Table Of ContentThe Desiggn of Future Educational
Interfaces
The Design of Future Educational Interfacesprovides a new multidisciplinary synthesis
of educational interface research. It explains how computer interfaces can be
redesigned to better support our ability to produce ideas, think, and solve problems
successfully in national priority areas such as science and mathematics. Based on first-
hand research experience, the author offers a candid analysis of emerging technologies
and their impact, highlighting communication interfaces that stimulate thought. The
research results will surprise readers and challenge their assumptions about existing
technology and its ability to support our performance.
In spite of a rapid explosion of interest in educational technologies, there remains a
poor understanding of what constitutes an effective educational interface for student
cognition and learning. This book provides valuable insights into why recent large-
scale evaluations of existing educational technologies have frequently not shown
demonstrable improvements in student performance. The research presented here is
grounded in cognitive science and experimental psychology, linguistic science and
communications, cross-cultural cognition and language, computer science and human
interface design, and the learning sciences and educational technology.
Sharon Oviatt is well known for her extensive work in educational interfaces, human-
centered interface design, multimodal and mobile interfaces, and communications
interfaces. In 2007, she founded Incaa Designs (http://www.incaadesigns.org/), a
Seattle-area nonprofit that researches, designs, and evaluates the impact of innovative
new educational interfaces.
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The Design of Future
Educational Interfaces
Sharon Oviatt
First published 2013
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Incaa Designs
The right of Sharon Oviatt to be identified as author of this work has been asserted
by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known
or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Oviatt, Sharon.
The design of future educational interfaces / by Sharon Oviatt.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Education–Data processing. 2. Human-computer interaction. I. Title.
LB1028.3.O95 2013
371.33'4–dc23 2012046118
ISBN: 978-0-415-89493-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-89494-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-36620-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Minion
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
This book is dedicated to my family, Phil, Julia, Adrienne, and Claire,
whose companionship sustained my year-long effort to research, envi-
sion, and write it.
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Foreword xiii
Preface: Suggestions for Teaching with This Book xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1
PART I
Evolutionary and Neurological Basis for Educational Interface Design 11
1 Innovative Tool Use, Cognitive Evolution, and Implications for
Educational Interfaces 11
PART II
Existing and Future Interfaces 35
2 Keyboard Interfaces: The Bottleneck Constricting Communication
and Performance 35
3 Rethinking the Interface as a Communications Power Tool for
Stimulating Ideas and Problem Solving 49
4 Rethinking the Interface as a Communications Power Tool for
Supporting Inferential Reasoning 66
5 Emerging Interface Directions for Supporting Conceptual Change 92
PART III
Foundational Elements of Communications Interface Design 117
6 Support for Multiple Representations 117
viii Contents
7 Support for Multiple Modalities 140
8 Support for Multiple Linguistic Codes 156
9 Theoretical Frameworks for Advancing Educational Interfaces 175
PART IV
Building Educational Interfaces of the Future 211
10 Designing Integrated Interfaces that Stimulate Activity 211
11 Fostering Meta-Awareness about Technology and Its Impact 235
12 Implications for Future Empirical, Theoretical and Policy
Directions 253
Appendix: Supplementary Teaching Materials 270
References 286
Index 322
Illustrations
Figures
I.1 Communication interfaces supporting multiple representations,
modalities, and linguistic codes 7
1.1 Hand ax with bilateral symmetry from 1.4 million years ago; hand ax
with 3-D congruent symmetry from 300,000 years ago 14
1.2 Ratio of cranial capacity to body weight for hominids 17
2.1 Examples of students’ inked “thinking marks” during two biology
problem-solving tasks, showing selection, ordering, counting, labeling,
and showing relations between information in problem statement
visuals 39
2.2 Percentage of high-level self-regulatory math comments for low- versus
high-performing students when using different interfaces 41
2.3 Multi-step process of entering Japanese input using a keyboard
interface 45
3.1 Toshiba laptop screen with biology problem display, and keyboard and
stylus for input; student response using graphical interface with pen
input and typing in OneNote; student response using digital paper
interface with Maxell pen 55
3.2 Totalnonlinguisticc communicative fluency during hypothesis
generation when using pen interfaces, compared with non-digital
pencil and paper tool; total linguisticc communicative fluency during
hypothesis generation when using keyboard-based interface, compared
with non-digital pencil and paper tool 58
3.3 Regression analysis confirmingpositive predictive relation between
interface support fornonlinguisticc communicative fluency and
ideational fluency in science; regression confirming negative predictive
relation between interface support forlinguisticc communicative fluency
and ideational fluency in science 59
3.4 Scores on matched problems when students did or did not make a
diagram, and when they did or did not make thinking marks on
problem visuals 60
4.1 Average percentage of correct inferences when using different types of
interface for low and high performers 73
