Learning to Use an Office System with an On-Line Tutorial.

Abstract

On-line instruction is replacing traditional self-study manuals as the primary method of user self-instruction for office information systems (Seybold, 1981, 1984). The hope is that this method of instruction can be more effective than training via manuals by affording interactive response to learner actions. In this paper, we report an exploratory study in which six professionals learned to use a commercial office information system by means of an on-line tutorial. We found many of the same learner problems discovered earlier in the context of self-study manual training. Our goal is to describe and analyze this learning experience -- particularly the problems -- in enough detail to be useful to designers of on-line tutorials. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 26, 1984
Accession Number
ADA150561

Entities

People

  • J. M. Carroll
  • S. A. Mazur

Organizations

  • IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Background Noise
  • Basic Training
  • Calculators
  • Computer Networks
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Databases
  • Feedback
  • High Resolution
  • Information Systems
  • Instructions
  • Learning
  • Materials
  • Recovery
  • Shielding
  • Side Effects
  • Training

Fields of Study

  • Computer science
  • Education

Readers

  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Systems Analysis and Design