Text Screen Design for Computer-Assisted Learning

Presenting lessons effectively on the screen is one of the central problems in computer- assisted learning. Yet the literature on the design of screen layout to maximize comprehension, and, hence, learning in computer-assisted learning, is very small. In this paper that literature is reviewed as far as it pertains mainly to text screens. The somewhat more extensive literature on the design of instructional text is also examined in order to extrapolate principles which may also apply to screen design. Information is presented both about the presentation of text and about the design of screen layouts as a whole.