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Address inquiries to Robert E. Jensen, Trinity University, 715 Stadium Drive, San Antonio, TX 78212-7200. Phone 210-736-7347; FAX 210-736-8134, Email: rjensen@trinity.edu. Home page: http://trinity.edu/~rjensen
· Temporary File Loads = utilities that load the book's system files (e.g., custom drivers and DLL files) in a temporary directory and then eliminate that directory when the user exits the book.
· Databases for Learning and Research = databases at a WWW site that provide data for public analysis.
· CD Databases, Audio, Video, and Animations With a Web Site Controller = databases, audio, video, and animation files on a CD used in conjuction with a WWW site.
· Help menus and search engines and/or topic index = a drop down Help menu dialog box that allows for various types of searches and other forms of help.
· Audio Switch = dialog box that appears (upon book entry) requesting information as to whether the user's computer has audio playback utilities.
· Video Switch = dialog box that appears (upon book entry) requesting information as to whether the user's computer has video playback utilities.
· Table of Contents and Index Navigation Options = options that allow users to quickly locate topics.
· Bookmark and Thumbnail Options = options that allow users to create custom bookmarks and thumbnail markers.
· User Modification Options = options that allow users to add to or otherwise modify selected presentation fields on screen or hyperlinks to other parts of a book or to other software packages.
· Audio/Video Clip Control Buttons = buttons that appear when playing audio and video clips that allow for pauses, repeats, and clip terminations.
· Audio/Video Dialog Text = transcriptions of all audio and video such that the user can get at the information even if the computer does not have audio and/or video utilities.
· Hyperlinked Depth = the ability to go deep into topics. Examples of hyperlinked paths include paths to glossaries, history of topics, expert commentaries, real-world illustrations, simulations, references, careers in a profession, controversies in a profession, etc.
· Hyperlinked Calculation Details = the ability to provide calculation details for virtually every derivation in the learning module.
· Graphs that Interactively Hide and Show Clutter = graphs such as Excel graphs that have overlay text fields that hide and show explanations of terms and formulas.
· Custom Menubars = menubars that are customized for particular books.
· Menubars and Icon Bars That Hide/Show = menu controls displayed by hide and show buttons so that the menubars do not always clutter up the screen. .
· Menu icons That Hide/Show Explanations = icons that display explanatory text fields when the user rolls the mouse across the images.
· Games for Problems and Exercises = games such as Jeopardy-type games that make reviews and feedback more fun for students.
· Simulations Emulating Reality = simulations that make explanations more interesting and informative because they emulate the real world.
· Drag and Drop Objects = objects that can be moved about to help maintain user attention and interest.
· Animations = moving objects that help draw attention to objects or sequences of topics in an explanation of how something works. .
· Animations With Audio = audio commentaries that explain what is happening during animations.
· World Wide Web Simulations = simulations using actual captured screens (possibly so perfected that users are not aware that WWW surfing is not live).
· World Wide Web Hyperlinks = live WWW links on a browser.
· Package Links = links to other software such as Excel or database software.
· Talking Head Video Avoidance = space saving achieved by still-frame capturing of one or more video frames rather than video of a talking head.
· Print Controls = controls that make it easy to print text fields or screen images.
· Custom Tablets = tablets available on each page that allow for users to take notes and print those notes.
· Custom Question and Answer sheets = forms available such that instructors have the option of giving paperless quizzes and examinations.
· Password Controlled Answers = answer pages that are available with password controls.
Take a look at Class Notes: Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design By Jakob Nielsen, SunSoft Distinguished Engineer at http://www.uww.edu/personal/fac/macurk/10probs.htm
· See Chapter 2 of Jensen and Sandlin for a More Complete Discussion of Warnings.
This document provides a short checklist of features commonly overlooked in both commercial and private hypermedia learning modules in accounting education. Some features are simple and inexpensive to author into CD-ROMs and network servers. Others are more complex but nevertheless important from the standpoint of pedagogical depth, efficiency, and effectiveness. The note concludes with several warning notes about synchronous versus asynchronous use of computer-aided learning modules.
I have a dog and pony show on designs for hypermedia learning modules that I have presented at over 150 colleges and universities in various parts of the world. One feature of the show that seems to be popular with educators in the audiences is a module illustrating good and bad designs for hypertext and hypermedia learning modules. The main purpose of this note is to provide a checklist of things to watch for when authoring such modules or when evaluating what commercial modules to use in accounting education. A second purpose is to list some warnings to accounting educators who are beginning to use such modules in courses.
