While engaged in academic reading, a university provost converged on an idea to use a preferential approach to students' selection of college courses, similar to the recommendation systems used by "Netflix" and "Amazon." The result of this idea came to be known as "Degree Compass" and was implemented on the campus of…

The most defining characteristic of MOOCs and other massive courses may be their scale. In their popular description, in the pedagogical and technological approach, in course operation, and in impact, the scale of the course is always foremost in mind. Beyond changes in scale, there are challenges and opportunities to adapt the new techniques in a…

The Professors of Instructional Design and Technology (PIDT) conference has been successful since 1985 at providing an opportunity for professors and their advanced doctoral students to learn and grow in ways not possible at traditional conferences. This article reports on the 2012 annual meeting and summarizes the history of PIDT, as gleaned by…

Instructional design models describe in detail methodologies for designing effective instruction. Several widely adopted models include suggestions for managing instructional design projects. However, these suggestions focus on how to manage the instructional design steps rather than the instructional design and development team process. The…

Based on a recently completed study of education directors at science museums, this article addresses how design-and-development consultants might use those findings to enhance the way in which they propose and deliver Website services to non-academic organizations with either primary or complementary educational missions. After a very brief…

This article provides the rationales for three recommendations for the future of Instructional Technology: (1) instructional technology as a field seems to have reached a tipping point, where the basic approach to instructional design has stabilized to where further research at this level has waned, suggesting that it is time for instructional…

Despite the central role that well organized and structured course content plays in engaging online learners with content, the authors point to the absence of guidelines for organizing content in ways that meet course learning goals. Recognizing the need for a design solution and, perhaps, the need for a new design model, "design…

A survey was administered to look at required textbooks used in Instructional Design and Technology graduate programs during the 2009-2010 academic year. There were 91 U.S. programs and 20 international programs that had at least one faculty response. Based on the findings, there were various changes and trends in the types of textbooks that are…

China is a huge country with a large population. Providing equitable and quality "e-education" or use of ICT (information and communications technologies) for teaching and learning in elementary and secondary schools across the country is a national priority. This article briefly sketches the context in China and the challenges relating…

J. Michael Spector's academic preparation was in philosophy--epistemology and logic, primarily. His dissertation was on skepticism in modern philosophy, and that led him to a deep-seated appreciation for classical skepticism. The word "skeptic" is derived from the Greek word "skepsis," which means investigation. While the…

This article describes some of the main technological trends and issues of the European landscape of research and innovation in educational technology. Although several innovative technologies (tools, architectures, platforms, or approaches) emerge, such as intelligent support to personalization, collaboration or adaptation in mobile, game-based,…

The design of online learning environments is a complicated process because it entails the use of technological tools to mediate the various forms of interaction situated in the learning process. One possible way to help reduce such complication inherent in various forms of interaction is to look at design as a problem-solving activity. This means…

The Bloomington Project School (BPS) is a charter school that has successfully adopted and implemented several learner-centered educational strategies. This case study offers a glimpse into its student-centered, collaborative, and interdisciplinary learning and teaching processes; its mastery-based assessment process; and its successful technology…

The aim of this article is to present a concept of digital content emphasizing its new shape and ways to be developed and shared on Web 2.0 principles. Due to recent EU initiatives, a great number of digital materials, resources, and services for education have been designed and produced in recent years. Digital content from materials such as…

In an asynchronous forum responding to a prompt positing that ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) might be used in teaching instructional design (ID) as a safety net for designers without native talent, instructors and practitioners of ID revealed mixed perspectives on the role of ADDIE in design. Critical theory…