e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

1.6. Is e-Learning Better? Media Comparison Research

Contrary to the impression left by recent reports on the use and benefits of e-learning, much of what we are seeing under the e-learning label is not new. Training delivered on a computer, known as computer-based training or CBT, has been around for more than thirty years. Early examples delivered over mainframe computers were primarily text on a screen with interspersed questions—electronic versions of behaviorist psychologist B.F. Skinner's teaching machine. The computer program evaluated answers to the multiple-choice questions, and prewritten feedback was matched to the learner responses. The main application of these early e-lessons was training in the use of mainframe computer systems. ...