Instructional computers: Past, present, and future

Abstract There are at least five major technological innovations in the past that are comparable to the current computer revolution: written records, libraries, printing, mass schooling, and testing. A brief examination of them can help develop an historical perspective on the future of computers. The current operational use of computer-assisted instruction also raises a number of issues of a broad educational and social nature: individualization of instruction, standardization of instructions, complexity of instruction, and freedom of education. Future and developments relate to: computers that talk, computers that listen, the use of knowledge, and the need for new or more empirical theories of learning and instruction. Through appropriate use of the new technologies of computers and television, structural changes can be expected in education, from elementary school to higher education.