MicroWorld is a tool for instructors to build computer-aided instructional lessons. Although MicroWorld's focus is a second (spoken) language tutoring system, the design allows the creation of several different types of lessons. MicroWorld produces lessons involving manipulation of graphical objects on a screen, using a direct-manipulation environment and its own programming language, which is designed for instructors who have little experience with computer programming.

This paper is divided into two major sections. The first section describes the high-level concepts of MicroWorld and includes a comparison with other similar environments. The second section describes MicroWorld's design and implementation, which includes MicroWorld's class structure, its user interface and programming language implementations.