship with leased lines, local-area
networks, and so on. The issue as to whether
basic-rate ISDN is fast enough is revived at the
very end of the section with views as to how
speed improvements will become available at a
cost that is affordable for educational establish-
ments and for students located at home.

Videoconferencing provides for two-way audio
and video communication, and Section 2
consists of six chapters, each with a different
perspective on this facility. The first describes a
university's provision for staff members at two
major companies to participate in the
university's courses. The organizational issues,
the perceived benefits, and three common
lecturing approaches are discussed. There are
problems (e.g. reliance on last-minute prepara-
tion, and ignoring off-campus students), but we
are told that these are largely overcome by
coaching the lecturers into handling this new
environment. The next three chapters describe
the exploitation of videoconferencing in the
British Isles, Australia and Norway, the main
rationale for this exploitation being to provide
important courses 'to a dispersed student
population with a thinly distributed demand'.
The descriptions are mainly about the
equipment and technical formats involved, but

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there is also some focus on the way in which this
method of teaching changes work patterns. For
example, it 'encouraged students to become
more responsible for their own learning
patterns' and 'promoted group cohesiveness and
group independence from the tutor*. There is
also some emphasis on the lecturers' concerns
about videoconferencing and their perceived
benefits of the medium, and comments about
the technology degrading the prepared visual
material so that special care has to be taken
over its preparation. For most of these systems,
the lecturer was physically present in a lecture
theatre teaching a group of students, with the
other students located at centres with two-way
audio-visual links, but a French system had the
lecturer shut in a booth remote from any
student. The natural consequence of this
isolation was that the apprehension of being in
front of a live audience was diluted. It is a very
'presidential' style, but does 'allow you to
concentrate on (giving) the lecture', though
students did demand a greater degree of
interaction with the lecturer.

Section 2 also contains a cost-benefit analysis of
videoconferencing for both companies and
universities. It is based on a range of equipment
and a range of features available. The analysis
includes illustrations of various jobs from
factory-floor training through engineering to
sales and management, and should offer helpful
arguments for adopting videoconferencing in
both industry and academe.

This second section covers distributed lecturing
with the opportunity for students at remote sites
to ask questions. Section 3, in contrast,
describes systems in which students are more
participative. These systems involve the techno-
logy of computer-supported co-operative work
based on personal computers. Teacher and
students share the same information displayed
on their own computers, and of course there is
an audio link. One of the systems described
enables a shared window to display the output
of a program so that, for example, a number of
people can experience the hands-on learning of
a drawing program; the locus of control passes
from teacher to student and back again as the
learning progresses. Various scenarios, are
described to illustrate the usefulness of such a

system. Unfortunately, it seems, each window
took many seconds to update, and the teacher
had to' fill in while each person's computer
synchronized, making the whole session much
longer than if it had been face to face. A view of
participants' faces was not felt to be too
important although the absence of some turn-
taking cues caused minor problems.

Section 3 generally reviews teleconferencing,
audiographics and computer conferencing, and
concludes that 'conversation represents the
strongest underlying paradigm for any
computer-mediated form of collaborative
learning'. Nevertheless, the lack of visual cues
means that tutors will adopt a more
interrogative style in order to monitor the
'presence' of students than they would need to
do in face-to-face tutorials. Two systems
designed to support collaborative learning are
described. One was an attempt to integrate, in
one system, audio teleconferencing, audio-
graphics and computer conferencing, where
each student sees on his or her personal
computer a resource centre consisting of
lectures whose material (slides and drawings)
has been previously down-line loaded and the
live lecture then given via a two-way audio link,
a 'meeting room' within which participants can
orally discuss and present documents, a 'study
room' in which the tutor can observe the state
of each learner's computer screen.a conven-
tional computer-conferencing tool, and a
multimedia resource library. The view is
expressed that social interaction is an essential
component of the learning process and that
informal peer learning is as important as formal
teaching.

Is the book worth buying? It certainly should be
bought by libraries and retained on their shelves
for decades to come, since it will become an
important source of historical information
recording the pioneering days of distance
education using digital communication links.
For current educators, it does provide an
introduction to the transmissive technology at
present available, identifies whether it is useful
to them, and describes how it has been
exploited.

Ian Benest, University of York

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