One of the highlights of the educational technology presentations was delivered by Dr. Tom Reeves of the University of Georgia. Tom spoke about the importance of mental models in science education, and described how the emergence of the World Wide Web in education required an understanding of not only the technology, but also its pedagaogical dimensions. Mental models are interconnected knowledge structures formed in the mind in response to stimulus. The importance of mental models in science education lies in the fact that students bring to science courses informal, naïve, yet surprisingly robust mental models that may interfere with the development of appropriate mental models. According to Reeves, the effectiveness of learning on the Web is a function of the skills and experience learners have with it and the degree to which curricula and Web materials have been designed to support appropriate pedagogical dimensions.
Another highlight of the educational presentations was delivered by Dr. Gene Tackle of Iowa State University. Gene presented some of the online material he has developed for his Global Change course at Iowa. Tackle stressed how the Web-based components of the course offers students a much more extensive resource and functionality base and allows them to regulate their own learning in terms of rate, style, and potential. Tackle also made several recommendations for getting into Web-based course development, including the importance of teamwork and involving students from the onset of the project.