Synchronous learning modules refer to modules in which students proceed linearly on the same learning paths. In contrast, asynchronous modules allow students to take alternate nonlinear (self-directed) paths at their own pace and time of day. Class lectures by faculty entail synchronous learning. Class lessons on CD-ROM discs and network servers may be synchronous or asynchronous depending upon authoring designs.
In terms of abbreviation, the acronym WWW refers to the World Wide Web on the Internet. Whereas the Internet commenced as a Department of Defense experiment in 1969, the WWW was conceived by particle physics scientists in 1990 for hyperlinked navigation on the Internet. Most education books and courses on the Internet are now being offered as hyperlinked documents on the WWW or on local area servers such as campus or departmental servers. Addresses are known as URL uniform resource locators. In spite of the explosion in network popularity, hypermedia books will continue to be on CD-ROM or newer CD-DVD (digital versatile discs) due to network traffic jams and the extremely limited Internet bandwidth for audio, video, and animation. The paradigm for the future will be "books" on network servers that control hypermedia files stored on CD-ROM or CD-DVD discs. The books on the server can be modified at any time by authors (and possibly students), but students will have to purchase the discs containing a book's media files. CD discs will be the main type of storage medium due to so many computers having CD drives and the low cost (possibly less than $1.00 per disc) of CD disc reproduction and the greatly reduced prices (less than $800) for CD-ROM recorders on faculty desks. CD-DVD desktop recorders will hopefully become available in 1997.
In this paper, I will on occasion refer to ToolBook since this is the authoring software that I use for nearly all my own hypermedia learning modules. Various ToolBook software packages are available from Asymetrix Corporation, although other companies such as Macromedia Corporation sell very similar packages. Asymetrix may be contacted at http://www.asymetrix.com/. There are over 60 hypermedia authoring packages and over 20 presentation software packages reviewed in Chapter 3 of Jensen and Sandlin. Note that some of the checklist features discussed below are easier to author in some packages than in others. For example, not all authoring packages contain automatic scripting for animations, clip making for parts of longer audio/video files, drag and drop object authoring, pop-up viewers, and print options for entire scrolling text fields (i.e., options for printing of text without having to scroll to all parts of that text).
In this paper, a "Jeopardy-type game" refers to the question choice style of the popular television game show called "Jeopardy." For information on the television show surf to http://www.spe.sony.com/Pictures/tv/jeopardy/jeopardy.html. In my own accounting learning modules, I make extensive use of this style of having users choose question categories. In my case, I frequently use this style in class. Students are divided into groups. Question categories from assignments for the day appear on screen. An assigned group chooses a question category and a question difficulty level. For example, under a given category there are normally 4 point, 8 point, and 12 point choices. Each group huddles to solve the computer-selected question or problem in the category chosen by the assigned group. The assigned group gets the first shot at choosing a solution and explaining that solution to the entire class. If the first group is incorrect, another group selected at random gets a try for half credit. This style of classroom activity seems to be popular with students and forces them to prepare in advance from my asynchronous learning modules on our campus server and on my CD-ROM lesson modules.
· Temporary File Loads = utilities that load the book's system files (e.g., custom drivers and DLL files) in a temporary directory and then eliminate that directory when the user exits the book. Having such utilities is especially important when authors may want to tempt others to try out electronic books. Users hesitate to install books that will do mysterious things to their computers such as change initialization (ini) files, add directories, add drivers, add dynamic library linking (DLL) files, or otherwise make changes on the computer that are not easily detected and removed. A good example of a CD-ROM electronic book that loads all need files temporarily and then automatically deletes these files when the user exits the book is called The Road Ahead by Bill Gates at Microsoft Corporation. For information about this book, see http://www.roadahead.com/. Few, if any, authoring software packages make temporary file loading and unloading an automatic authoring option. Some of the newer Windows 95 Scripting Tools can be used to code temporary file loads. These are reviewed by Barry Simon in PC Magazine, August 1996, pp. 267-277.
· Databases for Learning and Research = databases at a WWW site. Some of the most widely used web sites and CDs are those that provide databases of interest. For example, a fantastic site that has legal written and audio databases available at no charge is the U.S. Supreme Court OYEZ database at http://oyez.at.nwu.edu/oyez.html. In addition to the text of Supreme Court decisions, oral arguments are available in over 750 hours of real audio on the WWW. One of the most popular web sites in Sociology and Statistics is the web site provided by Michael Kearl. The special attractions of this site are the actively maintained databases on death and dying coupled with the actively maintained links related to these topics. Professor Kearl receives an average of 50 email messages per day from users of his databases and links. For audio comments from Professor Kearl regarding his web site, go to my document of daring professors at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen/ideasmes.htm#Kearl.
