In this paper, constructivism is examined as an epistemological basis for the design and use of hypermedia systems. The aim is to synergize the constructivist view of learning and the potentialities of hypermedia. Constructivism is a rich source of epistemological offerings that can yield insights for conceptualizing hypermedia tools along with specific guidelines for designing these tools. Based on cognitive, semiotic, and social perspectives, a new conceptual framework for constructive hypermedia learning systems is proposed. Desirable features and design considerations that might be built into future hypermedia systems are discussed. A list of functionalities reflecting the emphasis and illumination of each perspective in order to fulfill the tenets of constructivism is outlined and elaborated. This new conceptual model offers a useful perspective for using and designing hypermedia to facilitate the constructivist view of learning. The conceptual framework proposed here is not exhaustive nor comprehensive but rather an epistemological and analytical prototype, that needs validation. 321 Ó 2001, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.learner-initiated inquiry, social scaffolding, reflective thinking, collaborative learning, and learning situated in real life [11].Applications of technology are not seen as merely cognitive delivery systems that provide a prescribed presentation of information that the learners can ingest in some optimal way. Rather, technology is a supportive tool that shifts the focus of an activity away from transferring fixed and immutable knowledge from the outside to the inside of the learners' mind and toward nurturing the ongoing process of knowledge construction [12][13][14]. By approaching initially ambiguous situations through conversations, negotiations, and authentic activities, the learners add the texture that facilitates their construction of meaning and understanding [15]. Duffy and Bednar characterize these constructive learning environments as rich contexts with an abundance of tools to enhance communication and access to workplace examples and problems [16]. These environments provide authentic tasks and promote students' reflective thinking through modeling of problem solving by experts in the content domain, collaboration for the development and evaluation of multiple perspectives, and apprenticeship mentoring relationships to guide learning.In line with this philosophy, hypermedia's capabilities of multiplicity, linking connectivity, annotating, and its insensitivity to distance allow the learners to work cooperatively and to enter into on-line hypertext conversations with others over arbitrary distances. The learners are responsible for organizing information in multiple ways. They experience and explore information nodes embedded in the broader context of the information network in which nodes are situated. These features stimulate the processes of integration and contextualization in ways not achievable by linear presentation techniques [17]. Hypermedia learning systems, if well de...
