In 1983, Richard Clark set the instructional technology profession on its scholarly “ear” when he wrote as his thesis for an article in the Review of Educational Research that “the best current evidence is that media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries causes changes in our nutrition” (p. 446).
Since then, Clark has given presentations, written follow-up articles, and defended his position in front of many who “believed” that there was some magical media effect on learning. Recently, advocates of distance education have made unsubstantiated claims that online learners achieve better than traditional learners—a position unsupported by the data.
Clark’s recent book of readings, Learning From Media: Arguments, Analysis, and Evidence (2nd ed.) summarizes the arguments and counterarguments related to the 1983 article. A careful review by the editor of this journal yields the solid conclusion that Clark was correct then, and is correct now.
Recently, your editor had a chance to present Clark’s position, and arguments from his detractors, to a group of highly educated professionals in the health sciences. The basic task given these emerging scholars was to review Clark’s argument and draw their own conclusions by writing short “white papers.” Those papers are included in this special section of Distance Learning journal.
NOTE: I thought the Clark arguments were so well documented and substantiated that this current generation of professionals would quickly see Clark’s logic. Read on and see what they thought—and wrote.
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