University of Northern Colorado (formerly Colorado State College)
Design Institute of America
National Society for Performance and Instruction (now ISPI)
Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)
Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)
Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)
Professor of Education (Instructional Systems Technology), Indiana University Bloomington
Director (IU–Hangzhou University Exchange Program), Hangzhou University / Indiana University Exchange Program (China)
Chair, Instructional Systems Technology Program, Indiana University Bloomington
President, ECT Foundation (AECT)
President, Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)
Director, Educational Services Division, Doubleday and Co.
Assistant Professor, School of Education (while PhD student), University of Southern California
Audio‑Visual Director, Colorado Springs Public Schools
American instructional technologist and author; Professor of Education (Instructional Systems Technology) at Indiana University from 1969–1990 and later Professor Emeritus. Earlier, he served as Audio‑Visual Director for Colorado Springs Public Schools (1949–1962), then Assistant Professor while completing his PhD at the University of Southern California (1962–1967), and Director of the Educational Services Division at Doubleday & Co. (1967–1969). He chaired Indiana University’s Instructional Systems Technology program (1979–1984) and was President of AECT (1971–1972). He co‑authored the widely adopted textbook series beginning as Instructional Media and the New Technologies of Instruction (1982), later Instructional Media and Technologies for Learning, which popularized the ASSURE model for planning media‑rich instruction. He is also known for the maxim “technology makes instruction visible.” Died January 12, 2020. citeturn1search2turn19search3turn2search4turn1search5turn3search2
A practical lesson‑planning framework for integrating technology and media into instruction: Analyze learners; State objectives; Select methods, media, and materials; Utilize media and materials; Require learner participation; Evaluate and revise. Developed by Heinich with Molenda and Russell; later revised with Smaldino and Lowther.
Educational Communication and Technology Journal (ECTJ) • Journal
Extending his 1984 analysis, Heinich examines education’s organizational structures as they affect adoption of technology‑based instruction. Framing instructional technology as a subset of technology (rather than education), he analyzes how institutional norms shape acceptance or rejection of design and implementation practices for technology‑rich instruction.
Educational Communication and Technology Journal (ECTJ) • Journal
Annual review article arguing that scholarly activity in instructional technology should shift from a focus rooted in teacher preparation within schools of education toward a broader technology‑centered inquiry. Heinich contends that prioritizing the techniques, processes, and consequences inherent in technology will better advance the field, and he calls for re‑examining organizational and professional structures that limit such inquiry.
Educational Considerations • Journal
Short essay on organizational change and adoption: when a new technology does not fit comfortably or appears threatening, it is resisted until it can be reshaped into a familiar tool. Heinich discusses implications for decision making in educational systems as technologies evolve.
• Book
Updated edition of the influential media textbook covering visual principles; non‑projected/projected media; audio, video, computers, networks, distance learning, and process technologies. Uses the ASSURE model to illustrate lesson planning and effective integration of technology and media in instructional contexts.
• Book
Textbook that systematizes selection, utilization, and evaluation of media and technologies for classroom instruction. Introduces and applies the ASSURE model (Analyze learners; State objectives; Select/Utilize media and materials; Require learner participation; Evaluate and revise) across media formats; emphasizes planning, message design, and integration of technology to improve learning.
AECT Monographs • Report
A revision and expansion of Heinich’s USC doctoral dissertation proposing a paradigm of instructional management grounded in systems thinking. He argues that the central problem of education is managing learning, proposes shifting key instructional decisions to curriculum and media specialists, and articulates the principle that “technology makes instruction visible.”
University of Southern California • Thesis
Doctoral dissertation advancing a management‑oriented theoretical structure for instructional technology. It argues that technological processes and systematic design can re‑allocate instructional decision‑making, increase productivity, and make instructional processes observable and improvable through technology‑enabled management.