What Exactly is
Computer-Aided Instruction?

The forerunner of computer-aided instruction (CAI) was something called programmed instruction. It appeared in the 1960s.

• Traditional textbooks present information sequentially — that is, one page after another.
• At first glance, textbooks using programmed instruction present information in what appears to be random order. In reality, a very careful design underlies programmed instructional material.
• To move through programmed instructional material, students read one or more pages devoted to a single topic. On the last page, there is a multiple-choice question. For each possible answer, students are directed to another page, somewhere else in the textbook.
• If students choose the wrong answer, the page to which they are directed tells them to return to their starting point and try again.

• If students choose the right answer, they are directed to a page that begins coverage of the next topic in sequence.
• Although students using programmed instructional materials may appear to jump back and forth through their learning materials at random, they are in fact moving through that material in a logical sequence.
• Only by answering questions correctly can students cover all of the material in their textbook. In the process, they achieve greater mastery of the material presented than would be possible were they no assessments of how well students comprehended the material they read.

The logic behind programmed instruction was sound. The only problem was that it was ahead of its time.

By the 1980s, personal computer use was becoming widespread. It didn’t take long for educators to realize that this is the perfect medium for programmed instruction.

CAI comes of age »

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