Design and Implementation of a Web-Based Learning Environment

This article presents sets of observations and recommendations for Web-based distance learning, based on formative and summative performance and opinion data collected from participants involved in the design, development, and utilization of Wired Class, a Web-based learning environment that was developed to teach mathematics to Egyptian secondary school students. The discussion focuses on issues related to the nature of (1) Web-based learning materials, (2) the spectrum of learning/teaching interactions, (3) the Web as a learning environment, and (4) costs associated with delivering Web-based instruction. Examples are used to illustrate the basis for recommendations that evolved from the work on which this article is based.