Information Technology Reference
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of research in this field. In the later chapters the
concept of the new system is described.
Possible “learning object” architecture sup-
ports on demand, personalized learning. With
CD-ROM training, students have access only to
the information that can be held by one CD-ROM.
The instructional design for this type of delivery,
therefore, has been to create entire modules and
distinct lessons. But with WBT, there is virtually
no storage limitation and content can be held on
one or more servers. The best WBT is designed so
that content is “chunked” into discrete knowledge
objects to provide greater flexibility. Students can
access these objects through pre-defined learning
paths, use skill assessments to generate personal
study plans, or employ search engines to find
exact topics.
Content is easily updated. This is perhaps the
single biggest benefit to WBT. In today's fast-
paced business environment, training programs
frequently change. With CD-ROM and other forms
of training, the media must be reduplicated and
distributed again to all the students. With WBT
it is a simple matter of copying the updated files
from a local developer's computer onto the server-
computer. The next time students connect to the
Web page for training, they will automatically
have the latest version.
Advantages of Web-Based Learning
The general benefits of Web-based training when
compared to traditional instructor-led train-
ing include all those shared by other types of
technology-based training. These benefits are that
the training is usually self-paced, highly interac-
tive, results in increased retention rates, and has
reduced costs associated with student travel to an
instructor-led workshop.
When compared to CD-ROM training, the
benefits of Web-based training stem from the fact
that access to the content is easy and requires no
distribution of physical materials. This means that
Web-based training yields additional benefits,
among them.
Access is available anytime, anywhere, around
the globe. Students always have access to a po-
tentially huge library of training and information
whether they are working from home, in the office,
or from a hotel room. As cellular modems become
more popular, students will even be able to access
training in a place that doesn't have a traditional
phone line or network connection.
Per-student equipment costs are affordable.
Almost any computer today equipped with a
modem and free browser software can access the
Internet or a private Intranet. The cost of setup
is relatively low.
Student tracking is made easy. Because
students complete their training while they are
connected to the network, it is easy to implement
powerful student-tracking systems. Unlike with
CD-ROMs that require students to print reports
or save scores to disk, WBT enables the data to
be automatically tracked on the server-computer.
This information can be as simple as who has
accessed the courseware and what are their as-
sessment scores, to detailed information including
how they answered individual test questions and
how much time they spent in each module.
2. vArIouS AutomAtEd
ESSAy-grAdIng SyStEmS
Automated scoring capabilities are especially im-
portant in the realm of essay writing. Essay tests
are a classic example of a constructed-response
task where students are given a particular topic
(also called a prompt) to write about1. The essays
are generally evaluated for their writing quality.
Surprisingly for many, automated essay scoring
(AES) has been a real and viable alternative and
complement to human scoring for many years.
As early as 1966, Page showed that an automated
“rater” is indistinguishable from human raters
(Page, 1966). In the 1990's more systems were
developed; the most prominent systems are the
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