Grazing - a personal blog from Steve Ehrmann

Steve Ehrmann is an author, speaker, and consultant.

Ehrmann publications


Selected Publications


How to Get Around MIT,  Cambridge:  MIT, 1970, 1971.

Modeling and Gaming for Regional Planning, Kaminski, Charles (ed.), Sea Grant # NG-43-72, Cambridge; MIT Sea Grant Program, 1974.

Engineering Education:  System Response in a Changing World, (co-author), Washington, DC:  American Society of Engineering Education, 1975.

"Improving Education:  The Paradox of Risk," Innovation Abstracts, V:10, National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development,  April 1983,  reprinted by The Consortium Reporter, Northern Rockies Consortium for Higher Education, March 1984, p.8.

"New Uses for Assessment" and "Implementing Improvement:  Strategies and Structures" in Priorities for Improvement:  Essays and Views on Needed Improvements in Higher Education, Richard Hendrix (ed.), Washington, DC:  American Association for Higher Education, 1984.

"Technology Could Change the Goals of a College Education...", Educational Technology, XXXIV:9, September 1984, pp. 7-12. 

"Faculty Development: Treating Symptoms," American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, XLVIII, Winter 1984, 373-375.

(with Diane Balestri), "Introduction" and "Learning to Design, Designing to Learn: A More Creative Role for Technology," in Machine Mediated Learning, II:1&2, Jan. 1987.  Also co-edited this double issue of the journal.

"Assessing the Open End of Learning:  Roles for the New Technologies," Liberal Education, Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges,  LXXIV:3, (May-June, 1988), pp. 5-11.

Co-editor and co-author, Ivory Towers, Silicon Basements: Learner-Centered Computing in Postsecondary Education,  McKinney, TX: Academic Computing, 1988.

"Specifications and Strategies:  A Sustainable Investment in Technologies," Keynote Address to the Technology Planning Retreat, Maricopa Community College District, May 14, 1988; reprinted in Telelearning, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ: Eastern Educational Consortium.

"Improving a Distributed Learning Environment with Computers and Telecommunications," in Mindweave: Communication, Computers and Distance Education, Robin Mason and Anthony Kaye (Eds.), Oxford and NY: Pergamon, 1989, 255-259.

"Toward Sustainable Improvements in Accessibility and Quality," Helping Learners Learn at a Distance. The Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Conference on Teaching at a Distance, Madison Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin, August 1989.

"Toward Sustainable Improvements in Accessibility and Quality: The College of the 1990s," Proceedings, Annual Meeting of the Association for the Development of Computer-Based Instructional Systems (ADCIS),  November 1989.

"Reaching Students, Reaching Resources: Using Technologies to Open the College," Academic Computing, IV:7, (April, 1990), 10-14, 32-34.

"Gauging the Educational Value of a College's Investments in Technology," EDUCOM Review, XXVI:3,4, (Fall/Winter, 1991), XXVI:3/4, 24-28.

Primary developer of "New Pathways" workshop materials, a role playing simulations for college teams learning to develop academic programs that exploit computing, video and telecommunications; workshop offered at seven sites in 1991-92.

"Challenging the Ideal of Campus-Bound Education," EDUCOM Review, XXVII:2, (March/April, 1992), pp. 22-26.

(with Amy Warner and Randall Lemke), "Using Technologies to Open the College: The New Pathways Program," Metropolitan University  III:1, (Summer 1992), pp. 51-60.

(with Diane Balestri and David Ferguson) ed., Learning to Design, Designing to Learn: Using Technology to Transform the Curriculum, NY: Taylor and Francis, 1992.

"A Strategy for Educational Investments in Technology," Proceedings, EDUCOM '92,  Primis Division of McGraw Hill, 1992.

"US Higher Education in 1998: How It Might Use Technologies For Undergraduate Education," CTISS File 16: International Experiences.  (October, 1993),  Eds. Jonathan Darby and Joyce Martin, Oxford, UK: CTISS Publications, University of Oxford.

"Identifying Key Issues," in Proceedings of the Invitational Conference on Teaching Science Laboratories via Distance, October 27-31, 1993, Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, 1993.

(with Paul Morris and others), Valuable, Viable Software: Case Studies and Analysis, NY: Primis/McGraw-Hill, 1994.

"Looking Backward: U.S. Efforts To Use Technology To Transform Undergraduate Education," in Higher Education 1998 Transformed by Learning Technology,  edited by Jonathan Darby, Bengt Kjöllerström, and Joyce Martin, Oxford, UK: CTISS Publications, 1994.

"Higher Education 1998: Using Technologies to Meet the Triple Challenge,"  in Higher Education 1998 Transformed by Learning Technology,  edited by Jonathan Darby, Bengt Kjöllerström, and Joyce Martin, Oxford, UK: CTISS Publications, 1994.

