The development of immersive learning technologies in the form of virtual reality and advanced computer applications has meant that realistic creations of simulated environments are now possible. Such simulations have been used to great effect in training in the military, air force, and in medical training. But how realistic do problems need to be…

Design research has grown in importance since it was first conceptualized in the early 90s, but it has not been adopted for research in instructional technology in higher education to any great extent. Many researchers continue to conduct studies that principally seek to determine the effectiveness of the delivery medium, rather than the…

Influenced by constructivist educational theory and advances in technology, there is increasing interest in authentic activities as a basis for learning in both face-to-face and Web-based courses. Whereas traditionally, real-world activities have primarily served as vehicles for practice of skills or processes that are taught using traditional…

Focuses on five unresolved challenges of digital education in higher education: faculty workload, continued dominance of traditional pedagogy, the state of assessment, flaws in the accreditation process, and the state of educational research in the area. (EV)

A study analyzed the functions of 25 publicly accessible college-course Web sites, then surveyed some of the sites' authors. All sites performed course-management functions valued by instructors; a small subset also demonstrated easily implemented, successful, and pedagogically interesting uses of the World Wide Web. Pages conveyed implicit and…

A set of guidelines for evaluating interactive multimedia used in college instruction is offered in the form of 10 "commandments" illustrated with humorous anecdotes. They stress descriptive approaches to research and evaluation, including modeling methods that integrate quantitative and qualitative data. (Author/MSE)