This paper focuses on the conceptual model of an academic course inspired by complexity theory. In the proposed conceptual model, the aim of teaching is to form a learning organization: a knowledge community with emergent properties that cannot be reduced to any linear combination of the properties of its parts. In this approach, the learning of…

Appointment of a national Commission on Instructional Technology under the Public Broadcasting Act points up the need for broad participation in defining agreeable boundaries of the field of instructional technology. The assignment is complicated by a posture of pessimism in a new power structure of instructional technology, or "learning systems,"…

Connectivism is receiving acknowledgement as a fresh way of conceptualising learning in the digital age. Thus, as a relatively new instructional framework, it is imperative that research on its applicability and effectiveness in a variety of educational contexts is advanced. In particular, a high premium should be placed on context-specific…

Many educators agree that we already know how to foster student success, so what is keeping common sense from becoming common practice? The author provides step-by-step guidance for overcoming the barriers to adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and achieving equity and excellence for all students. As an experienced teacher and…

Activity theory (AT) is a powerful tool for investigating "artefacts in use", ie, the ways technologies interrelate with their local context. AT reveals the interfaces between e-learning at the macro- (strategy, policy, "campus-wide" solutions) and the micro-organisational levels (everyday working practice, iterative change, individual…

As the demand for online education continues to increase, institutions are faced with developing process models for efficient, high-quality online course development. This paper describes a systems, team-based, approach that centers on an online instructional design theory ("Active Mastery Learning") implemented at Colorado State…

Argues for more emphasis on the fabric which holds curriculum detail together and describes those conceptual tools which may help in redirecting thinking toward holistic approaches to instruction and teaching. Linkages between educational technology and learning theory help guide this quest. (Author/RAO)

This paper proposes a theoretical foundation for the field of educational technology based on cognitive learning theory. This proposition is based on consideration of issues which suggest that psychological theory is more central to educational technology than systems theory or theories of management, and that cognitive theories are more…

This chapter examines the relationship between education, educational technology, and instructional development. The Universe of Learning model and the China Syndrome (i.e., the tendency to see oneself, one's activities, or one's interests as being at the center of things) are discussed in relation to student development, faculty development,…

Author advocates greater use of television and other media within validated educational technology systems called open learning systems.'' (Author/HB)

Eight models of instructional systems and systematic analysis of instructional problems are presented. (GB)

Michael Oakeshott, an English political philosopher, wrote extensively about education and how people learn political skills. Much of what he wrote may have interesting implications for instructional systems design. This paper is an explication of two aspects of Oakeshott's writings. The first deals with the nature of knowledge and its…

A survey of the aims and methods of a systems approach to teaching and learning is presented. (MM)

Discusses situated learning in the workplace and in the classroom. Topics addressed include operationalization versus legitimization of educational theories; instruction versus learning; explicit versus implicit instruction and knowledge; individual versus social context; systems narrowly construed versus systems broadly construed; and legitimate…

Examines elements of the traditional teaching-learning model in relation to changing objectives in education and discusses the application of a technology of education as an alternative model, recommending a shift of focus from systematic to a systems approach in building comprehensive models responsive to social issues and requirements. (RAO)