A subject of intense discussion is whether advances in
information technology will, under the right circumstances,
permit increases in productivity and thereby reduce the cost
of instruction. Greater, and smarter, use of technology in
teaching is widely seen as a promising way of controllingcosts while reducing achievement gaps and improving access.
The exploding growth in online learning, especially in higher
education, is often cited as evidence that, at last, technology
may offer pathways to progress (see Figure 1).