Discusses a redefinition of learning and considers implications for instructional design and educational technology. Topics include creativity; changing performance capability by instruction; preparing students for lifelong learning; interactions with our environment; the role of curiosity and challenge; learning as dialogue; and emotional needs.…

Discussion of informal learning (intrinsically motivated, non-linear, and self-directed) in museums focuses on a study of museum professionals that investigated learning experiences in their lives. Highlights four types of learning: sparking an interest; delayed learning; visceral learning; and wrap-around learning. (LRW)

Discusses factors that contribute to powerful learning experiences based on the results of two studies that examined diverse groups and more coherent groups of individuals. Topics include the highly individual nature of learning; problems that can create for instructional designers; relevance of learning to life and/or work; active learning; and…

Explores the meaning of learning from the perspective of rapid technological change. Highlights include content; online communities; context; learning and change; knowledge and the meaning of learning; learning to use technology properly; and future shifts in the meaning of learning. (LRW)

Considers the concept that education and learning are physiological events worthy of classification within the health and wellness movement of health care. Discusses the meaning and purpose of education; education in transition; the need for a new paradigm; learning and health, including Alzheimer's disease; and language development and the…

Discussion of the meaning of learning focuses on the idea of being a participant and our involvements in everyday activities and practices. Topics include philosophers and their ideas regarding language and life; the primacy of our spontaneously responsive, practical, bodily activities; rethinking learning; and learning without teaching. (LRW)

Integrates contemporary theories of learning into a theory of learning as activity. Explains ecological psychology, changes in understanding of learning, activity systems and activity theory (including the integration of consciousness and activity), and activity structure; and discusses learning as a cognitive and social process. (LRW)

Describes shifts in educational technology that have occurred, including teaching procedural knowledge and then teaching conceptual knowledge, and maintains that the current trend is toward structural knowledge. Suggests that teaching structural knowledge enables deeper understanding and provides an example from research on causality. (Contains 62…

Discusses the use of mental models to build bridges between three models of instructional design that are described and thus provide a more powerful foundation: one that stresses learning outcomes in knowledge structures; one that focuses on learning processes; and one that focuses on real-life task performance and strategies for authentic…

Discusses the growth of educational institutions and the need for new paradigms of learning to keep pace with change. Topics include context; communication; the use and adoption of different technologies; shared knowledge; and the personal nature of the learning experience. (LRW)

Discusses the need for changes in education and considers possible reasons why information technology has not brought about desired changes. Highlights include assimilating new technologies into existing instructional practices; technocentric knowledge, which focuses on the computer rather than knowledge; and misguided research. (LRW)

Presents a framework for judging educational technology programs that was developed for the Department of Education by the Expert Panel on Educational Technology. Highlights include clearly articulated goals; developing learning and thinking skills; equity for educational excellence; promoting organizational change; measurable evidence of…

Discusses educational technology in light of the recommendations by the Expert Panel on Educational Technology. Topics include overcoming basic cultural features of elementary and secondary education that will work against designing effective educational technology programs; and improving learning from the learner's perspective, rather than doing…

Discusses criteria developed by the Expert Panel on Educational Technology for elementary and secondary school educational technology programs and describes how they have been used by Boston Public Schools to integrate technology into the classrooms. Offers suggestions for using the framework and suggests it needs to address the challenges of…

Discusses recommendations made by the Expert Panel on Educational Technology, questions how they should be used, and examines the quality of the framework for use as a formative assessment instrument. Considers the focus on schooling and student learning; its use as a national evaluation tool; and its use to develop programs, not just evaluate…