ABSTRACT
Since Comenius’ (1659) Orbis Pictus, educators have debated how learning and teaching can be improved and facilitated by the design of instructional media, methods, and materials. For the last several decades, this debate has also encompassed the use of electronic media and technology. Research on computer-aided instruction goes back to the end of the 1950s, whereas the educational use of computers began in the 1970s. Inspired by Skinner’s behaviorist conception of learning, which called for the successive approximation of carefully decomposed, sequentially presented, and reinforced tasks, a broad variety of instructional programs for computers and textbooks was developed. The pedagogical idea behind this early phase of computer-assisted, or programmed, instruction was to provide for an improved efficiency and individualization of learning. Each student should be able to acquire skills and domain knowledge at his or her own pace by practicing skills according to his or her abilities. However, because of both the minimal power of the hardware and the underlying theory of learning, which failed to foster conceptual learning and comprehension, most of the early programs (in fact, little more than electronic page-turning devices) did not meet the expectations of educators and the requirements of any demanding type of instruction.
