The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the entry ramp to federal grants and loans that many students depend on to afford college. Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020 in part to make it easier to apply for federal aid. However, Education's rollout of the new FAFSA has suffered from numerous challenges and delays.…

Introduces this issue, which contains papers from the 1991 Data Compression Conference, and defines data compression. The two primary functions of data compression are described, i.e., storage and communications; types of data using compression technology are discussed; compression methods are explained; and current areas of research are…

Synthesizes issues covered at a conference on microelectronics: production, productivity, and employment; social implications; market mechanisms v government intervention; the role of national governments; data protection laws; and cultural pollution. (SW)

The paper for which an abstract is presented here, "Future Network Architectures" (Anthony Rutowski), discussed innovations in processing/switching and transmission technologies, including the development of new broadband optical transfer modes using label and position multiplexing techniques. It is suggested that future network…

Describes new microcomputer software and hardware which simplify data communications between computer systems. "Dumb" terminal software, programs which enhance a computer's data communications flexibility by means of character translation and data buffering, stand-alone versus integrated systems, and "smart" modems are…

Describes three stages of the automation of information processing systems by combining the concept of the exponential growth of operational capabilities with three characteristics: computational capability, ability to store data, and ability to communicate data. The growth of fiberoptic technology is described as beginning the third stage. (EM)

Discussion of the diffusion of interactive communications innovations focuses on the integration of telecomputing tools into precollege curricula. Topics include the telecomputing teacher as instructional designer; a models approach to instructional design; and telecomputing activity structures, including interpersonal exchanges, information…

The Instructional Management System (IMS) developed by the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) processes student and teacher-generated data through the use of an optical scanner that produces a magnetic tape (Scan Tape) for input to IMS. A series of computer routines, OPSN, preprocesses the Scan Tape and prepares the data for transmission to the…

During the 1971-72 pilot test of the Southwest Regional Laboratory's (SWRL) Instructional Management System (IMS), three alternative procedures were used to gather data within the classroom, transmit those data to SWRL for processing, and send IMS output to the appropriate recipients in the schools. ComSys 3--one of the three…

The Southwest Regional Laboratory's Instructional Management System (IMS) central data processing system produces reports for dissemination to participating schools which provided the original source data to the system. Described in this document are the computer software routines (SIMS) that control the dissemination of information contained on…

Six papers on the theme, "Administrative Libraries in a Technological World: Past, Present, and Future--A General Stocktaking and a State of the Art Report" focus on West German telecommunications and information technology and the use of data processing and other technological aids in West German administrative libraries. These papers,…

Equipment and programs related to a system of telecommunications for vocational education in Utah were developed and pilot tested. These developments were in response to a need for applying the use of microcomputers in instruction, administration, and training programs. Specific objectives of the project were clerical and staff use of…

Trends affecting information systems and decisions of college administrators are traced, and specific types of technologies currently available are reviewed. Information systems support routine operations decisions or planning and policy decisions. The primary advantage of computerized information systems is rapid access to data and rapid…