Compares factors required for a successful distance education course to requirements for designing a unit of instruction using instructional systems design (ISD). Application of these requirements to video teletraining is discussed to demonstrate that teaching ISD may be accomplished by teaching preservice teachers how to design a distance…

After reviewing 50 educational software titles produced by 21 companies to assess how thinking and thinking skills were developed, the author found most had similar methodological drawbacks. Describes the algo-heuristic methodological position and outlines drawbacks of current software. (PEN)