http://elacd.carnet.hr/wiki/images/a/aa/Concept_tutor.jpg∞

Description

Concept Tutor is a nice way to create simple multimedia for just-in-time learning. As an assessment tool, Concept Tutor has a simple build-in feedback mechanism, so that students can recieve instant feedback on the concepts being presented.

According to the [http://engage.doit.wisc.edu/tools/ConceptTutor/∞ official website] "ConceptTutors are "just-in-time" windows that open from existing webpages to teach concepts. We like to think of ConceptTutors as glossaries on steroids. They support various media types (images, audio, and animations), and their design is based on best practices for learning concepts. Effective concept learning is accomplished by including the concept definition, examples and non-examples, contextual information, and quizzing.

ConceptTutors include the four elements above in an interactive tab format.

The ConceptTutor authoring tool is very easy to use. Its intuitive design is delivered in a Macromedia Flash environment that leads authors through a very simple ConceptTutor creation process. The ConceptTutor author behaves and includes elements common to most authoring environments, including functions like Save, Preview, Publish, and Edit."

Background

Concept Tutor falls into a category of assessment tools that provide computer-controlled immediate feedback to what is being learned. Many of these tools are freely available on the internet and have existed since the early 1990s. These include:

*[http://hotpot.uvic.ca/index.htm∞ Hot Potatoes] which can be used for creating interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises.

*[http://languagecenter.cla.umn.edu/index.php?page=makers∞ Interactive Exercise Makers] which can be used for annotating text or creating Cloze exercises, Short answer exercises, mulitple choice, and matching exercises.

Design Questions/Issues

These types of tools are best suited for the lower end of [http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hndouts/bloom.html∞ Bloom's taxonomy], where identification, reciting, recognizing, locating, and selecting are part of the learning objectives.

Examples & Activities

Concept Tutor can be used for a [http://engage.doit.wisc.edu/tools/ConceptTutor/uses.html∞ variety of teaching and learning purposes].


The [http://engage.doit.wisc.edu/tools/ConceptTutor/examples.html∞# Concept Tutor website] at the University of Wisconsin provides some interesting examples of how it can be used. One of the interesting features is its ability to support audio, which you can explore in the Clave example.

Resources

[http://www.virtualartroom.com/interactive_exercises.htm∞ This resource] shows a good variety of examples of exercises created with Hot Potatoes. http://www.virtualartroom.com/interactive_exercises.htm∞

[http://www.virtualartroom.com/interactive_exercises.htm#jigsaw∞ This resource] provides good tips on using Hot Potatoes.

[http://languagecenter.cla.umn.edu/index.php?page=makers∞ Examples] of Interactive Exercise Makers are available by clicking on the tool in the table that says "Find a Tool that you've Created".