The commentary argues for an understanding of how texts are put together that accounts for multimodality and draws on children's ways of being and doing in the home, their "habitus". It focuses on identities as socially situated. It argues that it is important to trace the process of sedimenting identities during text production. This offers a way…

Examines expert system shells and the role a microcomputer-based expert system can play as an intelligent job aid. Characteristics of traditional and automated job aids techniques are described, and the role of instructional designers in developing expert systems within organizations is discussed. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study that examined the relationship between academic ability or aptitude, as measured by grade point average and American College Test scores, and achievement with and without computer-assisted instruction. (15 references) (CLB)

A review of computer assisted instruction research and recent meta-analytical reports suggests that all research on the learning benefits of the instructional uses of computers should be halted until there is a plausible reason to expect that computers are instrumental in learning, since all existing evidence indicates that computers do not yield…

Current issues in educational communications and technology are addressed in this collection of 48 papers, in which research reports predominate. Topics discussed include factors related to the learner, e.g., field dependence/independence, learning strategies, information processing, spatial ability, cognitive style, and cognitive strategies.…

Addresses the implicit assumption that instructional media represent meaningful experimental variables independent of instructional content or strategy. Results of computer-based instruction (CBI) studies (both well-designed and flawed) and meta-analyses are reviewed to support the authors' position that this assumption is invalid, and new…

Critiques comparative research and evaluation methods used to assess effectiveness of interactive video and proposes alternative models of research design that go beyond comparative analysis into understanding and control of the effective dimensions of interactive video, i.e., controlled correlation; instructional events, cognitive psychology, and…

Effectiveness of two versions of computer software used as an electronic blackboard to present geometric concepts to ninth grade students was compared. The experimental version incorporated color, animation, and nonverbal sounds as stimuli; the no-stimulus version was monochrome. Both immediate and delayed learning were significantly better for…

This critical examination of the assumption that computer-based instruction enhances student learning and performance over traditional means summarizes arguments from past and present analyses of research, examines media attributes or symbol system theories, and presents evidence that much research is susceptible to rival hypotheses. (MBR)

The "symbol systems approach" to the study of computers in education that is outlined avoids the pitfalls of past media research--particularly research on the effects of television on children's learning and knowledge--and asserts that media can be usefully distinguished in terms of the symbol systems they present and the kinds of…

Since 1978, the University of Victoria has offered courses to students in British Columbia, using an interactive satellite delivery system. During that time both the system and the course design have become more sophisticated. Principles underlying program design include focusing on the learner and communication with learners, and basing televised…

This field experiment begins to build a theoretical framework for exploring the effects of media characteristics on subjects' understanding and integration of information. Students in two eighth-grade science classes wrote term papers with one class using a print encyclopedia and the other an electronic encyclopedia to conduct their research. A…

Factors contributing to the uniqueness of educational software are analyzed from contextual and textual perspectives. Contextual (or external) technological, economic, and social factors are examined briefly, and are identified as the dominant factors in the future evolution of educational software. Feedback and interactiveness, two significant…

Discusses ways in which some of the principles for producing effective written text can be applied to the production of instructional audiotapes. Two experiments with university students are described that tested re-recorded audiotapes to evaluate the effectiveness of adding text design principles, and further research needs are suggested. (45…

Discusses the nature of interactive video, its educational use, evidence for its effectiveness, and the design of interactive video courseware. Use by the military and industry is also described, studies comparing video with other instructional methods are reviewed, and areas for further study are suggested. Ninety-four references are provided.…