The application of computers in education has been limited by several problems, including a) a failure to provide systems that adapt to new advances in course material caused by technological developments, b) a failure to permit customized design of instructional information by the teacher, and c) a failure to integrate systems effectively into the existing curriculum.
Current approaches merely sequence students through pre-packaged educational materials. These systems do not provide any means for gathering or using more comprehensive information from outside sources. Consequently, the educational materials are relatively static and outdated, resulting in course of limited to poor quality.
Computer assisted instruction systems have ignored or under-utilized such important developments in computer technology in recent years as client-server systems and networking systems. Though now an active field with a wide spectrum of activities from research to commercial applications, application of dynamic on-line systems in educational, instructional, and homework tasks is only just starting to be explored.
What is needed is a computer-driven system that adapts to new information, allows for new information to be readily utilized by an instructor, so that the instructor can integrate new information into the existing curriculum.