Document Actions
Research on the Use of Technology in Instruction
The following is a brief selection of reports, studies, documents, and journal articles which focus on the use of technology in instruction.
- EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI)
ELI is a community of higher education institutions and organizations committed to advancing learning through IT innovation. The website contains a rich source of up-to-date information on learning principles and practices, learning technologies, events, briefings, applied research findings, etc.
- The TLT Group
The TLT Group helps people in educational institutions to improve teaching and learning by making more appropriate and cost effective use of information technology without sacrificing what matters most to them. The website contains information about events, approaches, assessment and evaluation, professional and faculty development and TLT services.
- Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology As Lever (1996)
Based on the AAHE publication "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" (1987), this follow-up article focuses on the essential qualities of good teaching and how technology fits in this model.
- Report of the University of Illinois Teaching at an Internet Distance Seminar (1999)
The report is the result of a unique year long faculty seminar during which they met with a series of guest speakers from across the United States and Canada, studied literature about the effectiveness of online teaching, and met almost every other week -- either in person or by videoconference -- to discuss the issues. This report provides a clear description of the practical and germane issues and incorporates the major bodies of work on the subject at the time.
- Innovations in Online Learning: Moving Beyond No Significant Difference (2001)
This analysis contains thirteen case studies and a comprehensive assessment of trends directed toward improving online learning. The participants addressed five criteria of online education: individualization of learning, improved quality of student learning, increased access, higher education cost reduction, and innovation.
- Addressing Diverse Learning Styles Through the Use of Multimedia
"This paper presents preliminary results of a study conducted to discern ways in which multimedia can be used to address the needs of a variety of student learners. . . The paper presents examples of these and other multimedia programs to demonstrate the effectiveness of multimedia in addressing the learning styles typically neglected by traditional teaching methods."
The following is a list of websites that focus on the use of technology in instruction.
- University of California Teaching Learning & Technology Center
This site was established in July 2001 to enable University of California faculty and administrators at all 10 campuses to share their technology experiences. The site has feature stories, "who's doing what", discussion forums, "tool box" to get started, and information about collaborative grants of over $300,000 annually. The "Academic Communities" section, organized by discipline, provides links to exemplary course web sites, news articles on recent achievements in educational technology, and current electronic teaching resources and projects
- Center for Academic Transformation - Pew
This site provides a breadth of information in the form of articles and monographs, as well as workshops, and projects funded by implementation grants. The site includes descriptions of projects which are in progress in various higher education institutions as part of the The Pew Grant Program in Course Redesign, a $6 million award program "encouraging colleges and universities to redesign their instructional approaches using to technology to achieve cost savings as well as quality enhancements".
- Sloan Consortium
Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Sloan Consortium is a forum for member organizations (learning insitutions and industry providers) to share information. The site hosts WebCenter, an online forum for discussion and an archive of research papers in the field of asynchronous learning (free registration is required for access). The consortium publishes the Sloan-C View and the Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN). The site also houses the archives of ALN Magazine.
- The Technology Source
This site is a peer-reviewed bi-monthly periodical published by the Michigan Virtual University, which will assist educators who are interested in integrating information technology tools into teaching. This site gets kudos for its functionality, readability and friendliness. It does the best job of making it easy to locate information. For example, you can link to Web references and immediately go to the source material, link directly to archived articles, and chat with authors of featured articles.
