The aim of the article is to describe the assessment model adopted by the SCINTILLA Project, a project in Italy aimed at the online vocational training of young, seriously-disabled subjects and their subsequent work inclusion in smart-work mode. It will thus describe the model worked out for evaluation of the training program conceived for the…

Massive Open Online Courses (or MOOCs) are the subject of numerous recent articles in "The Chronicle of Higher Education," "The New York Times," and other publications related to their increasing use by a variety of universities to reach large numbers of online students. This article describes the current state of these online…

This article raises questions about the use of needs assessment by those seeking to improve the performance of organizations and individuals. While the discrepancy model of needs assessment has enjoyed a long history and is widely accepted, the author states that it has several undesirable consequences in terms of its impact. This article offers…

Instructional design models describe in detail methodologies for designing effective instruction. Several widely adopted models include suggestions for managing instructional design projects. However, these suggestions focus on how to manage the instructional design steps rather than the instructional design and development team process. The…

OpenCourseWare (OCW) is one among several models for offering open educational resources (OER). This article explains the OCW model and its position within the broader OER context. OCW primarily represents publication of existing course materials already in use for teaching purposes. OCW projects are most often institutional, carrying the…

An evaluation form used at Ashland College (Ohio) for critical evaluation of educational software is presented. The form covers basic product information, program content, educational appropriateness, organizational and technical components, teacher's manual, and product revision. (MBR)

Presents issues concerning return on investment (ROI) and its use in education and training. Discussion includes building a feasible ROI process; criteria for an effective ROI process; a practical model for ROI, which includes preliminary evaluation, data collection, isolating program effects, converting data to monetary values, tabulating program…

CAI can pay by choosing a market where a decrease in training time or an increase in student-teacher ratios can be translated into lower over-all costs to the system. This situation obtains when CAI is used for the education and training of professionals, children with learning disabilities and others whose instructional needs cannot be met by the…

Focuses upon developmental perspectives and problems in improving program effectiveness, cost efficiency, and management performance for vocational education. Means for analyzing and improving the cost-effectiveness of vocational programs are discussed. (Author/RAO)

Author discusses how accountability and humanism in education are complementary. (HB)

By using the procedure presented in this article, instructional developers will be able to make supportable decisions about their material without going through a complex statistical exercise and, perhaps, without having a large sample size. (Author/ER)

This article explores some of the reasons for the opinion that color television is not as effective as black-and-white television for instructional purposes. (AK)