embedding objects in scrolling fields & adolescents

[Richard Gaskin]

Mathewson wrote:
> My experience with  educational use of computers stretches
> back for years & with GUIs about 12 - so for what its worth
> this is why I think embedding objects in scrolling fields
> is a good thing:
> 
> ['adolescents' is to be taken to mean pupils/students
> between 12 and 22 - no offence intended]
> 
> On opening an educational multimedia program (such as those
> authored in Hypercard, RR, MC and so on) the first reaction
> is impulsive: the pupil clicks on every clickable thing in
> sight - all very interactive and guaranteeing that the
> amount of information absorbed by the pupil is minimal!
> 
> If I wish my target audience to do some reading (OK, I know
> that in certain parts of the world reading is being played
> down - I am an old-fashioned reactionary) I have to find a
> way to stop the "mindless clicking" - there seem to be 2
> solutions to this:
> 
> 1. Just present windows filled with text alone . . .
>     I have found (I've actually tried this!) that pupils go
> "off the boil" quicker than I can snap my fingers - a 19th
> century text book on-screen is a major turn-off.
> 
> 2.  Embed the 'jazzy buttons' in a scrollable text field
> and let the pupils know that the REWARD (Oh, No, not a
> behaviourist!) for reading the text will present itself in
> due course - admittedly some 'bright' pupil will just
> scroll down until he/she finds the clickables and miss out
> the reading.
> 
> HOWEVER, I do believe that by embedding multimedia buttons
> / movie-players in the text this will minimise crazy
> clicking.
> 
> While a large part of the world is hooked on the "I want it
> now" idea, and the servicing of the minimal attention span.
> I want to SLOW PUPILS DOWN so that they absorb information,
> see multimedia in a meaningful CONTEXT, and are forced to
> pay attention for more than a 2 second sound-bite.
> 
> Sincerely, Richmond Mathewson

You present a pedagogically ound case for a patience-inducing design.

but I'm not clear how the underlying mechanics to bring this design 
about (fields vs. groups) must necessarily affect the learning experience.

The UI you describe can be done today in MC/Rev.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
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