This paper explores some of the challenges of RMIT University (Australia), a large cross-sectoral university, and considers how online learning has enabled one TAFE (Technical and Further Education) department to become more fully engaged in the wider university context. The first section provides an overview of RMIT, TAFE, and higher education.…

The purpose of this paper is to depict a model of the ethical drivers of the implementation of instructional technology. The model is meant to be a starting point for institutions as they initiate, update or implement instructional technology. A major assumption underlying the paper is that a consideration of ethics is lacking in the planning…

This digest, based on "Survey of Instructional Development Models," 3rd edition, defines instructional development (ID) in terms of four major activities: analysis of the setting and learner needs; design of a set of specifications for an effective, efficient, and relevant learner environment; development of all learner and management…

Sometimes an assessment program becomes well-established, nationally recognized, "proven" effective, and thus stuck in its routines and reasoning, becoming just another university bureaucracy for the teachers and students who work within it. The pedagogical question was how to keep an assessment program, or writing program for that…

Online computer conferences used to assist distance learning courses often fail because the moderator-usually the instructor responsible for the conference-is not properly trained in techniques that build a community of learners. It has often been assumed that the skills required to create a vibrant classroom discussion translate easily to an…

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance for instructional sequencing in emotional literacy curricula. First, the concepts of instructional sequence and the problems involved with instructional sequence in the affective domain of learning are addressed. Then, through the analysis of the emotional literacy curriculum, Promoting Alternative…

In 1986, the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (IBSTPI) published the first edition of "Instructional Design [ID] Competencies: The Standards." It was the culmination of work that began in 1978. In this third edition, IBSTPI presents its latest view of the competencies of instructional designers. It is a…

This paper reports on a program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Library that was instituted to train library technicians to work at the Information Desk as Reference Assistants; the objectives of the program were to train library technicians to become reference assistants, to free up librarians' time for new work assignments, and to…

Higher education in the United States has a history of opening its doors to broader populations of students as exemplified by the Morrill Act and the GI Bill. The reality, however, of modifying curricula and courses already parceled among faculty with varying specialties, varying levels of expertise related to diversity, and with already full…

A framework for designing intelligent assistance in a discovery learning environment is proposed in this paper. The process of discovery learning is analyzed and the required functions for intelligent assistance are discussed. A flexible simulator that fits any type of discovery learning is necessary. The problem solvers that perform fundamental…

The growing importance of information technology and innovation in the market place brings with it a need for the better management of professional knowledge for knowledge workers in the New Economy. This paper illustrates some major steps underway at the University of New South Wales, Australia towards building an educational system for IS…

In the transition from traditional teaching and learning to eLearning, the authors advocate avoiding disruptive approaches. The authors claim that many virtual university and corporate university efforts worldwide try to showcase big leaps forward, yet lack sustainability, suffer from in-vitro conditions, and leave behind the big mass of teachers.…

The jagged study zone model helps designers to create educational environments which challenge the learner and make the learner to commit to the learning process. The characteristics of a jagged study zone can be explained by showing how its features are related to traditional closed and open learning environments. The requirements for a jagged…

The rapid changes in the field of technology are redefining the process of developing technology-enhanced educational materials as well as the roles of developers involved in the process.The purpose of this study was to learn from practitioners the roles and responsibilities of an instructional designer in developing new media enhanced…

During the past three years, the role of the instructional systems designer has taken on greater significance for instructors. This is because many faculty members have been asked to put their entire courses online over the World Wide Web. Instructors are now creating a substantial percentage of the online courses with little or no background in…