Designing a Better Learning Environment with the Web: Problems and Prospects

The virtual university looms inevitably on the horizon, and Web-based education requires hypermedia technologies to be designed and implemented in a learner-centered fashion. To date, the technology has not been well designed and the evidence for learning advantages is virtually nonexistent. In the present article, two claims about web-based educational technologies are made and defended: that the technology is poorly designed from a user's perspective, and that the theories of instructional design that we require to build better learning environments do not exist. The field of educational technology is thus presented as both the culprit and the victim of these shortcomings. Suggestions for improving this scenario are presented.