Methodology for Developing Educational Hypermedia Systems

Hypermedia has the potential to greatly enhance teaching. It can, however, be difficult to develop hyperdocuments which provide medical students with the full benefit of the technology. We wish to resolve this problem by providing a methodology for creating educational hypermedia systems with specific emphasis on the medical domain, but applicable across disciplines. This paper examines some of the specific issues involved in educational hypermedia, and outlines a series of practical guidelines, drawing together the disparate disciplines necessary to the development process. We illustrate the methodology with our own experience in creating and updating the HIV Hypermedia Medical Education Software over a period of two years.