The use of computer-based gaming in education is not a new phenomenon. Many educators nostalgically remember green Apple II monitors displaying the games Lemonade Stand and Oregon Trail in the early 1980s. Technology in schools has evolved considerably since then, and gaming has become pervasive within all demographic subgroups. Gaming within…

Appropriate ways to use computers in elementary schools are discussed, as are inappropriate uses. Ways parents have assisted educators in thinking about how computers are used are presented as examples. (MT)

Interactive digital media, or video games, are a powerful new medium. They offer immersive experiences in which players solve problems. Players learn more than just facts--ways of seeing and understanding problems so that they "become" different kinds of people. "Serious games" coming from business strategy, advergaming, and entertainment gaming…

Refutes Seymour Papert's premises because they: (1) maintain that computer criticism goes through developmental stages; (2) overlook the fact that the computer's newness in education affects the way people speak of computers; and (3) deny the necessity that teaching LOGO, like other pedagogies, should be accountable to experimental research. (PS)

Agrees with Seymour Papert that conventional experimentation has shortcomings when used to study effects of educational programs. Cites three research methods that, in combination, can compensate for the shortcomings of both conventional research and the computer criticism suggested by Papert. (PS)

A recent study published by the Kaiser Family Foundation titled "Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year Olds" finds that young people today spend an average 6 1/2 hours per day with one or more forms of media. Given that a majority of media available today is in digital format, students are increasingly expecting to use the same or similar…

Discusses advantages and disadvantages of two types of research methodologies used to study the effect of LOGO in classroom settings: the treatment methodology and computer criticism. Stresses the importance of testable consequences. (PS)

This document explains the importance of problem solving in the high school physics curriculum and points out the lack of opportunities in textbooks for students to practice their problem solving skills. The necessity of having introductory-level work texts cannot be ignored and having a work-text book would be beneficial from the teachers' point…

Responds to the suggestion that computational tools be used in undergraduate thermodynamics courses. Argues that instead of using spreadsheets or specially prepared programs, students can quickly develop their own worksheets and solve problems using an equation-solving software program such as MATHCAD. Emphasis is on understanding the fundamentals…

Explores the uses of technology, computers in particular, to teach mathematics. Examples are given of the ways technology can help students gather data and test, modify, and reject or accept conjectures as they think about mathematical concepts. Article asserts a restructuring of the mathematics curriculum is necessary to bring this about. (SLD)

The recent influx of computer programs to aid students in writing has created some confusion between the linear, directed process of problem-solving and the less directed, more chaotic process of putting words down on paper. Though problem-solving and writing-as-process have some points in common, they cannot be taken as equivalent, because…

Input from constructivist scholars and science teachers helps develop future biologists and biology teachers who better understand scientific investigation through their development and use of investigative software, as well as through laboratory and field activities. (SM)

Discusses geometry and Dynamical Geometry Software (DGS). Analyses the way DGS-use influences traditional geometry. Highlights changes in the interactions between geometry, computers, and DGS and human users, focusing on changes in the teaching and learning of geometry. Concludes that DGS deeply changes geometry if it is taken as a human activity…

Reviews a computerized monitoring system for distance education students at Athabasca University designed to solve the problems of tracking student performance. A pilot project for tutors is described which includes an electronic conferencing system and electronic mail, and an evaluation currently in progress is briefly discussed. (LRW)

Described and critiqued are two ideas which have proven valuable in teaching programming at the introductory level, the mental model and the programming plan. (PK)