Distance education course designers working alone often do not have the luxury of fully developing their instruction before releasing their courses to students. The Individual Iterative Instructional Design (I3D) model is useful for educators who both develop and present their distance learning instructional units in areas ranging from higher…

The purpose of this paper is to raise issues and promote discussion about learning environments that go beyond traditionally delivered instructional systems. Topics addressed include: delivering high quality education to all children, from infancy to adulthood; changing the role of the teacher; lifelong learning; and improving educational quality.…

South Dakota State leaders decided a few years ago to make a commitment to educational technology and distance education. The result is a blend of public and private support for educational change focused on increased use of instructional technology and distance education. The May/June 2001 issue of "Tech Trends" presents ideas from…

Provides an introduction to this special issue on distance education and e-learning. Several questions related to these topics are presented, and the articles contained in the issue are summarized. (MES)

Reports on the 11th Annual E-Learning Conference and Expo (Washington, DC, April 17-20, 2001). Papers presented in panel sessions included (but were not limited to) these themes: transforming traditional courses into e-learning; cost and benefits analysis; instructional design; technical issues; health hazards of wireless technologies; developing…

Describes the adaptation of "Instructional Design and Development" from a residential course to a World Wide Web-based course offered in the distance Masters' degree program in Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University. A description of the Web-based course, findings regarding the adaptation process, and implications for…

The articles in this special issue illustrate research in the fields of instructional design and distance education that share the common goal of using the findings to improve practice. Through case studies, the authors contribute ideas, examples, and research data related to the design, development, implementation, evaluation, and continuous…

This discussion of blended learning environments covers: (1) background; (2) why the term "blended" is used, and what can be blended; (3) goals of blended learning environments, including pedagogical richness, access to knowledge, social interaction, personal agency, cost effectiveness, and ease of revision; and (4) characteristics of…

Presents a critique of the five case studies of blended learning environments in this issue. Comments are organized around the following four frameworks: (1) the J-curve of implementation; (2) the theory of Engaged Collaborative Discourse; (3) adaptation to individual differences; and (4) Validity-Centered Design. (MES)

Examines major trends for changes related to e-learning in several sectors (i.e., corporate training, postsecondary education, K-12 education, and non-traditional K-12 settings) and describes how these trends are affecting the development and dissemination of instructional design theory and methodology. (MES)

Describes a blended introductory instructional design course at Brigham Young University (Utah) that was evaluated, revised, and re-evaluated. The case is an example of how a faculty member teaching a blended course must constantly determine the balance between face-to-face and online components. (Author/MES)

Using collaborative critical reflection as an index, this study examines the asynchronous and face-to-face discourse of 28 suburban Chicago elementary teachers developing problem based learning (PBL) curriculum. Statistical analysis of the corpus produced by the 2 mediums shows that the asynchronous online network emerges as the medium of choice…

Examines distance education in postsecondary institutions, specifically in community and technical colleges in the United States, as an educational domain where information technologies have a central place. Looks at characterizing features of distance education management through a group of distance education managers and explores their role as…

This study was designed to measure instructional design competencies as a result of participation in a 9-month Web-based training program called "Roadmap to Effective Distance Education Instructional Design." The researchers used a self-assessment pre- and posttest to determine participant initial and final competence in 12 areas: adult…

Examines the development of a class at Brigham Young University (Utah) that blends distance and face-to-face students in a synchronous class. This case study focuses on how this blended learning environment was experienced by the distance and face-to-face students, as well as by the instructor. (MES)