Presents an overview of educational computing for the nonspecialist classroom teacher. Describes computer-assisted instruction and reviews recent technological developments in the field. Predicts increasingly creative and efficient use of computers and software by teachers and students in all humanities disciplines. (CFR)

Uses several approaches to assess the impact that using computer-assisted instruction (CAI) has on students in several undergraduate courses. Describes the various CAI materials, methodology of the assessment process, and the sets of data; analyzes the data; and discusses the results with emphasis on possible reasons for success or failure of CAI.…

Questions whether the world presented in interactive fiction is a "literary one." Defines "literariness" as quality of "making strange" that which is linguistically familiar. Randall presents study of: "Mindwheel,""Brimstone,""Breakers,""A Mind Forever…

Describes the use of TACT computer software to teach Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." Employs TACT to reinforce understanding of the text achieved through a combination of analytic approaches to literary texts with linguistic methods. Argues that exposure to the software made students' interaction with the text more complex and…

Describes a computer program under development that is to be used as a tool for theory builders, teachers, and students in language learning. This is an interactive program and not only helps the learning of a language but also provides analysis on how language is learned. Questions if computers learn. (GG)

Outlines the history of semantically based programs that have influenced the design of computer assisted language instruction (CALI) programs. Describes early attempts to make intelligent CALI as well as current projects, including the Foreign Language Adventure Game, developed at the University of Delaware. Describes some important…

Explains the need for and operations of computerized instructional and drill programs for teaching beginning college-level Russian. Describes two such programs developed at the University of Minnesota. States that these programs provide individualized, out-of-class instruction and teach preproficiency semantic and morphological skills without…

Suggests four overlapping areas of exploration that might help spark "creative re-formations" of the way English teachers think about computers and their relationship to writing: (1) computers and teaching writing, (2) computers and language theory, (3) computers and learning from the past, and (4) computer research in other fields. (GEA)

Thirteen articles that discuss use of computer assisted instruction (CAI) in humanities education specifically cover CAI use in philosophy, musicianship training, rhetoric, foreign language, English as a second language, and writing instruction; CAI authoring systems; videodisc technology; educational history; computer simulations; videodisc…

University of Texas (Austin) freshman and senior English literature students and graduate humanities students tested a synchronous local area computer network's applicability for classroom discussion and collaborative exams and essays. Student responses to 50-70 research questions show advantages of computer-assisted classroom discussion (CACD)…

Describes an experimental computer program that attempts to simulate a choreographers' knowledge and expertise. The user expresses a set of rules that describe some of the dynamic aspects of a dance. These rules are applied nondeterministically by a "rule driver" program. The rule driver embodies a heuristic algorithm. (MJP)