This document describes how National Workplace Literacy Program (NWLP) software was developed for Chinese garment workers in New York City. First, it discusses the goal of the workplace literacy program and the nature of the population served. Then, it indicates how NWLP software was designed to supplement the NWLP curriculum and to reinforce the…

Geographic information systems (GIS) consist of robust hardware, software, data, and a thinking operator. Together, they provide powerful tools for automated cartography and extensive analysis of information about places. Recent improvements in computer hardware and software allow the powers of GIS to move effectively and affordably into the…

Portability enables interactive courseware (ICW) and associated application programs to operate on computer-based systems other than the ones on which they are developed. Courseware portability will increase sharing of ICW across a range of instructional settings within military services and across internationally allied military services. The…

The Portable Courseware Project (PORTCO) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is typical of projects worldwide that require standard software interfaces. This paper articulates the strategy whereby the federal multimedia courseware initiative leverages the open systems movement and the new realities of information technology. The federal…

Data for the Oregon Microcomputer Survey were collected in May 1989 via questionnaires for each of the department heads in a stratified random sample of 94 middle and high schools throughout Oregon. Designed to obtain information on the perceptions and reactions of the department heads to the status of microcomputers in their departments, the…

The eight papers presented in this monograph are a result of the Problem Solving and Critical Thinking Research Workshop that was held in conjunction with the 1990 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). The intent of the workshop was to provide a unique forum for researchers to share ideas in a special area of educational computing. The…

The development of narrative competence is an important part of the English curriculum in the early secondary school years. A study examined how four seventh-grade girls (two novice and two expert writers) responded to computer-based metacognitive guidance in the form of procedural facilitations. The facilitations were designed to assist the…

Teaching methods seem to work with some students and fail with others, because every learner is unique. Teachers must be able to identify learning styles and find ways for instruction to match those styles. This paper moves from an overview of different learning styles to a review of the use of computer-assisted instruction. A recent development…

Computers offer the teacher a tool for instruction in the Social Studies that allow students to be motivated, learn social skills, attain moral ideals, develop thinking skills, and acquire knowledge easily. The findings of this review suggest that the software selected for classroom use must reflect the desired educational goals and that the…

This report contains the rationale for and results of a study investigating computer integration in the primary grades. The study encompassed functions and purposes of computer use, the subjects and programs currently in classroom use, and the extent of microcomputer use by student and teacher. Sources of investigation included published…

This paper presents a three-phase model of how formative evaluation research can inform the design of educational computer software products. Used as an illustrative case is a program of formative research conducted on "The Talking Clock," a computer assisted instructional software product designed to help children in kindergarten through second…

The report describes a project assessing the organizational issues surrounding microcomputers in special education, with special emphasis on software selection and use. Twelve districts were visited, and both administrative and instructional applications of microcomputers were observed. Two major types of software--applications and systems…

Word processing programs offer five capabilities that can help students over the physical and psychological constraints associated with writing. First, producing text on a word processor is more tentative and more noncommital than producing text on paper. This reassures the writer that it is all right to experiment with words. Second, the blinking…

Following a brief description of types of computer assisted instruction (tutorial, drill and practice, and simulation/games), this document provides the following BASIC programming routines: variable typing, range error maskings, default entries, having user check input, allowing users to change input, response checker for numbers, response…

This study investigated the effects of a minimal manual version versus a cards version of documentation on students' computing behaviors while learning to use a telecommunication system (Appleshare), students' attitudes toward the documentation, and students' later use of the system. Guidelines from the work of Carroll and colleagues at the IBM…