The Strategic Use of Learning Technologies

This issue helps educators make the most effective use of the dizzying array of learning technologies available today, offering expert guidance on harnessing technology to serve the needs of all adult learners. The contributors draw on case examples to explore the advantages and disadvantages of three existing learning technologies - print, radio, and the Internet - and examine how a large urban university has carefully combined old and new technologies to provide a range of learner services tailored to its enormous and varied student body. They outline the importance of understanding students' learning strategies when choosing a learning technology and reveal the basic information literacy skills necessary for a student to take advantage of the wealth of information available electronically. They also discuss the unintended effects of using various learning technologies, a subject rarely addressed in learning technology literature. This is the 88th issue of the quarterly journalNew Directions for Adult and Continuing Education.