ABSTRACT
Text is still an important means of communicating with a learner and in many ways it is the most powerful, although computer-based learning materials are often discussed in terms of the power of multimedia to deliver learning. The quality of screen display is usually discussed in terms of resolution – that is, the maximum number of dots, or pixels, which make up images or text. Resolution has improved dramatically over the last ten years but is still inferior to an image or text printed on paper. Computer-based learning text should contain more than the words. It should include headings, subheadings and content, data about the nature of the subject, navigation clues such as links, keywords and cross-references. Unlike writing for a book or magazine, people need to break the text into meaningful chunks each presenting an individual idea and link each chunk to other related ones so that each route is meaningful.
