Describes the components, costs, and capabilities of several desktop publishing systems, and examines their possible impact on work patterns within organizations. The text and graphics of the article were created using various microcomputer software packages. (CLB)

Describes current desktop publishing packages available for microcomputers and discusses the disadvantages, especially in cost, for most personal computer users. Also described is a less expensive alternative technology--desktop typesetting--which meets the requirements of users who do not need elaborate techniques for combining text and graphics.…

Ways in which various uses or applications of a microcomputer can help improve the image of a college or university department are discussed in this paper. The paper discusses applications such as instruction, word processing, management, programing, communications, statistics, and graphics, and audiences for these applications, such as department…

The first of two articles discusses the current status of desktop publishing, including some of its benefits and limitations. The second article compares and critiques both hardware and software currently available for the Macintosh and for MS-DOS microcomputers. A glossary of typographic terms is included. (CLB)

Some of the limitations of desktop publishing are identified including: desktop systems cannot match the finished quality of typeset copy and traditionally prepared graphics; nonpublications office desktop publishing would require more time, and publishing will not be easier; hidden costs; and high quality depends on trained people. (MLW)

Discusses the major categories of add-on microcomputer equipment--memory, mass storage, printers, plotters, monitors, modems, music and voice synthesizers, light pens, game controllers, graphics tablets, word processors, graphics packages, and furniture--and offers suggestions that may be helpful in making purchasing decisions. (MBR)

Many institutional researchers will find that the microcomputer leads to greater efficiency in everything that they do, especially in the two most critical elements of their jobs: thinking and communicating. (Author/MLW)

Consumers and producers of educational software must make decisions about what kind of software to buy and create. Both groups must base these decisions on criteria that consider what it is important to learn in our technological era, what is workable, and what is currently practical and cost-effective. Five criteria that are central to these…

Supporting evidence from both neurological research in brain hemisphere functions and comparisons of the use of symbols in Eastern and Western cultures are used to advance the position that the capability of graphics software for microcomputers to combine textual and visual elements makes them a powerful and revolutionary communications tool. (CLB)

Logo creator Seymour Papert discusses ways Logo can be improved to accommodate different learning styles and strengthen word processing and list processing capabilities. In an interview, Papert discusses computers' influences on learning, Logo's underlying concepts, teacher use of Logo, Logo's discovery learning approach, and development of Logo…

Working with a word processor changes writers' behavior. They compose more easily, less anxiously, and more prolifically. The word processor makes them want to sit down and write and makes them feel good about their writing. It does this by encouraging prewriting and invention, by providing a sense of control and mastery over the actual writing…

Presents rationale for including use of productivity tool software--database management systems, spreadsheets, graphics software, word processing--in classrooms and reviews appropriate strategies for introducing students to these tools. Discussion covers adaptability of these tools to various academic disciplines and illustrates how students…

Many computerized educational activities are controlled by the student as well as by the hardware or software being used. When the student can make decisions that will affect the responses of the computer, the computer becomes a tool for exploration and is not merely a vehicle for delivering instruction. Some of the activities that involve student…

Describes Graphics Project for Foreign Language Learning at the University of Pennsylvania, which has developed ways of displaying foreign scripts on microcomputers. Character design on computer screens is explained; software for graphics, printing, and language instruction is discussed; and a text editor is described that corrects optically…

Discusses types of software most useful in social studies classes--games, simulations, and word processing, database, spreadsheets, and graphing--and introduces applications software through descriptions of four learning activities from different parts of the social studies curriculum: introducing databases, writing historical journals, tracking…