Drawing on the University of Massachusetts experience in developing successful blended local programs, this paper suggests guiding principles that include mission-driven responsiveness to local contexts and partnerships; using low-cost marketing strategies available through local relationships and brand; attending to students' preferences for…

There are more similarities than differences among learning management system (LMS) software products. In a recent study, Carriere, Challborn, and Moore compared a variety of LMSs and went as far as to suggest that the only real differences between systems lie in marketing approaches. In addition, because LMSs have interchangeable parts, those…

This review of four different computer-assisted instruction algorithms concludes that current authoring guides are more concerned with "user orientation" than with instructional principles, and advocates the application of a design model based on Gagne's information processing model of instruction. Nine references are listed. (MER)

Compares the knowledge content of GTE (Generic Tutoring Environment), a generic instructional knowledge base that facilitates dynamic pedagogical decision making, and PEPE, a computational framework for representing pedagogical knowledge to tailor instruction to an individual student. The courseware's interaction with the student and instructional…

This paper presents a discussion of an experimental, innovative course in corpus-informed EAP for doctoral students. Participants were given access to specialized corpora of academic writing and speaking, instructed in the tools of the trade (web- and PC-based concordancers) and gradually inducted into the skills needed to best exploit the data…

Reviews the cost-effectiveness evaluation component of a project that was undertaken to design and implement an instructional model for providing graduate programs to adults employed full-time and residing in remote locations. The article is fourth in a series about using cost-effectiveness analysis to evaluate instructional programs. (Author)

Suggests individual educational technologists have developed a variety of work styles including those characterized as: knowledge expert, executive manager, social-analyst, and specialist. These styles of working, based upon work behaviors of educational technologists at Great Britain's Open University, are compared in terms of practices, focuses,…

This paper reviews the traditional instructional media and technologies offered in teacher training programs in the past and in some of the programs today--primarily presentation media and technologies, such as audio/video systems, overhead, slide, filmstrip, and opaque projections, and multimedia kits. New technologies in digital information…

Summarizes results of two workshops conducted at 1987 and 1988 conferences sponsored by the National Society for Performance and Instruction which involved skills in estimating training development costs. Baseline and adjusted estimates are explained, results are compared with a similar workshop conducted in England, and recommendations for…

Discussion of the new Web-based instructional planning and management systems (also known as killer apps) that integrate all phases of the educational process focuses on three aspects: how to decide which system meets your needs; criteria to use in evaluating and comparing systems; and how to plan successful implementation. (LRW)

Provides an overview of this issue focusing on relationships between instructional design (ID) and classroom teachers. Topics addressed include ID in teacher planning, including the systems approach; teachers' understanding of learning theory; instructional planning; a comparison of experiences of educators who were trained in ID; and distance…

Many non-speech faculty lack adequate training in oral communication instruction, thus creating a major obstacle to developing programs of oral communication across the curriculum (OCXC). OCXC programs have attempted to ameliorate this problem by providing training programs or consulting/training (CONTRA) programs for non-speech faculty. The…

In 1985, Memphis State University designed and implemented two fifth-year internship programs for Arts and Science graduates wanting to become secondary teachers. The 12- and 15-month programs, though packaged slightly diffferently, provide future teachers with the necessary skills for survival in the beginning teaching years and beyond. The…

Discusses the contexts where virtual reality (VR) training environments might be appropriate; examines the advantages and disadvantages of VR as a training technology; and presents a case study of a VR training environment used at the NASA Johnson Space Center in preparation for the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope. (AEF)

Focusing on the role of the educational developer, the 19 essays in this collection provide a forum for educational developer practitioners: (1) to share their practices and insights; (2) to explore what it means to be an educational developer and instructional designer, and to give some philosophical reflection of the role; and (3) to clarify the…