· CD Databases, Audio, Video, and Animations With a Web Site Controller = databases, audio, videe, and animation files on a CD used in conjuction with a WWW site. Some of the most widely used web sites in academe are have partial databases and controllers that link to full databases on CDs. Currently, most databases are on CD-ROM, although in the future these will probably be on CD-DVD discs. For example, one of the most popular web sites in in classical studies is the Perseus Project athttp://www.perseus.tufts.edu/. For audio comments from Professor Mark Garrison regarding the Perseurs Project, go to my document on daring professors at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen/ideasmes.htm#Garrison . This web site combines databases on the server with a CD-ROM that can be purchased for the large database on Greek art and architecture. Use of CDs in this manner is especially popular for video files since video does not generally stream well on the Internet and long video files take very long to download.
· Help menus and search engines and/or topic index = a drop down Help menu dialog box that allows for various types of searches and other forms of help. For example, it should be possible to search for character strings within each document. Secondly, there should be links to WWW search engines that allow for broader WWW searches. Thirdly, there should be both a condensed Table of Contents plus a detailed index of topics. Examples include the familiar Help menu items in software such as Microsoft Word. Some hypermedia authoring packages have search utilities. For example, ToolBook Instructor has a search utlitity in the reader mode. However, the ToolBook search utility has some limitations that I recently mentioned to Asymetrix in an email message to Paolo Tosolini tosolini@asymetrix.com
One problem you need to overcome is that the present search utility in ToolBook will do character string searches but it will not show the text of hidden fields. In other words, we get a flashing cursor that says the search engine found a hit, but the hit itself does not show up if the text field is hidden or obscured by objects in front of the text field. Your search utility needs to (1) make hidden fields temporarily visible and (2) temporarily BringToFront those text fields.
· Audio Switch = dialog box that appears (upon book entry) requesting information as to whether the user's computer has audio playback utilities. Such a switch can then be used to make audio controls either available or unavailable throughout the book. In Multimedia ToolBook this entails declaring a system variable such as <svAudioAvailable> that can be used on any page or any object to control the hiding or showing options to run and control audio clips.
· Video Switch = dialog box that appears (upon book entry) requesting information as to whether the user's computer has video playback utilities. Such a switch can then be used to make video controls either available or unavailable throughout the book. In Multimedia ToolBook this entails declaring a system variable such as <svVideoAvailable> that can be used on any page or any object to control the hiding or showing options to run and control video clips.
· Table of Contents and Index Navigation Options = options that allow users to quickly locate topics. It is becoming popular in commercial CD-ROM books to have the user first enter some metaphor environment such as a building full of rooms, a room full of objects, a space vehicle, a library, etc. Users then are expected to browse (hack) their way around in the visual environment. This becomes much like a random walk through time and space. Random walks have some advantages, especially to browsers who like to explore with a mouse. However, users intent on navigating quickly to particular topics become very frustrated by not having easy-to-find hyperlinks to those topics. An example of a CD-ROM that lacks a table of contents and index is the Room Zoom CD-ROM on accounting careers that is available from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants by requesting the product at phone number 800-862-4272 or 212-596-9222. It is described at http://www.satscpa.org/roomzoom.htm. The metaphor is a room filled with objects that users randomly click on to navigate to parts of the book. A student interested in reading about "scholarships" will have to hack around the room and click on both objects and objects with objects before finding a link to the "scholarships" part of the book. In the case of "scholarships," the user must first click on the ceiling and then click on rungs of two ceiling ladder steps in succession before seeing the link to "scholarships." A design improvement would be to have a single control button that would bring an index into view that facilitates rapid navigation to selected topics.
· Bookmark and Thumbnail Options = options that allow users to create custom bookmarks and thumbnail markers. It is increasingly easy in hypermedia authoring packages to include options for users to create their own custom bookmarks or thumbnail images of favorite places to navigate to in subsequent readings of the book. Instructors can also use bookmarks or thumbnails to guide students to assigned readings, cases, problems, and problem solutions.
· User Modification Options = options that allow users to add to or otherwise modify selected presentation fields on screen or hyperlinks to other parts of a book or to other software packages. For example, users may want to have places where they can add their own commentaries, reference updates, URL addresses, etc.
