Evaluating the usability of Web-based learning tools via Online Learning Update
Quote: "Web-based learning tools provide integrated environments of various technologies to support diverse educators' and learners' needs via the Internet. This paper reports the results from a study to experimentally compare two commercially available learning tools in a university course. We discuss the findings from this study in relation to basic usability issues that must be attended to when designing user interfaces for web-based learning tools."
Comment: Compares Blackboard and WebCT. It is important (critical?) for tools for be easy to use...or they will restrict elearning's growth. As one student voiced in the study "I found that I spent most of my time learning WebCT and not course material. A "learning" tool should not be making life more difficult for me."