For the twenty-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 National AECT Convention in Anaheim, CA. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two volumes. Volume 1 contains papers dealing primarily with research and development topics. Papers dealing with instruction and training issues are contained in volume 2 which also contains over 60 papers. The papers contained in this document represent some of the most current thinking in educational communications and technology. (Individual papers contain references, figures, and tables.) [For Volume 2, see ED496303. For Volume 1 of the 2002 proceedings, see ED496300. For Volume 2 of the 2002 proceedings, see ED496301.]