ABSTRACT
Recent research suggests that virtual environments (VEs) may offer significant benefits to all types of education, especially in light of the types of learning supported by VE compared with other computing technologies (see chap. 45, this volume, for a review). However, evaluation studies have highlighted usability issues (see chap. 34, this volume) unique to virtual learning environments (VLEs), which traditional human-computer interaction (HCI) guidelines do not cover. Moreover, much of the HCI research to date has focused on mainstream applications and does not provide guidance on how to build interfaces for users with special educational needs (SEN), which is an important early market for VLEs. What is required is a structured approach to the design, development, and evaluation of VLEs, with close liaison with representative users and professionals at all stages of development to ensure adequate design of VEs to support learning. In this chapter the initial steps toward a user-centered model of VLE development and evaluation is described.
