Increases in the availability of technology, the range of content software, and curriculum via the Internet have placed countless options in the hands of teachers. Similarly, increasing accountability has placed added pressure on teachers to meet stated objectives and ensure student performance. How can teachers optimize available technologies and…

This paper focuses on the applications of computer technology to enhancing personal and organizational productivity in schools. One school's experience selecting, implementing and adapting organizational computer systems is described, from schoolwide networks to manage electronic mail and grading data to teacher-centered applications and access to…

This study examined the perceptions of basic education school teachers in Turkey to the educational software evaluation criteria, developed for the acquisition of multimedia instructional software by the Turkish Ministry of National Education, from the viewpoint of actual users. Data were collected through structured interviews, group discussions,…

A response-based pedagogy encourages the exploration of multiple perspectives regarding literary works and student construction of defensible interpretations of the same, with the quality of students' critical and creative thinking being the focus of assessment. The National Center for Research on Literature Teaching and Learning's ongoing…

The vast underutilization of technology in educational environments suggests the need for more research to develop models to successfully adopt and diffuse computer systems in schools. Of 980 surveys mailed to various Ohio public schools, 529 were completed and returned to help determine current attitudes and perceptions of teachers and…

The need for effective ways of monitoring the quality of scoring of portfolios resulted in the development of a software package that provides scoring leaders with updated information on their assessors' scoring quality. Assessors with computers enter data as they score, and this information is analyzed and reported to scoring leaders. The…

The teacher education unit at Chestnut Hill College (Pennsylvania) worked to incorporate National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standards for technology education into its courses. Chestnut Hill intended to educate current students in technology use and planned to establish communication between the applied technology…

Promising instructional development perspectives are synthesized into a set of perspectives that might be discussed by the instructional technology profession to set some new directions for the field. An integrated set of criteria, "Configurational Inquiry Instructional Development Perspective" (CIIDP), is proposed. Configurational…

The Center for Interactive Technology, Applications, and Research at the College of Engineering of the University of South Florida (Tampa) has developed objective and descriptive evaluation models to assist in determining the educational potential of computer and video courseware. The computer-based courseware evaluation model and the video-based…

The development and preliminary evaluation of the Computerized Adaptive Testing System (CATSYS), a new testing package for IBM-compatible microcomputers, are described. CATSYS can be used to administer and score operational adaptive tests or to conduct on-line computer simulation studies. The package incorporates several innovative features,…

This paper presents a model for designing computer-based simulation environments within a constructivist framework for the K-12 school setting. The following primary criteria for the development of simulations are proposed: (1) the problem needs to be authentic; (2) the cognitive demand in learning should be authentic; (3) scaffolding supports a…

Applications are now available that allow teachers to create presentations and programs tailored to the exact needs of their students. This paper examines tools that may be used for presentations. Programming environments that may be used to develop computer aided instructional programs are also compared and contrasted. The availability of…