As part of a series of workshops and presentations on technological developments and trends, Anja Lkoundi - educational technologist of the Open University of the Netherlands- will give an introduction to the concepts and design of study environments. The discussions will not concentrate on technical, but educational issues: 1) Designing instruction from learning goals, and applying it in a multimedia study environment. 2) Using a cd-rom case as a real life learning experience to achieve intended learning goals. Participants interested in technical design issues will have access to this information in form of hand-outs.

Instructional design will introduced and the use of two cd-rom productions will be discussed: - Buiten Dienst (the lit. translation from Dutch is Outdoor service or Out of order) and Paradise Parks Leisure BV. The main ideas behind the instructional design of the two cd-rom productions will be presented to explain why different instructional ideas and learning goals require different design solutions. The presentation will include an on screen demonstration of how students would work through the programs and reach learning goals. What topics are treated in the cd-rom cases?

'Buitendienst' (in box) is an interactive case in the field of industrial psychology. The student plays the role of a junior employee working at the consultancy of a regional transport company in Heerlen, the Netherlands. Under supervision of a senior colleague, the student researches the causes for illness-absenteeism among bus drivers.. The student reviews relevant documents; conducts interviews with employees, "speaks" with different other professionals; attends a meeting with the social-medical team of the transport company; designs a theoretical model; prepares a test; collects, processes and interprets research data; and writes a report including recommended action to be taken by management (cd-rom project leader: Ruud Hoefakker).

The second cd-rom case, Paradise Parks Leisure BV, is an interactive case in the field of marketing management. In this cd-rom program, the student plays the role of an assistant marketing manager working at 'Paradise Parks' headquarters. The student's assignment is to supervise the company's marketing activities for a period of two years. Paradise Parks offers a realistic decision-making environment for the student to act as an assistant manager. Part of the case requires that certain decisions need to be made very quickly and the students finds himself in a genuine race against the clock. The main learning goal is to deal systematically with complex marketing problems (cd-rom project leader: Rob Nadolski).

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