ABSTRACT
The history of education is largely a story of gradual evolution, but education has also had its revolutions. The first use of writing as a teaching tool transformed education many centuries ago when it freed teachers from the constraints of the oral tradition. The invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century also had a revolutionary impact when it opened up vast new storehouses of knowledge to learners. Now, in the twentieth century, the invention of the computer may have equally profound effects. Like writing systems and the printing press, the computer gives teachers and learners new ways to organize, store, retrieve, and transform information. In this chapter people first detail the major types of computer-assisted learning. They then suggest guidelines for teachers to use in evaluating materials for use in computer-assisted learning. They next describe the extent to which computers are now used in various instructional tasks. Finally, they examine results of evaluation studies on computer-assisted learning.