· Audio/Video Clip Control Buttons = buttons that appear when playing audio and video clips that allow for pauses, repeats, and clip terminations. Slider controls are very effective. The best controls indicate the length (in minutes) of the media clip and the time remaining to the end of the clip. The worst hypermedia design feature is one that locks the user into having to listen to a complete audio or video clip when that user desires to shut it off and move on to something else. It is highly desirable to also have an option for pausing a clip and restarting it at the exact point where it paused.
· Audio/Video Dialog Text = transcriptions of all audio and video such that the user can get at the information even if the computer does not have audio and/or video utilities. This is an extremely important and costly option. It is important because most university computer labs contain both multimedia computers and computers that do not have audio/video hardware. Audio is especially important on multimedia computers, because audio provides relief from having to read everything on a computer screen. Ideally, content is available in simultaneous text viewing and audio reading. If the user is not fortunate enough to be on a multimedia computer, all audio and video dialog should be available for text reading. This is expensive because all audio and video dialog in the book must also be transcribed into text fields. It is best to have markers on the text field indicating what part of the dialog is being spoken if the text display and audio reading of the text are taking place simultaneously.
· Hyperlinked Depth = the ability to go deep into topics. Examples of hyperlinked paths include paths to glossaries, history of topics, expert commentaries, real-world illustrations, simulations, references, careers in a profession, controversies in a profession, etc. This is probably the main shortcoming of accounting education materials relative to education materials available on CD-ROM for education in medicine, science, music, art history, and many other disciplines. For example, the various music CD-ROM education materials authored by Robert Winter set standards for depth that are nonexistent in commercial CD-ROMs for accountancy education. Robert Winter's CD-ROMs are available from most CD-ROM distribution sites on the WWW. One such site describing Professor Winter's work ishttp://www.calliope.com/contact/winter/. Another great example is the ADAM CD-ROM used by virtually all medical schools and many anatomy and physiology courses in university science programs. In addition to having graphic visualization of body parts, users can navigate deeper into topics. For example, after viewing all parts of the human hip, users can navigate into topics of hip surgery and simulations of hip surgery.
· Hyperlinked Calculation Details = the ability to provide calculation details for virtually every derivation in the learning module. In hard copy, calculation details add clutter to a page and may require hundreds of pages that are not cost effective to reproduce. Nor are too many details effective if students may get lost in the underbrush rather than visualize the entire forest. Electronic books enable the author to show the forest and, at the same time, allow the user to zoom in on any vein on any leaf of any vegetation in the forest. Commercial publishers of accounting education CD-ROMs to date have tended to transfer the text of hard copy books into the CD-ROM without adding zoom-in depth on computational details that were not practical to present in hard copy. Since CD-ROMs can hold as much as 50,000 pages of text, the reproduction costs of hard copy are no longer a consideration when supplying zoom-in details about computational derivations. Good sets of details allow students to view equations and then zoom into parts of equations in ever finer detail until everything is explained based upon the starting facts.
· Graphs that Interactively Hide and Show Clutter = graphs such as Excel graphs that have overlay text fields that hide and show explanations of terms and formulas. In addition, it is great if an audio explanation also can be triggered by clicking on any component of a graph.These may also have overlay animations.One of the great comparative advantages of hypertext and hypermedia is the ability to include hundreds of objects on a page that can be hidden and shown at user discretion. Definitions and complex chains of images can be hidden from view until the user wants to have components of a graphic defined or wants to navigate deeper into more detailed parts of a graph. A single electronic page might contain text and images that would fill a hard copy book. Much of the detail can be visual, although hypermedia utilities also permit audio and video media details. Audio explanations of graph components are especially helpful. These can even be expanded to include commentaries on the data and what the graph portrays.
· Custom Menubars = menubars that are customized for particular books. In addition to providing a standard menubar, good authoring packages enable the author to create customized menubars and custom submenus that can be called up from all pages of the book. One drawback of browser plug-ins like Neuron from Asymetrix is that the menubars that show in a CD version of book or document will not show in the viewer window inside the browser window. I recently proposed the following to Asymetrix in an email message to Paolo Tosolini tosolini@asymetrix.com
You should also add a "Psuedo Menu Bar" that has drop down menu choices. It should have all the options presently available in a Reader Menu Bar plus the ability to add customzed menu choices that will automatically add handlers based upon responses of authors to some basic questions. The "Psuedo Menu Bar" should show up in Neuron.
· Menubars and Icon Bars That Hide/Show = menu controls displayed by hide and show buttons so that the menubars do not always clutter up the screen. A failing of many commercial CD-ROM books is the cluttering up of every screen with menu controls that need not always be visible. It is generally less confusing to have a single button that will show menu controls when a user wants to view the controls and hide the controls when the viewer chooses to hide them.
