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…

Examines the outlook for new media based on past experiences. Discusses failures and successes among instructional media of the past decade; factors that inhibit the adoption of new media; characteristics of successful educational technology implementation and future challenges and changes. (AEF)

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…

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…