The Open Learning Initiative (OLI) is an open educational resources project at Carnegie Mellon University that began in 2002 with a grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. OLI creates web-based courses that are designed so that students can learn effectively without an instructor. In addition, the courses are often used by instructors…

The research literature on open education has reported various studies describing and qualifying the term "open" in education and in attitudes of teachers involved in such programs. To date, very few large scale endeavors to assess student achievement in open education have been completed. Studies which have been done have not shown the hoped for…

The premises of open education and related developmental and social issues are explained as an aid to educational practitioners in choosing the proper measurement and evaluation strategies for this philosophy. In addition, a position statement on evaluation is offered and the present status of educational evaluation is outlined. Some…

Evidence from evaluation studies of open classroom effects on children is not sufficiently consistent to warrant unqualified endorsement of that approach over more traditional methods. However, there is enough evidence to support the open classroom as a viable alternative when teachers and parents are interested in such a program. (RD)

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

An open school alternative educational experience in the Edina Schools has been examined during its first year of operation by means of systematic observation of over 30 variables. During the six month evaluation period each variable was observed at least three times so as to contribute to the formative evaluation of the program. The results…