· Menu icons That Hide/Show Explanations = icons that display explanatory text fields when the user rolls the mouse across the images. A failing of many commercial CD-ROMs is that the navigation icons have images that are not completely obvious regarding the navigation roles played. For example, squiggle arrows are not always clear about what squiggle navigation is entailed. A good example of the use of such text boxes is contained on the navigation icons of the Room Zoom CD-ROM on accounting careers that is available from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants by requesting the product at phone number 800-862-4272. It is described at http://www.satscpa.org/roomzoom.htm.
· Games for Problems and Exercises = games such as Jeopardy-type games that make reviews and feedback more fun for students. A failing of most accounting CD-ROMs is that the problem sets are boring lists of problems. Students become more interested if these same problems are somehow depicted in games that can be played individually or in groups such as teams assigned to problems in class. A good example of fun game designs is the Jeopardy game format used in virtually all of the music education CD-ROMs of Robert Winter. Robert Winter's CD-ROMs are available from most CD-ROM distribution sites on the WWW.
· Simulations Emulating Reality = simulations that make explanations more interesting and informative because they emulate the real world. This is an extremely popular approach taken in the nearly 6,000 computer-based training and education courses of the Department of Defense. Instead of merely reading about topics or viewing graphics, students are active in simulations of reality. An example of one such hypertext simulation is the basic accounting lab simulation authored by Ralph Smith and Rick Birney at Arizona State University. The simulation in ToolBook is entitled The Introductory Accounting Lab and is now available from McGraw-Hill's search engine at http://www.infor.com:53311/search.shtml that yields the following longer URL (often it is easier to use a search engine than to type a long URL):
http://www.infor.com:53311/cgi/getarec?mgh23554http://www.infor.com:53311/cgi/getarec?mgh23554.
· Drag and Drop Objects = objects that can be moved about to help maintain user attention and interest. One of the best ways to hold student attention is to make the student drag objects about the screen and deposit them in receptacles. This changes passive learning into interactive learning. In many hypermedia authoring packages it is now quite easy to author drag and drop objects, including numbers and words.
· Animations = moving objects that help draw attention to objects or sequences of topics in an explanation of how something works. Probably the best illustrations of animations can be found in the tutorials of many software packages. For example, the Examples and Demos that accompany Microsoft's Word for Windows contain animated explanations of complex word processing features. Many people find the animated explanations much more effective than reading the hardcopy text about those same features.
· Animations With Audio = audio commentaries that explain what is happening during animations. Often charts such as Excel charts may be brought to life with animations. Some of the best examples of audio animations can be found in the Photoshop Tutorial CD-ROM that accompanies Adobe Photoshop. This software is discussed inhttp://www.adobe.com/prodindex/photoshop/main.html. Photoshop is a professional graphics program that has some very complex utilities such as layering. Wonderfully easy to understand animations with audio on such topics as layering set standards for similar tutorials in accounting education.
· World Wide Web Simulations = simulations using actual captured screens (possibly so perfected that users are not aware that WWW surfing is not live). An example is simulation of surfing the EDGAR database of corporate SEC filings. It is possible with screen capturing and merging of text fields with captured screens to simulate WWW surfing in such a way that students are not even aware that what they are viewing is a simulation rather than a live WWW navigation. Simulation allows users to learn from WWW sites even when their computers are not connected to the Internet and/or when there are traffic jams on the Internet. WWW simulations will be increasingly important in every college course since the WWW is becoming the library of literally every academic discipline.
· World Wide Web Hyperlinks = live WWW links on a browser. It is possible to author learning modules with buttons or hotwords on CD discs that open up a WWW browser and allow for live navigation on the Internet. Instructors may want to author customized web sites for each course or even selected modules within a course. These web sites can contain selected bookmarks and learning materials that can be updated by instructors at any time in or out of class. These web sites may also contain email hotlinks to instructors or other experts willing to participate in the learning tasks. Addresses to learning module web sites can be made available to students without making these addresses available to students not enrolled in the course.
· Package Links = links to other software such as Excel or database software. For example, a professor's CD-ROM might simultaneously contain both the Price Waterhouse Researcher database and the TotalTape CPA Examination Review CD-ROM files provided appropriate site licenses are obtained from the originating vendors. Anywhere in the book, the user might elect to pop into spreadsheet software, a database, another electronic book, etc.
