Introduction to HyperText
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| Introduction to HyperText HyperText is an exciting new way to learn and to teach. It puts the learner in the driver's seat. The learner controls the pace, direction and to an extent, even the content of the learning. The text of a printed text is static, in other words, it does not change. One could call this "StaticText." HyperText, on the other hand, can change. The author may change the text and its links whenever that author chooses. Also, the learner may choose the direction and content of what is learned. The printed text changed the course of education because it enabled the learner to access the material at the learner's convenience. Hypertext not only furthers the extent of the learner's grasp, but it also extends the reach of the author. The author's text was once locked by print. Now the author may change the text with a simple click of the mouse. HyperText begins with content created by the author. The text is then made "hyper" when hotlinks are created to certain words, phrases and/or images. These links take the reader to another destination and the learner decides whether to pursue this new line of thought or to stay the course. For example, the following link will take you to a web page at Purdue University. The link will teach you more about hypertext. You may choose to follow the link, or you may choose to continue reading this page. You control the learning, the pace, the direction, and the content. Hypertext links may take the learner to another section within the same site, like this one which took you to the top of this page - or it may take the learner out to another site on the Internet like the Purdue University site above. The author does the research for the learner and provides the benefits of that research to the learner to be digested by the learner at his or her discretion. This is a true constructivist model of learning. For an example of hypertext learning and teaching try this link I created for English students.
How to create hyperlinks (for a hypertext) Step 1 - Create your standard text content. Step 2 - Research where you would like to lead your learners - either inside your own site or outside your site. If you wish to take the learner outside the text you are creating - you must know the entire URL address, such as http://www.genconnection.com is the URL for this site. If you wish to link within the same page, you must first create a "bookmark" to where you wish the link to go. For instance, there is a bookmark at the top of this page after the word "authoring". If you view the HTML code with tags - you can see this bookmark. The bookmark is linked to the phrase "like this one". Thus the learner will see that the phrase "like this one" is "hot" and the cursor changes to a hand when it rolls over the phrase. Click on the phrase and the link will take you to the top of the page where the bookmark called "home" resides. You must name each bookmark, but many links may lead to the same bookmark (like this) which took you to the top of this page. You may also link to another file from within your site by choosing the desired file and highlighting the desired file in Step 4 described below. Step 3 - Highlight the word or phrase you wish to hyperlink. Step 4 - Click on "Insert" on the menu bar. Click on "Hyperlink". Choose a destination for your link - either an URL (which takes the learner outside your text) or a bookmark (which takes the learner somewhere within the text) or highlight a file from within your site. Click "OK" to complete the task. Step 5 - Click and Publish. That's it! |
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