Learning and Technology

Hypertext, hypermedia and the web

Claire O’Malley

Outline

Hypermedia Definitions and terminology History of hypertext and hypermedia Navigation and orientation

Web based learning History and definitions Applications for learning Issues in design and use

What is hypertext? Hypertext is the presentation of information as a linked

network of nodes which readers are free to navigate in a non-linear fashion. It allows for multiple authors, a blurring of the author and reader functions, extended works with diffuse boundaries, and multiple reading paths. (http://www.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0037.html)

Hypertext is non-sequential writing: a directed graph, where each node contains some amount of text or other information. [...] [T]rue hypertext should also make users feel that they can move freely through the information according to their own needs. This feeling is hard to define precisely but certainly implies short response times and low cognitive load when navigating. (Neilsen, 1990)

History and origins of hypertext

The concept of a hyperlink can be traced back to Vannevar Bush (1946) in his description of the ‘memex’ Information retrieval systems mirroring associative memory in

humans: “When the user is building a trail, he names it, inserts the name in

his codebook, and taps it out on the keyboard. Before him are two items to be joined… The user taps a key and the items are permanently joined… Thereafter, at any time, when one of those two items is in view, the other can be instantly recalled.” (Quoted in Naughton, 1999: 214)

History and origins of hypermedia

Englebart incorporated the idea of hypertext in his On Line System (NLS) in the 1960s

The term hypertext was coined by Ted Nelson (1974; 1981)

Apple Computer’s HyperCard system and HyperTalk language (1980s)

Hypertext markup language (HTML) and web browsers (Mosaic, Netscape etc., 1990s)

HyperCard

Navigation and orientation

Lost in hyperspace! Where am I? How did I get here? How do I get back? Where do I go from here?

Aids to navigation & orientation Local vs global maps Search engines Views and filters Indexes and bookmarks Breadcrumbs and footprints Tours and histories

History of the internet

Bush’s ‘memex’ vision (1945) Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA, 1957) Packet-switched networks (Baran, 1962) ARPAnet links UCLA, SRI, UCSB, Univ Utah (1968) First email program created: 23 hosts (1972) Transmission Control Protocol / Internet protocol (TCP/IP,

Cerf & Kahn, 1974) USENET (news group network), hosts 111+ (Bellovin, 1979) National Science Foundation CSNET, hosts 562 (1981)

History of the www

NSFNET 25x faster, 1024 hosts (1984) 1986: 2308 hosts; 1987: 28k hosts 1990 - Tim Berners-Lee (CERN) creates a hypertext system for

memebrs of the high-energy physics community, 313k hosts 1992 - World-Wide Web released by CERN, 1.1m hosts 1993 - Mosaic (Andreesen) graphical browser, 2m hosts 1994 - first commercial use of internet, 4m hosts 1998: >15m hosts 2002 - Google searches >2bn web pages 2003 - Google searches >3bn web pages 17/2/04 - Google searches 4,285,199,774 web pages

Uses of the web for learning

On-site vs distance learning Resource based learning Delivery of learning materials (CAL) Communication and collaboration

E.g., MUDs, online learning communities

Integrating and managing learning Virtual learning environments (e.g., WebCT)

Issues for learning

WWW is a generic tool Can implement the whole range of teaching/learning strategies

and approaches (good and bad!!)

Resource-based learning Authority, quality

Security, privacy & safety Complexity, navigation Instability

changes over time, unpredictably

Readings & resources

Alessi, S. & Trollip, S.R. (2000) Multimedia for Learning. Pearson Higher Education. Chapters 5 & 11.

Laurillard, D. (2001) Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective Use of Educational Technology. Routledge. Chapter 6.

http://www.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0037.html overview of hypertext, in hypertext!

http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/index.html history of the internet and www

http://www.psychology.nottingham.ac.uk/courses/modules/info/c8cxce/lecture8.htm

Shaaron Ainsworth’s notes on the web and web design

References

Nelson, T. (1974) Computer lib/Dream machines. South Bend, IN: The Distributors.

Nelson, T. (1981) Literary Machines. Self-published. Bush, V. (1945, July) As we may think. Atlantic Monthly, 176(1), 101-108.

[http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/computer/bushf.htm] Naughton, J. (1999) A Brief History of the Future: The Origins of the

Internet. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Nielsen, J. (1990, March) The art of navigating through hypertext.

Communications of the ACM, 33, 296-310.