· Talking Head Video Avoidance = space saving achieved by still-frame capturing of one or more video frames rather than video of a talking head. The audio can be played back like a slide show rather than wasting disc space for video captured at 10 to 30 frames per second of talking head video images. Video should be limited to clips that contain multiple scenes, multiple people having a conversation, or other images that still frames cannot effectively capture.
· Print Controls = controls that make it easy to print text fields or screen images. Most commercial books in accounting education now allow for printing of text and graphics, although some software packages are better than others for printing. For example, ToolBook will only print what is visible at the moment on a screen. Software that will print the entire contents of a scrollable text field without having to view each part of the field on the screen is much more efficient, especially for text fields containing hundreds of lines of text.
· Custom Tablets = tablets available on each page that allow for users to take notes and print those notes. As modern instruction moves into the "paperless" course era, it is important that students be allowed to take notes, do assignments, and even take tests in the electronic book.
· Custom Question and Answer sheets = forms available such that instructors have the option of giving paperless quizzes and examinations. Even if the instructor presently has no plans for conducting a "paperless" course, it is important to plan for future possibilities when paperless courses will be more common and possibly even required. At Penn State University an experiment in paperless courses is presently in process. In business core courses, including accounting courses, there will be no hard copy text books. Learning materials, assignments, tests, student projects, etc. can all be placed upon a server funded by Richard D. Irwin, Inc.
· Password Controlled Answers = answer pages that are available with password controls. Note that it is possible to include answers to assignments and tests in the book and still control access to those materials. Each answer can be given a unique password, and passwords may be easily changed at will by instructors. However, making answers available on computers used by students makes copying and transmittal easier. Added controls may be imposed such as only making passwords available to a student lab coordinator who, in turn, is to monitor student use of answers. Copyright clauses on commercial answer books must be honored. For example, vendors may specify that placing answers on any type of network server is a violation of a copyright agreement.
Whereas presentation software options such as PowerPoint and Harvard Graphics lessons are intended mainly for live (synchronous) classroom presentations, authoring software options such as ToolBook and Authorware are intended more for authoring of asynchronous distributed lesson modules outside the classroom. Asynchronous lesson modules are generally made available on network servers and/or CDs. Some warnings are listed below:
· Don't overwhelm students with constant in-class presentations using presentation or authoring software. Suppose virtually every instructor runs an electronic slide show nearly every day. Students will be brain dead by the end of each day due, in large measure, to eyestrain in focusing on screen images. You will give electronic media a bad name if almost everything you attempt in class entails videos or computer projections. Classroom electronic presentations aren't necessarily bad; it's just that they are easily overdone like anything else.
· Try to author asynchronous learning materials so that learning of technical details is relatively easy outside the classroom where students learn at their own paces. Class time can then be devoted to events that are more effective and efficient in face-to-face contact. For example, students can be given air time in class to demonstrate what they have learned by devoting class time to such feedback tasks as student skits, case discussions, group problem solving and student presentations in front of the class, and Jeopardy-type games, (i.e., group choosing of question categories and question difficulty levels). If technical learning takes place outside the classroom, more class time is available for visiting speakers, career-inspiration sessions, and discussions of theory and controversies.
Remember that it is usually more important to inspire students to want to learn than it is to have them learn technical content during class sessions. Probably the most important things you can do as a professor is know your students on a first name basis and motivate them into life-long action. Class time can be devoted to inspiration and computer lab time can be the time for perspiration. Well-authored technical learning modules that students tackle at their own paces outside the classroom can provide most "zoom-in" technical details passed over in class. Electronic books with depth also allow students to take optional routings along learning paths different from the paths taken by other students. Great books can be entered at most any level of expertise and allow for routings to the angels on the heads of the learning pins. When audience members ask me for the best examples of "great electronic books," I refer them to the music theory books of Robert Winter at http://www.calliope.com/contact/winter/ and the ADAM anatomy books. Robert Winter's books excel in the use of audio and subject matter depth. The ADAM books excel in the use of interactive graphics. To date, I have never seen a "great electronic book" in business or economics, although the emerging books are improving. Probably the best hypermedia "book" in accounting is a older training videodisc and workbook produced as a takeoff on the movie "Psycho." This training course was produced by the Price Waterhouse accounting firm in the United Kingdom and used professional actors from an actual film company. The villain trying to corrupt the information system of a large corporation is none other than the insane Norman Bytes from the Bytes Motel where naked women also seem to disappear when taking showers.
See Chapter 2 of Jensen and Sandlin for a More Complete Discussion of Warnings.