This field test report was completed for a producer of an educational computer software program. The program, designed to help students learn about Canadian history, is outlined. The program simulates the events and atmosphere of the years 1864-1873, formative years in Canada's history; the student user is cast in the role of a journalist on the…

Reviews educational software award winners based on criteria that include quality of presentation and design, classroom usability, and support documentation. Subject categories include preschool/readiness, language arts, math, science, social studies/history, ESL (English as a Second Language), and reference. A directory of software publishers is…

Describes the effects of one computer program used in a nonmajors biology course to provide a model for implementing and validating the use of software programs that incorporate tutorials with laboratory simulations. (Contains 27 references.) (MDH)

The identification and integration of reusable and customizable CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning) may benefit from the capture of best practices in collaborative learning structuring. The authors have proposed CLFPs (Collaborative Learning Flow Patterns) as a way of collecting these best practices. To facilitate the process of CLFPs…

The objective of the current research program was to develop a prototype knowledge acquisition tool that could enable the investigation of knowledge acquisition issues for instructional systems. Our approach to accomplishing this objective entailed the identification of the types of knowledge to be acquired, the evaluation of methods of acquiring…

In a number of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries, a vast amount of educational software covering the major school subjects is now available. Educational authorities or independent non-profit bodies have set up clearinghouses or centers for the review and evaluation of educational software. In 1988, the…

Guidelines for understanding computer-assisted instruction (CAI) pedagogical designs and evaluating CAI software for its relevance to specific teaching and learning objectives are presented in this paper. Topics discussed include applications, drawbacks, and examples of the five types of CAI software--drill and practice, tutorial, simulation,…

Computers can be used in a variety of ways in the social studies classroom: (1) as a productivity tool to relieve the teacher of the many bookkeeping tasks and allow for more time to be spent on instructional tasks; (2) in business applications such as data base files, electronic spreadsheets, word processing, computer graphics, and to store large…

Preschool children can benefit by working with microcomputers. Thinking skills are enhanced by software games that focus on logic, memory, problem solving, and pattern recognition. Counting, sequencing, and matching games develop mathematics skills, and word games focusing on basic letter symbol and word recognition develop language skills.…

This book is designed to provide teachers with techniques for entering and modifying BASIC programs on Apple computers. The underlying theme is that a teacher need not become a programmer to benefit from being able to use and modify BASIC programs. The key to the successful use of software in the classroom is the ability to individualize software…

To determine which elements of courseware are and are not effective in computer-based education, 59 learning disabled students were observed during a 5 1/2-month period using over 20 commercial courseware packages. Additional elements of the naturalistic study included interviews with teachers, students, and administrators; and analysis of the…

Thirty presentations are included from a 1983 conference on computers for the disabled. The conference blended viewpoints from vocational rehabilitation and special education. The first section presents three keynote addresses: "High Tech/High Touch: Making Good on the Promise" (D. A. Fenderson); "Curbcuts and Computers: Providing Access to…

Present research connected with computer-based instruction indicates that many investigators rely on conventional experimental design and data analysis to address the research question. Although this is appropriate in many cases, the limits of hard and software resources and sample size in other cases have made conventional approaches a poor…

Discusses CAI as part of the general software distributed with a recently announced portable computer. A brief history of software for small computers is presented, architecture and functional capabilities of the computer are covered, and software support for CAI is described. (RAO)

The article reviews the literature on normal cognitive development and specific cognitive skills required for picture recognition in children 12 to 30 months old. Conclusions are drawn concerning appropriate presentation in designing software for a cognitively young population. (Author/DB)