Many educators accept teaching with technology as perhaps the most important instructional strategy to impact the classroom since the textbook. The Taxonomy for the Technology Domain offers an equivalent view for using technology to enhance student learning. Of course, the very nature of a taxonomy reduces in scope whatever is being categorized because of its tendency to artificially place items into all too convenient “pockets.” However, the benefits for teachers who understand the advantages of classifications greatly outweigh the limitations.

In 2006, The Impact of Online Teaching on Faculty Load: Computing the Ideal Class Size for Online Courses, shared the results of early research into the ideal class sizes for traditional (i.e., face-to-face) and online courses based on faculty load. The research was limited to a single instructional technology class taught at the graduate level in both formats. The initial study analyzed the impact of distance learning demands on faculty teaching load and computed the ideal class size for both traditional and online courses. It determined that the ideal class size for graduate courses in technology was 17 students for traditional and 12 students for the distance learning format. This article expands the initial research by examining two universities and their: (1) undergraduate, graduate (i.e., master's), and doctoral-level courses; (2) traditional, online, and hybrid formats; (3) both 8- and 15-week terms; and, (4) three academic disciplines of general psychology, education, and business. Ideal class sizes are presented for a wider range of post-secondary courses.

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http://www.igi-global.com/book/designing-instruction-traditional-adult-distance/253 Adult students demand a wider variety of instructional strategies that encompass real-world, interactive, cooperative, and discovery learning experiences. Designing Instruction for the Traditional, Adult, and Distance Learner: A New Engine for Technology-Based Teaching explores how technology impacts the process of devising instructional plans as well as learning itself in adult students. Containing research from leading international experts, this publication proposes realistic and accurate archetypes to assist educators in incorporating state-of-the-art technologies into online instruction. This text proposes a new paradigm for designing, developing, implementing, and assessed technologybased instruction. It addresses three target populations of today's learner: traditional, adult, and distance education. The text proposes a new model of instructional system design (ISD) for developing effective technology-based education that involves a five-step process focusing on the learner, learning theories, resources, delivery modalities, and outcomes.

OCICU is the Online Consortium of Independent Colleges and Universities and consists of five provider institutions which are located throughout the United States and Ireland. This consortium is the first of its kind to exist in distance education. The researchers wanted to understand the importance of orientation materials to successfully completing an online course taken from another institution. The review of the literature revealed several factors of teaching online that supported the position that pro-active development of orientation materials is essential to the growth and development of online learning and results in additional revenue to participating institutions. [Article copies are available for purchase from InfoSci-on-Demand.com]