Volume 8. Essays in Personalizable Software
Much of my work in computer science at the University of Colorado in Boulder can be characterized as explorations of personalizable software. For me, that term increasingly meant designing hypermedia systems that would allow people to explore information from different personal perspectives. This theme persisted in my research from the time that I joined Gerhard Fischer’s lab as a beginning graduate student in 1989 and became a research assistant for Ray McCall until I transitioned into educational software upon graduation in 1993.
The switch to educational software stretched across many years and several roles, including software developer, post-doc, research professor, visiting scientist and associate professor. The development of WebGuide played a central role in the transition, since WebGuide applied the mechanisms of personalizable software and computational perspectives to an educational application. While the highlights of this work are presented in Group Cognition, a number of writings that did not make it into that volume fill in important aspects of my explorations of personalizable software.
The present volume has been assembled to make those essays available in an organized way.
This book is structured in four sections, corresponding roughly to phases in the development of my research on personalizable software:
(1) Structured Hypermedia,
(2) Personalizable Software, (3) Software Perspectives, (4) Applications to Health Care, Education and Publishing
* Download PDF free for reading online or printing: software.pdf
(This is the best version: up-to-date, complete, full color, hi-res.)
* Download iBook version free for iPad, Mac, etc.: software.epub
* Download MOBI version free for Kindle: software.mobi
* Order paperback from Lulu at printing cost ($16.04): Lulu page for Gerry Stahl
* Order paperback from Amazon at printing cost ($16.04): Amazon page for Gerry Stahl
Part I: Structured Hypermedia
A Hypermedia Inference Language as an Alternative to Rule-based Expert Systems
A Computational Medium for Supporting Interpretation in Design
Toward a Theory of Hermeneutic Software Design
Part II: Personalizable Software
Supporting Personalizable Learning
Personalizing the Web
Supporting Personalization and Reseeding-on-demand
Part III: Software Perspectives
Embedding Computer-Based Critics in the Contexts of Design
Embedding Critics in Design Environments
POW! Perspectives On the Web
Reflections on WebGuide: Seven Issues for the Next Generation of Collaborative Knowledge-Building Environments
Intertwining Perspectives and Negotiation
Part IV: Applications to Health Care, Education and Publishing
Reflections on Supporting and Studying Collaborative Team Formation in Post-Cardiac Surgery Care:
Internet Repositories for Collaborative Learning: Supporting both Students and Teachers
Evaluating Affordance Short-circuits by Reviewers and Authors Participating in On-line Journal Reviews
Developing Summarization Skills through the Use of LSA-Based Feedback
Designing Collaborative Learning Environments using Digital Games
Introduction: Computer Support for Learning Communities
Book review of Professional Development for Cooperative Learning: Issues and Approaches