An overview is provided in this discussion of major developments in preschool education in the United Kingdom from 1973 to 1983. The first section offers general observations and covers major trends: rapid social change, the low priority accorded to preschooling, diversity as a key feature of early childhood education, children with special needs,…

Cites the need for scholarly activity in instructional technology and argues that it should be shifted from education, with its focus on teacher preparation, to technology, where there would be more freedom to explore the consequences of techniques, methods, instruments, and processes inherent in the field. Thirty-two references are cited. (MBR)

Instructional technology is defined as a systematic way of designing, carrying out, and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives, based on research in human learning and communication and employing a combination of human and nonhuman resources to bring about more effective instruction. The main question…