Purpose: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Next Generation Courseware Challenge (NGCC) in 2014 to address the limited availability of affordable, high-quality adaptive courseware to postsecondary students. SRI International was retained to evaluate the NGCC initiative as a whole and to conduct impact studies for the NGCC…

Financial issues regarding the sustainable production, dissemination, and use of Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher education are reviewed and proposed solutions critiqued. Use of OER produce demonstrable cost savings for students. Yet OER development continues to rely almost completely on government and philanthropic funding. This…

This discussion of the use of computer-assisted instruction in universities focuses on the quality of motion video used in hypermedia educational software. An evaluation experiment shows that end-users are not deterred by lower quality motion video that costs less. (LRW)

Examines the methodological common denominator among several models for courseware development and discusses in detail both the design and the validation phases. Emphasizes the need for a systematic approach in which multiple authors' skills are exploited and the cost-benefit ratio is kept at an acceptable level. (AEF)

Evaluates six "open" (empty of content and customized by users) software programs using the literature-based characteristics of documentation, learner control, branching capabilities, portability, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness. Interviewed computer-knowledgeable individuals to confirm the legitimacy of the evaluative characteristics. (LRW)

While disputing the exaggerated claims for computerized teaching symbolized by Time Magazine's choice of a computer for its 1982 "man of the year," this paper argues that since the technology is omnipresent, and that since it can facilitate learning under certain conditions, teachers should be as informed about it as possible. A discussion of…

Portability enables interactive courseware (ICW) and associated application programs to operate on computer-based systems other than the ones on which they are developed. Courseware portability will increase sharing of ICW across a range of instructional settings within military services and across internationally allied military services. The…

A heterogeneous distributed database systems (HDDS) offers distance education networks feasible, simple, cost-effective, and efficient database access systems. An HDDS can be used to provide information on available courses, course design, registration procedures, hardware and software use and availability, and library resources. (Author/AEF)

Urges use of hypermedia or integration of text, graphics, animation, video, and sound in teaching social studies. Compares the cost of hypermedia programs with traditional teaching methods. Describes various programs on the market, their costs, advantages, and areas covered. Emphasizes benefits to students in research, participation, and…

Describes the design of the Computer Assisted Classroom Training Improvement System (CACTIS), and discusses its use by the U.S. Military Academy (West Point, New York) to supplement the regular course curriculum. (AEF)

Criteria were developed and used to determine which of three existing computer-based instruction (CBI) lessons could be repurposed into a multimedia format. Researchers were commissioned to evaluate these three traditional linear CBI lessons by an insurance company. The lessons were updates on company policy and procedures. The repurposed CBI…

Applied Business Technologies, Inc. is in the process of developing multi-media training CD's to support the implementation of its PowerCAMPUS student information system product. Multi-media training is a very powerful tool for achieving objectives. Trainees take the course at a time convenient for them and progress at a pace suited to their…

What is known about the cost effectiveness of interactive courseware (ICW) is reviewed, and issues that remain are summarized. Effect size is used for reporting the effectiveness of ICW programs. Two ICW media are considered: computer-based instruction and interactive videodisc instruction. Effect sizes for computer-based instruction have been…