This book highlights the importance of design in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) by proposing data-driven design and assessment. It addresses data-driven design, which focuses on the processing of data and on improving design quality based on analysis results, in three main sections. The first section explains how to design…

The Utah state legislature established the Early Intervention Software Program ("EISP") to aid in the development of Utah students' literacy skills through computer-based, adaptive reading software programs designed to meet students' unique learning needs. The Evaluation and Training Institute (ETI) conducts an annual evaluation of how…

The perpetual connectivity made possible by twenty-first-century technology has profoundly affected instruction and learning. Emerging technologies that upend traditional notions of communication and community also influence the ways we design and evaluate instruction and how we understand learning and learning environments. In "Instruction and…

One of the great strengths of Jim Kaput's research program was his relentless drive towards scaling up his innovative approach to teaching the mathematics of change and variation. The SimCalc mission, "democratizing access to the mathematics of change," was enacted by deliberate efforts to reach an increasing number of teachers and students each…

The use and effectiveness of gaming techniques in educational computer software was investigated through an analysis of 170 in-depth evaluations of commercially-available educational computer programs. These evaluations, conducted by the Educational Products Information Exchange (EPIE) Institute, dealt with design attributes relevant to all…

The relative worth of any evaluation instrument depends on user needs and the material being evaluated. Potential users of a good computer assisted instruction (CAI) instrument include purchasers, authors, reviewers, and publishers of CAI materials. Although each user has unique needs, a good instrument will serve both to educate and discriminate,…

Arguing that the production system for computer courseware has a strong impact on quality courseware development, this report offers an introduction into the relationships between instructional system design and software engineering, and investigates courseware quality as a means of identifying quality enhancement factors that can make the…

The Computer Bus Program (Compubus Program) of the Modesto City Schools (California) was evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the computer literacy program for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students at eight elementary compensatory education schools. The program provided instruction on computer vocabulary, knowledge, and applications in a…

Two repeated-measures designs with two samples of speech delayed preschool children (N=18) compared learning activities utilizing microcomputer instruction with similar activities delivered via conventional tabletop instructional materials. Findings suggested both methods are equally effective and efficient with each being more effective with…

Examines relationships between musical information processed by a computer-based sound analysis system and the audiovisual record of a performer's response to musical assignments. Concludes that computer analysis permits identification of performance behavior. Suggests that a database could be designed to provide both diagnostic response to…

This volume gives language teachers, software designers, and researchers who wish to use technology in second or foreign language education the information they need to absorb what has been achieved so far and to make sense of it. It is designed to enable the kind of critical reading of a substantial literature that leads to a balanced and…

A recent survey of 60 commercial computer assisted instruction (CAI) programs found that most of the programmed lessons used few or no graphics to communicate the main points. An Instructional Graphics Checklist was developed to reflect the research findings about the use of pictures in instruction and to serve as an informal evaluation instrument…

The content and quality of the documentation and teachers guides that accompanied 55 educational microcomputer software programs were examined, to determine whether the technical and pedagogical information provided by such guides enabled teachers to fully exploit the instructional potential of the programs. The courseware covered basic elementary…

Artificial neural networks (ANN), part of artificial intelligence, are discussed. Such networks are fed sample cases (training sets), learn how to recognize patterns in the sample data, and use this experience in handling new cases. Two cognitive roles for ANNs (intelligent filters and spreading, associative memories) are examined. Prototypes…

This monograph defines and describes research in the study of adoption of electronic text services in higher education institutions. Electronic text here includes text and graphic information encoded and transmitted via broadcast, signal, or cable, under user control. It places the diffusion of electronic text in higher education within the…