Research commentary: Technology-mediated learning - A call for greater depth and breadth of research

Universities and corporate training facilities have been investing in infor mation technologies to improve education and training at an increasing rate during the past decade. Many new companies are emerging to provide tools a nd services to enable the effective design of IT-based learning solutions. Although research on technology-mediated learning has increased in recent y ears, it still lags behind developments in practice. This essay suggests po tential research avenues in the area of technology-mediated learning. It se eks to motivate greater depth of research into the question of how technolo gy enhances learning. This question requires an explicit consideration of r elationships among technology capabilities, instructional strategy, psychol ogical processes, and contextual factors involved in learning. The essay al so recommends attention to a greater breadth of research questions, includi ng issues of how technology-mediated learning affects program design and wh at structures and processes universities can employ to facilitate innovatio n.