Using constructivist principles and autonomous learning techniques the ELP has pioneered innovative and cutting edge approaches to learning languages that can be applied to learning across the spectrum. Although articles on the success of the ELP project have appeared in some academic journals, "Perspectives from the European Language…

Within the field of technology enhanced learning, adaptive educational systems offer an advanced form of learning environment that attempts to meet the needs of different students. Such systems capture and represent, for each student, various characteristics such as knowledge and traits in an individual learner model. Subsequently, using the…

The predominant telecommunications technologies, video and computer-based telecommunications, have multiple applications for reading education. The telecomputers of tomorrow will process, store, create and transmit images which can be distributed via fiber optics networks in a manner similar to the voice communications of today. Thus, the…

The most popular application of computers in the classroom is word processing. Essex County College in Newark, New Jersey, was one of the first institutions to teach students to write with the computer. Using computers in education provides the following benefits: (1) students find it easier to make changes when writing with the computer than when…

Discusses the change from a teacher-centered approach when computers were first used in the classroom to a learner-centered approach. Highlights each of six articles presented in this special issue that explore the issues related to using the computer as a tool to learning with, rather than to learn from. (AEF)

Guidelines are presented for the development of computer-based instructional materials. Steps in courseware development defined by M. D. Roblyer (1988) include: (1) instructional design; (2) preprograming development; and (3) programing. The emphasis is on instructional design, the most time-consuming part of the task. Preprograming development…

The first issue of "TAP into Learning" examined constructivism and some ways technology might be employed to support learning environments based on constructivist theory. This issue examines one of these principles and some classroom activities based on practices consistent with this principle. Highlights include: "On the Road to Student-Centered…

The use of computer technology in history instruction permits students to explore the data, and formulate and test their own hypotheses within the confines of the data, rather than being passive receptors of someone else's interpretations. The Gallipoli project brought together materials from a national war archive to develop a multimedia teaching…

There are a multitude of academic and non-academic, economic, physical, and demographic conditions that place children in the high risk of failure category in elementary and secondary schools. Assistance for these children may come through computer-assisted instruction (CAI), not only because software is available that addresses student needs, but…

Presents a constructivist framework for educational reform. Describes technology's role in child-driven learning. Supports a wholesale revision of educational practice that focuses on children's competencies and integrates technology so that it supports the deeper more reflective self-directed activity children must use if they are to become…

The techniques and effectiveness of systems for adjusting the pace, content, sequence, and style of instruction to fit the needs of individual learners are briefly reviewed. These systems are all designed to function in group instructional settings. They may be separated into print-oriented approaches (programmed instruction, personalized system…

Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) is a long-term research project sponsored by Apple Computer, Inc., to explore how learning and teaching change when teachers and students have access to interactive computer technologies. ACOT adheres to a philosophy that instruction should be learner controlled; i.e., students take responsibility for their own…

The purpose of this paper is to consider different kinds of actions learners may take during computer assisted instruction (CAI), and to examine the kind of information they need in order to exercise control over the instruction, i.e., information about their performance level, the organization of the content, the choices available to them and the…

This field study represents a departure from structured, or directed, computer-mediated communication as used in its natural environment, the computer lab. Using observations, interviews, and the computer medium itself, the investigators report how high school students interact with computers and create their own agendas for computer usage and…

An analysis of 79 K-12 Internet projects revealed seven common activities: pre-project activities; gathering information; sharing and communicating; data integration; constructing products; evaluating products; and demonstrating/teaching. Discussion includes learning models scaffolded and project difficulties/successes. (AEF)