Learning Technologies

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Glossary

A word on nomenclature: terms and definitions in this glossary are specific to this Web site, and are not necessarily complete or universally accepted. ;-)

Content: Web site information for users such as text, graphic and multimedia attributes relating to a site's purpose.

Features - Web site utilities for users such as search, help, links, site map, etc., that assist users in accessing content

Functions - Web site utilities and documentation for administrative use and maintenance

Mental Models: The process our minds use to "organize knowledge to explain the way things work." (Rose, M.T. The Open Book. NJ:Prentice Hall, 1990) "When you construct an explanation of something or when you generate an explanation to 'make sense' of the situation, event, or phenomena at hand, you are constructing and using 'your' mental model." (Jerry A. Klein, I.I.T., ID-535, 1999)

Open Source: Nonproprietary code, software, programs, and tools that can be used and edited by anyone within copyright permitted terms of use and without incurring fees.

QA - Quality Assurance: A process of testing whether applications work and look as the programmers and designers intended. EX: Does a navigation link take one to the right location? QA folks test a Web site's features and functions.

Situation Model: A contextual scenario for the activity or text that helps develop deeper comprehension by accessing a shared Mental Model.

Tables: An arrangement of horizontal and vertical lines that create rectangular columns and rows; a grid.

UI - User Interface: The elements of a Web site with which the user interacts, typically, everything you see on the screen such as text, graphics, navigation, etc.

UT - Usability Testing: A process of testing whether applications, while working and looking as intended, cause problems for users. EX: Can a user navigate to the information page s/he wants with ease? UT folks test a Web site's content and features.

This site changes frequently; please check back soon.