In CAI, all interactions must be explicitly preplanned by the course designer, a formidable and never totally successful task. ICAI, on the other hand, creates a learning environment in which the student can spontaneously explore the task domain according to his or her own interests and perceived understandings. The very flexibility of learning interactions offered by ICAI also affects our own models of learning, which constitute a second impact of ICAI research on our view of the educational process. Educational technology has generally involved a didactic philosophy of teaching in which instructional designhas always played a major role. Prescriptive design is still involved in ICAI systems, but the major aim is one of creating much more open-ended learning environments (responsive environments) in which the student can freely explore a domain of interest with the knowledge that he or she is in control of the learning situation.