Few developments have piqued the interest of researchers as has the growth of computers in their various hybrid forms. A seemingly infinite range of methods and strategies has evolved to exploit the potential of these technologies. The problem has not been a scarcity of research. Literally thousands of studies related to computers and learning have been published during the past 3 decades. The problem has been one of making sense of the enormous, and growing, body of available research.

What, on balance, does this research tell us about computers, emerging technologies, and learning? Have problems and issues been clarified or obscured through these efforts? The purposes of this chapter are: (1) to examine research in computer-assisted learning systems over the past 30 years from an historical perspective, (2) to analyze critically contemporary computer-base'd instruction (CBI) research as it relates to issues of effectiveness, design, and individual differences, (3) to examine and analyze research on emerging computer-based learning systems, and (4) to identify problems, issues, and unresolved research questions related to the future of computer-aided learning.

It is important to note that we do not attempt to separate research on, or with, specific technologies, but view them as phases of an ongoing metamorphosis. Specific technologies have changed, and will continue to change continuously. However, the most compelling evolution has been in the manner in which their features have been utilized. The nature of computer-based learning has, arguably, undergone a far greater metamorphosis than the hardware technologies themselves (Baker-Albaugh, 1993).