"Making Sense of Technology: A Dean's Progress," Change, XXVI:2 (March/April, 1994), pp. 34-38, 52-53.

"Foreword," Opening the College: New Pathways to a Degree,  Boulder, CO: Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, 1994.

(with Bridget Somekh, Rick Withers, and Monique Grandbastien), Report of the Minerva Project Evaluators, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and DEP/GEF (Ministry of Education of Portugal), 1994.

"Responding to the Triple Challenge Facing Post-Secondary Education: Accessibility, Quality, Costs," in The Future of Post-Secondary Education and the Role of Information and Communication Technology. A Clarifying Report, CERI/CD(94)11: Paris, France: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development,  October 1994.  Also in press in English and French in Information Technology and the Future of Post-Secondary Education, Paris: OECD, 1996.

"'Delivering' Education?  Observations On The Economics And Limits Of Directed Instruction And Technology-Based Materials,"  in Telematics for Education and Training, Proceedings of Telematics for Education and Training Conference, Düsseldorf/Neuss, 24-26 November 1994  (eds. Paul Held and Walter Kugemann), Amsterdam, Oxford, Tokyo, Washington, DC: IOS Press, 1995.

“Introduction,” in Erwin Boschmann (ed.), The Electronic Classroom: A Handbook for Education in the Electronic Environment, Medford, NJ: Learned Information, 1995.

“Asking the Right Question: What Does Research Tell Us About Technology and Higher Learning?” Change Magazine, March/April, 1995, pp. 20-27. Reprinted in Randy Bass and Jeff Finlay (eds.), So What Can I Do With It; A Practical Guide for Using Technology to Teach American Studies, Washington, DC: Georgetown University, 1996.

"Restructuring Large Courses: Using Technology to Transform the 'Foundation' of Higher Education," in Communiqué’, #13, March 1995, Boulder, CO: Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, pp. 23-26. Reprinted in shortened form in On The Horizon (newsletter).

"The Bad Option and the Good Option," DEOSNEWS Vol. 5 No. 5 (on-line journal published by the American Center for Distance Education, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, ISSN 1062-9416, May 31, 1995.  Published in slightly different forms as "The Bad Option and the Good Option," Active Learning, Number 2, July 1995, pp. 23-24 (UK) and as "New Technology, Old Trap," Educom Review,XXX:5 Sep/Oct. 1995 pp. 41-43.

"A Partnership Supporting Computers in the Schools," Common Ground. Strengthening Teaching Through University-School Partnership, New Haven: Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, #4, (Spring 1995), pp. 16-17.

"Moving Beyond Campus-Bound Education," The Chronicle of Higher Education,  XLI:43, (July 7, 1995), pp. B1-B2.

"Facing the Triple Challenge: You Can't Do It Alone," Calico Journal, XIII:1, Fall 1995, pages 5-25.

Review of Computer Mediated Communication and the Online Classroom.  Overview and Perspectives (vol. I). Higher Education (vol. II). Distance learning (vol. III),  Zane L. Berge and Mauri P. Collins (eds.), Cresskill, New Jersey: Hampton Press, 1995, in  Educom Review, November-December, 1995, pp. 54-56.

Adult Learning and Technology: Issues for the Next Decade,  Paris: OECD,1996.

"The Flashlight Project: Developing Tools for Local Assessment of Educational Strategies and Technology " and "When is Software not only Valuable but Viable?" in Proceedings,  Ed-Media/Ed-Telecomm, 1996,  Charlottesvile, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, 1996.

"The Flashlight Project: Spotting an Elephant in the Dark," Assessment Update,  IX:4, July-August, 1997, pp. 3, 10-11, 13.

Review of "In Search of the Virtual Class," American Journal of Distance Education, (in press). Republished online as DEOSNEWS Vol. 8 No. 4.

Commissioned Paper in National Research Council, Developing a National Digital Library. Report of a Workshop, Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1998.

Ehrmann, Stephen C., “Studying Teaching, Learning and Technology: a Tool Kit from the Flashlight Program,” Active Learning  IX (December 1998), pp. 38-42. After June 1999, the article will be available at http://www.cti.ac.uk/publ/actlea/al9.html.  Since then the article has been expanded and rewritten; a recent draft is posted at <http://www.tltgroup.org/flashlight/ActiveLearningFL.html>.

Ehrmann, Stephen C., "What Outcomes Assessment Misses," In Architecture for Change: Information as Foundation. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education, 1999.

Ehrmann, Stephen C., "Asking the Hard Questions About Technology Use and Education," CHANGE, Vol. 31, No. 2 (March/April 1999), pages 24-29.

Ehrmann, S.C., and J.H. Milam, The Flashlight Cost Analysis Handbook, Washington, DC: The TLT Group, 1999.

Ehrmann, Stephen C., "Access and/or Quality: Redefining Choices in the Third Revolution," Educom Review, September 1999, pp.24-27, 50-51.

Ehrmann, Stephen C., "Technology's Grand Challenges," in Academe. Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors, Sept. 1999, pp. 42-46.

Ehrmann, Stephen C. (2000), "The Flashlight Program: Evaluating Instructional Uses of the Web," Syllabus, September 2000, pp. 3-5.

Ehrmann, Stephen C. (2000), "Computer-Intensive Academic Programs: How to Evaluate, Plan, Support and Implement (in that order) Your Campus Technology Investments," AAHE Bulletin, 53:3 (November), pp. 7-11.

Ehrmann, Stephen C.,  (2000) "Technology and Revolution in Education: Ending the Cycle of Failure," Liberal Education, Fall, pp. 40-49.

Ehrmann, Stephen C., (2000) "Finding a Great Evaluative Question: The Divining Rod of Emotion," Assessment Update, (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass), Volume 12, Number 6, November-December, pages 5-6.

Ehrmann, Stephen C. (2002), “Evaluating the Benefits of Educational Uses of Technology,” in Technology Costing Methodology Handbook (2nd edition), Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications.

Ehrmann, Stephen C. (2002), “Improving the Outcomes of Higher Education: Learning From Past Mistakes,” EDUCAUSE Review, Jan.-Feb., pp. 54-55

Ehrmann, Stephen C., (2003) “Keeping Your Eyes on the Prize: Using Inquiry to Increase the Value of Institutional Portals,” in Ali Jafari and Mark Sheehan (eds.), Designing Portals: Challenges and Opportunities, Hershey, London, Singapore, Beijing: Information Science Publishing, pp. 31-36.

Ehrmann, Stephen C. and John Milam (2003), Flashlight Cost Analysis Handbook: Modeling Resource Use in Teaching and Learning with Technology (version 2.0), Takoma Park, MD: The TLT Group.

Ehrmann, Stephen C. and Steven W. Gilbert (2003) “Increasing the Value of Your Course Management System: Five Assessment Strategies” in Syllabus.

Ehrmann, Stephen C.  (2004) “Beyond Computer Literacy: Implications of Technology for the Content of a College Education,” Liberal Education (Fall).

Long, Phillip D. and Stephen C. Ehrmann (2005) “Future of the Learning Space: Breaking Out of the Box,”  EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 40, no. 4 (July/August 2005): 42–58. Translated into Portuguese and published in Periferia, vol. 2, no. 2. Downloaded from the web August 2011: http://www.febf.uerj.br/periferia/V2N2/pdf_artigos/long_erhrman.pdf

Ehrmann, Stephen C. (2005) “My View: Better Feedback Methods Will Help Schools Improve the Way They Teach Students,” Technology Review: An MIT Enterprise, August.    
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=14689

Ehrmann, Stephen C. (2006), “Electronic Portfolio Initiatives: A Flashlight Guide to Planning and Formative Evaluation,” in Handbook of Research on ePortfolios, edited by Ali Jafari and  Catherine Kaufman, Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.

Ehrmann, Stephen C. Steven W. Gilbert, and Flora McMartin (2006) Factors Affecting the Adoption of Faculty-Developed Academic Software: A Study of Five iCampus Projects, Takoma Park, MD: The TLT Group.

Long, Phillip D. and Stephen C. Ehrmann (2008) "Does an Open Source Strategy Matter? Lessons Learned from the iLabs Project," in Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge, Toru Iiyoshi and M.S. Vijay Kumar (eds.), Foreword by John Seely Brown, Cambridge: MIT Press.

Ehrmann, Stephen C. (2010), Flashlight Evaluation Handbook, Takoma Park, MD: The TLT Group. (Available only on the web): http://www.tltgroup.org/flashlight/handbook/TOC.htm.

Ehrmann, Stephen C. and Nils Peterson (2010) “Matrix Surveys: A New Tool for Evaluation and Research,” in Assessment UPdate, Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company, May/June.

Ehrmann, Stephen C., (2010) “Improving Higher Learning by Taking the Long View: Ten Recommendations about Time, Money, Learning, and Technology.”  Change Magazine, Taylor & Francis, September/October. (Reprinted in Planning for Higher Education, January 2011, published by the Society for College and University Planning.)

Ehrmann, Stephen C. and Natalie B. Milman (2011), “Identifying and Responding to Online Learners’ Differences,” Distance Learning, September, Vol. 8 Issue 3, p75-77.

Ehrmann, Stephen C. and Patricia Dinneen (2012, in press) “Beyond ‘Comparability’,” in “Ends and Means,” Distance Learning, IX;1, pp. 49-53.

Ehrmann, Stephen C., (2012, in press), “One Reason Why Faculty Resist,” in “Ends and Means,” Distance Learning, IX:2.