Distance education is an alternative method for delivering academic course work to students unable to attend traditional campus-based classes. This Digest presents information on the many forms of distance education and keys to successful teaching with distance education. Distance education is a method of education in which the learner is…

Summarizes recent ERIC citations that discuss the uses of computers in elementary and early childhood education and their effects on children's learning and development. Includes annotations of documents and journal articles related to early literacy, integrating technology into the curriculum, cooperative learning, CD-ROM storybook programs,…

While the World Wide Web receives most of the publicity, another aspect of the Internet also draws considerable attention. IRC, more formally referred to as Internet Relay Chat, provides a means by which one user can type a message in real time to one or more Internet users, and almost instantaneously, the message appears on the monitors of all…

The process of selecting software for use with exceptional students focuses on two major issues: (1) how computers are to be used in the instructional process, and (2) whether the product selected is consistent with curricular goals. The content of instruction is shaped by its purpose: drill and practice; teaching new skills, concepts, and…

Over the last 20 years, K-12 schools have spent millions of dollars equipping their schools with the latest technologies, but often without a thoughtful plan of how their use would impact learning and teaching. What is important is how the technology is integrated with the instructional program. To ensure that technology dollars have an impact on…

Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-created sensory experience that allows a participant to believe and barely distinguish a "virtual" experience from a real one using computer graphics, sounds, and images to reproduce electronic versions of real-life situations. This digest describes how VR works and discusses applications of VR in…

Computer-assisted testing (CAT) in counseling and therapy is becoming increasingly common due to dramatic improvements in cost-effectiveness and increased counselor familiarity with computer applications. The assumption underlying the use of CAT is that the effectiveness of counseling is improved by allocating repetitive computational and…

Often colleges and universities that are just beginning to include technical communication in their curricula do so using faculty trained in traditional English doctorate programs. This digest examines several areas of concern for such institutions and discusses: (1) characteristics of technical communication; (2) issues in teaching technical…

The "digital divide," the separation between those with access to new technologies and those without, is seen by many as one of the leading equity issues in the United States. Computer and Internet access varies widely across the United States, with better educated people, those with more money, and whites more likely to have Internet…

Vocational educators are using the Internet in various ways. The director and associate professor of vocational-technical education at Dakota State University uses the Internet primarily for electronic mail. Students in a secondary vocational teacher's international trade and marketing class have participated in real-time conferences with schools…

Students often see revision not as an opportunity to develop and improve a piece of writing but as an indication that they have failed to do it right the first time. To them, revision means correction. To correct this assumption, teachers' comments on papers should focus on more than mechanics. Teachers would do well to comment on the paper's…

Long distance, or wide area, computer networking can change teaching and learning dramatically. Teachers and students with access to a computer, a modem, and phone lines are freed from the physical limits of a school building and time schedules. They can communicate with peers and gain access to electronic resources, making individualized…

Word processing and the LOGO programing language are two microcomputer applications that are beginning to show benefits as learning tools in elementary school classrooms. Word processing packages are especially useful with beginning writers, whose lack of motor coordination often slows down their acquisition of competence in written communication.…

Graphical representations play an important role in both science and mathematics education. Graphs can summarize very complex information or relationships very effectively. Although graphs are explicitly taught in mathematics classrooms as an end in themselves, many subject areas such as science or social studies utilize graphs to represent and…

As K-12 schools connect to the Internet, a new method of communication opens up to educators and their students. This ERIC Digest describes some sample services and resources that are available to the K-12 community by electronic mail over the Internet (resources and addresses are subject to change). Question answering services, electronic…