The Sixth Floor museum in Dallas, Texas, is dedicated to the memory of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The museum's success as a learning/instructional environment may be explained through a theory of learning and instructional design based on three components: authentic presence, collective design, and sacred connection. "Authentic…

The purpose of this digest is to provide background information and sources that help to understand the concept of educational technology and to serve as a pathfinder to relevant and timely publications that view the field from a variety of perspectives. The following frequently asked questions are addressed: (1) What is educational technology?…

The main focus of this document is on audioconferencing, which in distance education contexts provides "virtual" interaction equivalent in quality to face-to-face, conventional classroom interaction. The applications of audiotape and audio broadcast are covered only briefly. Discussion first includes reasons for using audioconferencing…

The main purpose of this paper is to draw attention to assumptions that guide the instructional design process when implementing and organizing network-based learning environments in practice. In this case, the situated and socially shared cognition model and participation metaphor create the guiding paradigm for collaborative learning action,…

After analyzing the reuse of learning resources from different pedagogical paradigms, this paper argues that there is a gap between the learning technology community and the education community. The pedagogical paradigms described include: tutorial, drill, and practice; case method; goal-based learning; learning by designing; World Wide Web-based…

Since the World Wide Web became in 1994 the first new mass medium since television, online learning design has evolved at Internet speed, taking in less than a decade what it took exhibit design over a century to develop in sophistication. Although virtual exhibits consisting of pictures and text are still common, educational Web designers…

This Critical Issue Bibliography (CRIB) Sheet focuses on distance education in higher education. Included are citations for some of the most recent ERIC literature in the field. Citations are grouped into: (1) Initial Steps (Directories); (2) Accreditation; (3) Challenges and Innovations; (4) Curriculum; (5) Institutional Applications; (6)…

This paper describes the design of an adaptive user model and its implementation in an advanced Web-based Virtual University environment that encompasses combined and synchronized adaptation between educational material and well-known communication facilities. The Virtual University environment has been implemented to support a postgraduate…

Faced with a rapidly changing society, the need to develop versatile instructional materials to update the professional skills of experienced practitioners has become a major necessity. This paper outlines the framework of how the project called "Je peux vous aider? (Can I help you?)" was developed. It concerns the training of all the…

This book, on the process of becoming a library teacher at the postsecondary level, is divided into two parts. Part 1, "Library Instruction as Performance," is devoted to the presentation techniques that are the basis for good instruction. Chapters in this part cover performance anxiety, taming teaching terror, preparing oneself…

This publication describes 19 projects in Florida school districts supported by the 1998 Collaborative Curriculum Project. Grants were awarded to projects at the classroom or school level to address a significant problem or issue in the education of gifted students, support the redesign of instruction, and support collaboration among students,…

Students come into online courses with different technological competencies, learning styles, communication skills, motivations, and attitudes. Four types of interactions can be identified in distance education--learner-content, learner-instructor, learner-learner, and learner-interface. There are ten techniques instructors can implement to help…

This document was developed in response to the expressed need of physical science teachers for materials designed to facilitate and enhance the teaching of the 1999 North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Physical Science. The materials provide a guide to translating the goals and objectives of the Physical Science curriculum into good…

The inadequacy and/or lack of evaluation procedures in the development of instructional products has been well documented. To help remedy this situation, the authors discuss and analyze research and theory in the field of formative evaluation applied to instructional development. (Author)

An initial portion of this paper discussed instructional stages, the content of art learning, and a conception of the teaching-learning situation that interrelates instruction and evaluation. Author also described several classroom situations and indicated how evaluation might contribute to improved instruction. (Author/RK)