An Investigation into the Effect of Hypertext Structure on Student Use of Courseware

The University of Canberra (Australia) has made courseware on the subject of computer operating systems available on the World Wide Web for a number of years, using a very simple hypertext format. Server logs have previously been analyzed to determine the amount of student usage. This paper reports on a restructuring of the courseware designed to produce increased use by means of a more sophisticated hypertext structure. The time costs in this restructuring, as well as the failure to increase usage, are reported. This has particular implications for educational institutions attempting to persuade instructors to place courseware on the Web. Five figures present the simple course structure, fine course structure, flexible course structure, monthly usage of old and new pages, and alternative routes through the courseware. (Author/AEF) ************************************************ ***** *************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** An Investigation into the Effect of Hypertext Structure on Student Use of U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Courseware Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) CI This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. CI Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Jan Newmarch Distributed Information Laboratory, University of Canberra, Australia [email protected], http://pandonia.canberra.edu.au "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY