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During the past ten years, radical changes in hardware and software have transformed the way instructional design and technologists do business in the classroom. The microcomputer has now become the standard operating tool when designing, developing, implementing and evaluating instruction at every level of our educational systems. Yet up until fifteen years ago, the microcomputer was the exclusive tool for engineers and mathematicians and computer scientists. It was hardly as ubiquitous in every classroom environment as it is today. This paper examines the radical changes in hardware and software that transformed the computer from a complex data processing tool to a common gadget that is now the standard communications tool in most households throughout this world. The paper explores some of the phenomenal changes in the following; the assumptions and the legacy of Moore's law; the advances in creating single-threaded and low- level programs; the advances in the use and manipulation of virtual memory; the continual sophistication of output devices; and the advances in hierarchical file systems. Most of the these changes have emanated from computer science and mathematics related fields without any direct input from the field of instructional design and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines eLearning from three related perspectives, two of which address the planning and administration of online courses. The second part of this paper examines the assessment and evaluation of learning outcomes in an eLearning environment. The initial phase thoroughly explores current and recommended front-end approaches to improving online instruction. It looks at the organizational alms and the vision within which eLearning can be applied. The second phase examines the planning, implementation and administration of online courses. It investigates characteristics of effective eLearning environments that address physical, technical, pedagogical, professional and environmental elements. The third and final phase explores several reliable and valid approaches to online measurement and testing methods that are designed to eliminate such problems as plagiarism, technical problems associated with access, matching learners' and instructors' technical skill levels, learner isolation, and the impersonality of computerized assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]