Istopolis: Design issues and evaluation' results of an integrated web-based educational application

Abstract

In this study the design issues of a web-based application, named Istopolis, are described. Istopolis is an integrated system aiming to support History and Culture courses of primary and secondary education in Greece. This hypermedia application system can be installed on a server allowing access both to students and teachers. Authorized teachers are able to modify or add modules with text, virtual material and video, and also modify or add scenarios towards an optimum exploitation of the initially specified educational modules. Furthermore, results of the summative evaluation obtained by a sample of active teachers are presented, showing that problems such as "lost in cyberspace" have been evaded and that, in general, educators are rather positive against the developed application in terms of usability, quality of media and aesthetics. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010.