XVI International Botanical Congess

Advanced educational computing learning environments can foster active-learning and facilitate the engagement of cognitive processes that students often do not utilize. When designed and utilized appropriately, they can better serve the multiple intelligences and learning styles of a diverse population of learners by presenting information in varied formats and by offering alternative entry paths into the content area. Technology-based learning environments can be designed to help students address a variety learning goals, from learning facts, to concept building, and even to the development of advanced critical inquiry skills. Assessment tools can be incorporated into an interactive multimedia learning environment to provide feedback, to encourage the mindful engagement of students, to provide incentives to strive for high levels of competency, and to enable the collection of diagnostic information about the learning needs of individual students. Several areas of especially promising application will be addressed including: (1) large classes, (2) distance learning, and (3) mitigation of the critical conflict between powerful but time-intensive pedagogies and content coverage.