Coprocessor architectures in High Performance Computing are prevalent in today's scientific computing clusters and require specialized knowledge for proper utilization. Various alternative paradigms for parallel and offload computation exist, but little is known about the human factors impacts of using the different paradigms. With computer…

GearSketch is a learning environment for the gears domain, aimed at students in the final years of primary school. It is designed for use with a touchscreen device and is based on ideas from drawing-based learning and research on cognitive tutors. At the heart of GearSketch is a domain model that is used to transform learners' strokes into…

The touch mouse is a new type of computer mouse that provides users with a new way of touch-based environment to interact with computers. For more than a decade, user experience (UX) has grown into a core concept of human-computer interaction (HCI), describing a user's perceptions and responses that result from the use of a product in a particular…

The need for social inclusion, informed choice and the facilitation of independent living for people with learning disabilities (LD) is being emphasised ever more by government, professionals, academics and, indeed, by people with LD themselves, particularly in self-advocacy groups. Achieving goals around inclusion and autonomy requires access to…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore a support system for beginners in drawing in a networked environment. Learners can receive advice and assessments from art experts without time and/or place constraints by using the proposed system. The authors investigate the possibilities of online supporting drawing learning. Two key factors are…

Look no further than to the popularity of C-SPAN's annual video documentary competition for middle and high schoolers, and it's obvious that video editing, and the technology that comes with it, is important to today's students. In the past it was a complex, involved, and expensive process. Video editing is now within the reach of anybody with a…

Discusses hardware requirements, functions, and applications of five information processing and desktop publishing software packages for the Macintosh: HyperCard, PageMaker, Cricket Presents, Power Point, and Adobe illustrator. Benefits of these programs for schools are considered. (MES)

Engineering design graphics education has come a long way in the past two decades. The emergence of solid geometric modeling technology has become the focal point for the graphical development of engineering design ideas. The main attraction of this 3-D modeling approach is the downstream application of the data base to analysis and…

Reports the results of the third survey of computer use in engineering education conducted in the fall of 1987 in comparing with 1981 and 1984 results. Summarizes survey data on computer course credits, languages, equipment use, CAD/CAM instruction, faculty access, and computer graphics. (YP)

Reviews the development of personal computers and how computer components have changed in price and value. Highlights include disk drives; keyboards; displays; memory; color graphics; modems; CPU (central processing unit); storage; direct mail vendors; and future possibilities. (LRW)

Discusses personal computer price trends since 1986; describes offerings and prices for four direct-market suppliers, i.e., Dell CompuAdd, PC Brand, and Gateway 2000; and discusses overall value and price/performance ratios. Tables and graphs chart value over time. (EA)

Describes study that was carried out at the University of Calgary to determine how elementary school children conceive of computer-related tasks and how this information might be used to generate animated icons for educational software. Child-computer interaction is discussed, and differences in responses between three age groups are examined. (10…

Follows the development of hypertext which is the electronic movement of large amounts of text. Probes the use of the Macintosh HyperCard and its applications in education. Notes programs are stackable in the computer. Provides tool, resource, and stack directory along with tips for using HyperCard. (MVL)

Describes the hardware components of a CD-ROM workstation and offers guidelines for selection decisions. Components discussed include CD-ROM drives; keyboards; monitors, including color and monochrome; graphics; microcomputers, including memory requirements; disk storage, including hard disks and floppy disks; and printers. Turnkey systems are…

Discusses the history of the graphical user interface (GUI) and the growing realization that adaptations must be made to it lest its visual nature discriminate against nonsighted or sight-impaired users. One of the most popular commercially developed adaptations is to develop sounds that signal the location of icons or menus to mouse users.…