Professor of Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation, Syracuse University
Program Director for Dissemination, Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), National Science Foundation (NSF)
Founding Director, ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources (Syracuse University)
Director, Center for the Study of Information and Education (Syracuse University)
Director, Center of Instructional Communications, Syracuse University
Associate Director, Audiovisual Center, Syracuse University
Graduate study (non‑degree), Teachers College, Columbia University
Donald Paul Ely (1930–2014) was a pioneering scholar in instructional technology and long‑time Syracuse University faculty member. Born in Buffalo, New York, he earned a B.A. in English (speech and drama) from the State University of New York at Albany in 1951, an M.S. in audiovisual communication from Syracuse University in 1953, and a Ph.D. in audiovisual communication and psychology from Syracuse University in 1961. He completed graduate study at Teachers College, Columbia University (1954–1956) and served in the U.S. Army Reserve engineers (1951–1954). He joined Syracuse University in 1956, became full professor in 1970, directed the Center of Instructional Communications (1959–1970), proposed and led the Center for the Study of Information and Education (est. 1972), and founded the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources at Syracuse University, serving as director from 1977 to 1990. He retired in 1995 as Professor Emeritus, later teaching spring terms as a visiting professor at Florida State University. In 1992–1993 he was Program Director for Dissemination in NSF’s Directorate for Education and Human Resources. Ely’s scholarship spanned the philosophy and frameworks of the field, diffusion and implementation of innovations (including the widely cited eight conditions that facilitate implementation), and international development work (e.g., Indonesia, Chile, Peru). He served on editorial boards including the British Journal of Educational Technology, and received multiple professional honors. He died on September 24, 2014. His 2008 BJET article listed his contact as [email protected]. citeturn1search0turn12search1turn1search5turn1search4turn14search2turn7search0
British Journal of Educational Technology • Journal
Written from a late‑20th‑century perspective, this article traces the development and influences that shaped the field of instructional (educational) technology and sketches a framework to better understand the field’s components and evolution.
British Journal of Educational Technology • Journal
A current assessment of the philosophy of instructional technology is made using the author’s 1970 BJET article as a point of comparison. The paper revisits key hypotheses about the discipline’s status, conceptual foundations, and organizing concepts, and discusses contemporary influences—including distance education, public acceptance of media and technology, and training with AI procedures in business and industry—arguing that each professional should develop a personal philosophy grounded in experience.
Educational Technology Research and Development • Journal
This article examines how major definitions of educational technology have mirrored changes in the field. Definitions from the early 1900s through 1994 are reviewed and compared in light of contemporary events and ideas. The authors identify notable shifts reflected in the definitions and discuss implications for future formulations describing the field.
Journal of Research on Computing in Education • Journal
This article identifies eight conditions that tend to facilitate adoption, implementation, and institutionalization of educational technology innovations—dissatisfaction with the status quo; knowledge and skills; resources; time; rewards; participation; commitment; and leadership—and suggests applications to software portability. The conditions can be used to review the likely portability and implementation prospects of products in local sites.
British Journal of Educational Technology • Journal
Indonesia, like many developing countries, faces increasing enrollments, teacher shortages, limited resources, and strong support for traditional schooling. Educational technology has been deployed to help address these issues and has achieved relative success since the mid‑1970s. Lessons learned are organized into four categories—cultural affairs; personnel and training; organization and management; and leadership—each stated as a principle or guideline. Conclusions emphasize leadership, commitment, local control, long‑range planning, and the enabling role of a communications satellite.
Educational Considerations • Journal
Briefly reviews then‑current definitions of educational technology and argues that they exhibit increasing clarity, currency, and utility for the field, suggesting that a stable consensus is emerging around key constructs.
• Book
Edited collection extending Volume 1 to seminal writings from the 1970s and 1980s that form the conceptual and historical foundations of instructional technology. Organized around definition and conceptual background; design and development functions; delivery options; and the profession, with updated bibliography.
• Report
Historical account of the first 50 years (1959–1998) of Syracuse University’s Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation (IDD&E) program. Ten chapters review program history and leadership, faculty and alumni, curriculum evolution, service programs, university partnerships, international work, sponsored projects, professional leadership, and contributions and future prospects of educational technology. Appendices list program graduates and their positions.
• Book
Comprehensive reference (700 pp.) covering educational technology as a problem‑solving process across curriculum, instruction, media, organization and management. Entries are grouped into five sections: definition and conceptual background; design functions, tools, and resources; delivery options; applications and institutional settings; and emerging issues. Many entries were revised or newly commissioned for this edition.
• Report
Concise NSF handbook (NSF 94‑17) offering practical guidance for designing and executing dissemination plans in STEM education projects. It characterizes dissemination as knowledge transfer aimed at use and discusses levels and strategies (e.g., spread, choice, exchange, implementation), audiences, and supports that promote adoption and sustained implementation of innovations.
• Book
A foundational text for teachers that presents a systematic approach to instruction and the effective use of media. Topics include the learning process and teacher roles; objectives and evaluation; strategies for cognitive, affective, and psychomotor objectives; media selection and use across formats (still images, audio, film, television, simulations, programmed and computer‑assisted instruction); and instructional management. The book integrates theory with practice through objectives, exercises, and resources.