Presents specific guidelines for designing instructional programs that will be delivered on microcomputers so that these programs will use the capacity of the microcomputer system in a way that will develop in learners a range of cognitive skills and help learners to evolve useful learning strategies. (Author)

Written for developers of classroom simulation who may wish to transfer their skills to the computer medium, this paper describes the procedures for writing and developing an educational simulation on a computer. Steps in the procedure include conceptualizing the problem to be simulated, operationalizing the variables, examining pedagogical…

The two interconnected problems of educational quality and piracy are described and analyzed in this book, which begins with an investigation of the accusations regarding the alleged dismal quality of educational software. The reality behind accusations of rampant piracy and the effect of piracy on the quality of educational software is examined…

The use of microcomputers with handicapped children is examined in terms of special equipment (largely on particular physical handicaps); general equipment that can be modified for particular handicaps but which builds on standard hardware; and software intended for children with physical, emotional, or cognitive handicaps. (CL)

This manual provides general information and guidelines for developing hypermedia instructional materials. Introductory material explains what hypermedia is, the structure of hypermedia, and hypermedia in computer assisted instruction. A study using hypermedia to supplement basal readers at the elementary level is briefly reported and…

The guidelines in this article help in developing educational software. The first rule is that educators should not develop software for education, but should develop an "educational system" that uses software. The distinction is that the former is primarily concerned with the computer and its requirements while the latter focuses on…

Provides a checklist of stylistic elements to consider when writing simulation programs for use in computer assisted instruction. Subtopics include setting simulation parameters, questioning the user, displaying the results, and overall simulation organization. (JJD)

Drawing from the conclusions of research studies by linguists and psychologists, this paper describes four classes of principles for constructing readable prose for both print materials and computer screens: (1) global principles dealing with a schema-theory approach to discourse type, with topical focus, and with parallelism; (2) sentence-level…

In early computer assisted instruction (CAI), negative feedback often insulted students and/or provided no useful knowledge. In classroom settings, teachers use the following approaches in dealing with students' wrong answers: (1) ask the question again, louder and slower; (2) ask the question again, using different words; (3) back up and reteach…

This manual presents an overview of the PILOT educational computer language, a simplified teacher-directed alternative to the use of BASIC for designing computer assisted instruction, and provides examples to illustrate its features. These features are described in terms of format, labels, numeric variables, alphanumeric variables, system…

A set of teacher guidelines for use in developing effective computer-assisted instruction lessons enhanced with computer graphics. (JJD)

Discusses some of the problems of implementing computer-aided learning (CAL) in a university environment and describes a centralized CAL service agency that was created at the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Courseware development and implementation are described, and CAL research and evaluation are discussed. (16 references) (LRW)

Testing and evaluation are important components of effective instructional software development. Many evaluation approaches today are multifaceted, employing a combination of methodologies and multiple data collection techniques. In this paper, several approaches to evaluation are discussed. Computerized tracking systems, videotape recording…

Two Delphi studies were conducted by the Ethics and Equity Committee of the International Council for Computers in Education (ICCE) to obtain the opinions of experts on areas that should be covered by ethical guides for the use of computers in education and for software development, and to develop a model code of ethics for each of these areas.…

Outlines several factors to be considered by teachers when designing text displays for computer assisted instruction. Types of frames--introductory, pretesting, teaching/testing, practice, criterion testing, and rule-example--are defined and discussed to aid developers in organizing a computer assisted instruction lesson. (MBR)