This report of a seminar on information technology (IT) and language development begins by presenting background on language skills and information technology in order to define the scope of the topic. The report then pulls together and elaborates on the output of the seminar. The first section discusses media-centered issues, including the design…

Successful strategies for implementing and operating the Further Education Management Information System (FEMIS) at colleges of further education in the United Kingdom are discussed, along with the development of associated microcomputer-based decision support systems. FEMIS has been targeted at the smaller institutions that do not generally have…

This review of the activities of LEAP (Literacy for Every Adult Project), a free, basic skills tutorial program for adults, is divided into two parts. Part 1 provides the most recent assessment of the LEAP microcomputer learning center, which was funded in 1985 through a Library Services and Construction Act grant, and Part 2 details the early…

This paper describes how electronic spreadsheet simulators, originally designed to simulate and replace large paper worksheets used in accounting and financial planning, can be used to study and explore functional relationships among a number of parameters. As a way of providing a context for understanding this application of a spreadsheet…

The Computer Assisted Diagnostic Prescriptive Program (CADPP) is a customized databased curriculum management system which permits the user to load the following into a filing/retrieval software system: (1) learning characteristics of individual students (e.g., age, instructional level, learning modality); (2) skill-oriented characteristics of…

The Educational Center for Disabled Students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is designed to improve the academic performance and attitudes toward success of disabled students through computer technology and academic skills training. Adaptive equipment interventions take into account keyboard access and screen and voice output. Non-adaptive…

The study provides: (1) a rationale for using microcomputer spreadsheet programs as teaching tools in applied statistics courses; (2) examples of one spreadsheet template--Analysis of Variance; (3) corresponding workbook exercises for the ANOVA template; and (4) results and discussion of how the exercises are used in an introductory statistics…

This newsletter issue focuses on educating the handicapped to enter the world of work. Topics addressed include legislation, assessment of vocational education programs, transitional services, employment programs, and job separation. The feature article describes provisions of the 1984 Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act (Public Law 98-524),…

Activities of the Scottish Microelectronics Development Programme (SMDP) related to the introduction and coordination of educational microcomputing in Scotland from 1980 to February 1984 are described. The background of the program is outlined, and it is noted that SMDP has become a division of the Scottish Council for Educational Technology…

A vocational teacher training project was designed to provide a short-term period of training at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to upgrade the computer and secretarial skills of three potential vocational education teachers from the Republic of Palau. The training consisted of scheduled computer courses at Kapiolani Community College,…

Two experimental programs, designed to increase Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores of inner city, low achieving students by using computer-assisted SAT preparation, produced differing results. Forty volunteers from a nearby high school were assigned to two groups of 20 each--one experimental and one control group. The first program provided six…

Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environments (CSILE) is a project using computer software to promote the constructive processes involved in intentional learning. CSILE enables groups of students to build a collective database (knowledge base) of their thoughts, in the form of pictures (created by students using a color graphics editor) and…

The preparation of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each handicapped child is seen as cumbersome and time consuming and involves writing similar goals and objectives repetitively for different students. Utilization of a microcomputer-based IEP preparation system has a significant impact on this process and what the school…

A three-year project carried out by the Microcomputers and Reading Committee of the New Jersey Reading Association involved the collection, improvement, and distribution of free microcomputer software (public domain programs) designed to deal with reading and writing skills. Acknowledging that this free software is not without limitations (poor…

The efforts to develop and study the effects of a microcomputer program to enhance children's decoding and word recognition skills are described in this paper. The first section of the paper discusses theory and research in the area of cognitive psychology upon which the program, "Construct a Word," is based. The second section describes…