A two-year, follow-up teacher survey to a 1993 study was conducted in 1994-95 to learn how changes in hardware and software markets have changed computer use in early childhood classrooms. Assessed what teachers viewed as important software characteristics, software market perceptions, and future software market directions. Found shifts in kinds…

Examines contributions of computer-assisted reading software (CARS) to current teaching practice. Presented framework for evaluating the technical and pedagogic characteristics of CARS. Described case study using proposed framework to evaluate the use of talking books software in British schools. Cognitive and affective benefits are identified.…

Describes the design of a computer-based problem-solving tool for teaching abstraction and classification to elementary school students. The task involves reasoning with attribute blocks. The software keeps a detailed trace of the student's actions, allowing teachers to provide intelligent feedback to the student. Results of a pilot study of the…

Two groups of 9- to 11-year-olds were asked to find and correct spelling errors, one using a typewritten story and a dictionary, the other viewing the story on a computer monitor and utilizing a spell-checker program. Although error detection rates were higher in the spell checker group than in the dictionary group, efficiency and spelling…

Explored responses to interactive multimedia by 3- to 5-year-olds through examination of verbal and facial expressions, use of mouse, body movement, attitudes toward multimedia, and teacher comments. Found great interest in using the technology and little difficulty in adjusting to developmentally appropriate materials, which has implications for…

Computer-based problem-solving software exposure was compared to Lego TC LOGO instruction. Thirty fifth graders received either Lego LOGO instruction, which couples Lego building block activities with LOGO computer programming, or instruction with various problem-solving computer programs. Although both groups showed significant progress, the Lego…

Investigated elementary school students' responses to two user-computer interfaces while the students solved basic arithmetic problems. Interfaces involved users' direct manipulation of images or interpretation of symbols. Data indicated that students were more comfortable and solved problems more quickly when manipulating images than when…

Compared the grade level difficulty obtained from seven readability formulas to student reading levels from two national standardized tests to determine which formulas best determined the readability of computer-based text. Found that the Flesch-Kincaid, FOG, and ARI formulas provided the best estimate of reading grade level of computer-based text…

Educational microworlds are defined and their potential for developing learners' thought processes is hypothesized to be more realizable than has previously been thought. A structured programing methodology that uses a point-and-click technique and that requires little syntactic sophistication on the part of the participant is presented. (LB)

Compared the effects of LOGO Computer-Aided Instruction (CAI), and a standard curriculum without computer exposure among grade three Zimbabwean children. No significant differences were found between the groups exposed to LOGO and to CAI, but both achieved significantly greater gains that the groups without computer exposure. Results suggest that…

Explored relationships among gender, play style, and skilled performance in LOGO computer-based tasks of four-year-old children. Found no significant gender differences in play styles and LOGO skills. Predictors of LOGO competence were differentiated by gender. Suggests that boys' and girls' routes to competence differ, though both genders display…

Surveyed 112 early childhood teachers, administrators, college faculty, curriculum specialists, business representatives, and students on the current status of computer integration in early childhood classrooms. Found that 79% of the respondents used computers with children aged 3-5 years and that the majority stressed that computer software for…

Investigated the effects of developmental and nondevelopmental computer software on four- and five-year-old children's intelligence, creativity, and self-esteem. Also assessed the effect of supplementing developmental software with related activities. Children exposed to developmental software supplemented with activities had gains in more areas…

Parents and children interacted with computer-based representations of a park, one with animated picture graphics and one with digitized full motion video. Children who interacted with the digitized representation replayed the program more and showed a stronger cognitive focus on the representation than did the other children. (LB)

Thirteen 8- to 10-year-old students participated in a Lego-LOGO learning environment, coupling Lego building-block activities with Logo computer programming, to evaluate whether this learning environment was conducive to metacognitive awareness and cooperation. Results suggested positive cognitive and affective outcomes, especially for the younger…