ABSTRACT
The most important delivery medium in integrated e-learning is the computer interface, not only because it is very suitable for presenting rich environments in which students can work collaboratively, but also because its multimedia capabilities make it possible to present educational content in any modality imaginable. Therefore, it will not come as a surprise that instructional designers have greeted the opportunities presented by networked multimedia computers with open arms. One problem often overlooked in all the enthusiasm, however, is the lack of clear guidelines on what to put where on the screen, and it is often not known what the consequences are of certain choices for the learning processes of the student working with the computer (Park and Hannafin, 1994). Most existing ideas are based on a designer's intuition and common sense rather than theories about how people learn from a computer screen. This can lead to some very satisfactory screen designs, but can also produce designs that make students despair rather than motivate them to learn.
