Faced with the growing concern over educational effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity, many schools are turning to educational technology, especially the computer-based curriculum products known as integrated instructional systems. However, it is vitally important for educators to examine and gain a clearer understanding of technology's relationship to the learner over the longer term if they are to avoid moving towards a solution to the educational productivity problem that is socially undesirable. Educators must not only concern themselves with the systematic integration of materials and technologies into the curriculum, but they must also consider the systemic integration of materials and technologies into a balanced curriculum that will enable teachers to design, select, and arrange for both formal and informal learning experiences adapted to the needs of individual learners. This "opened out" approach is of utmost importance as a means of engaging the learner's interest, effort, and day-to-day involvement in the curriculum, and educational practitioners need access to information that will help them become less dependent on the "closed-in," prepackaged, computer-based systems now available. The EPIE (Educational Products Information Exchange) Institute is currently engaged in the development of a series of interrelatable databases--the Integrated Instructional Information Resource (IIIR)--which is designed to provide such information to both educators and parents. (28 references) (EW)