“A Framework for Designing Interactivity into Web-Based Instruction”

A consultant with a PhD in instructional systems and educational media from Florida State University, Pam Northrup severs a diverse client base of companies in the higher education sector. Pam Northrup is also a prolific scholarly writer whose most cited work, according to Google Scholar, that is still widely referred to today, is the 2001 Article “A Framework for Designing Interactivity into Web-Based Instruction.”

Appearing in volume 41, issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal Educational Technology, “Framework for Designing Interactivity into Web-Based Instruction” begins by defining interactivity in the educational field as two-way communication that generally involves a mixture of instructional task completion and social relationship building. After establishing this definition, it examines educational interactivity in the Internet-based classroom environment, in terms of interaction with content, intrapersonal interaction, collaboration, conversation, and performance support. Using these basic interaction attributes, the article presents a course design framework that can take a variety of instructor-centered or student-centered approaches. It uses a wealth of examples to place this framework in specific theoretical and pedagogical contexts.