To improve education, creative alternatives to existing practices must be developed. Instructional technology offers promise, but its potential can be made use of fully only within a systems approach, applied both to improving structures of education and instructional processes. The systems approach can plan a system of instruction which has all the benefits of self-pacing but operates within a framework of existing class groupings. Several media-based systems use automation to permit individualized instruction. They include dial access systems and Project PLAN, which tailors a curriculum to each student based on his background, aptitudes ad interests through the use of instructional modules. Another possibility is partial individualization, such as exists in American Samoa with a balance of fixed-pace instructional television and individualized classroom exercise materials. Innovations are important, but they should meet real, not hypothetical, needs. Research is most needed on literacy instruction, so that students can teach themselves all their lives. Other needs include studies of instructional content, presentation media, teacher training, student attitudes, educational efficiency, and cost reduction. (JK)