Describes an effective early stage computing course that provides skills needed by undergraduate chemical engineering students. Material is presented in forms that allow students to follow the logic involved and to understand relationships between the computer, programming, numerical computing, computing software packages, and practical skills for…

Explores evolutionary changes in students' (n=46) motion-related language mediated by computer-based Newtonian microworlds. Documents how ways of talking emerge and how the convergence of meaning arises from the affordances provided by the interpretive flexibility of the microworld, conversations with the teacher, and the microworld which assures…

Discusses why teacher education programs implement instructional technology (IT) and how to accomplish this most effectively, noting that although today's technologies offer opportunities to enhance learning throughout teacher education, widespread practice of teaching with technology has not kept pace with technological advancements. The article…

Discusses how to develop effective security education and awareness programs to help the wide and varied groups of people on campuses understand their role in campus security, examining: target audiences (e.g., students, parents, faculty, researchers, and administrators); effective delivery methods (e.g., online quizzes, handbooks, and videos);…

Presents techniques used within one university's Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology department to develop online courses that discourage student dishonesty, focusing on: academic dishonesty; course design focus area (syllabus design, content presentation, student-teacher relationship, assessment design, and monitoring tools); and…

Examines the relationship between computer use and students' science achievement based on the data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Results show that it is not computer use itself that has a positive or negative effect on the science achievement of students, but the way in which computers are used. (Author/SOE)

This exploratory study observed seven parent-child dyads reading two online storybooks with branching stories incorporating choice points at which readers choose the path the story would follow. Results indicated that parents and child engaged in many of the same behaviors observed for traditional storybooks and that utterances involved similar…

Based on Quality Education Data's ninth annual Educational Technology Trends Survey of 2,501 school districts and 5,000 public schools, this article reviews findings concerning technology expenditures, uses, and effects. Districts will spend an estimated $4.1 billion on instructional technology during 1996-97. Schools have a 10 to 1…

Discusses the Texas Instruments calculator the TI-92 and how it can be an effective tool in the mathematics classroom. Provides examples of combining the algebra capabilities of the calculator and Cabri-Geometry II with graphing, tables of values, statistics, programming, and a simple text editor to enhance mathematics instruction. (DDR)

Describes the potential of multimedia and hypermedia technologies and explains how they can facilitate literacy teaching and learning. Discusses various software projects, showing how multimedia and hypermedia technologies are changing traditional definitions of literacy and learning. Describes new challenges for teachers to consider as access to…

Fourth- and fifth-graders were taught how to design simple unconfounded experiments using one of two instructional methods differing only in whether children manipulated physical or virtual materials. Results indicated that the two types of materials were equally effective in achieving several instructional objectives, including the design of…

Investigates whether students who had access to Internet study rooms would make use of them for out-of-class group study and how students perceived their online group study experience in comparison with face-to-face group study in an introductory biology class. Survey results indicate that 47 students used online study rooms. (Author/SOE)

School guidance counselors can use computers to enhance students' abilities to get into top colleges. One high school counselor has established a Web site with online forms requesting that transcripts be sent to colleges and search tools for finding financial assistance; an Internet discussion forum for seniors to discuss college admissions; and…

Surveyed faculty at Ball State University to determine what factors they believe are important either in facilitating or inhibiting adoption of instructional technology. Found that major barriers include technology reliability, learning to use new technologies, uncertainty about its worth, and lack of institutional support. Includes…

Reviews the evolving content and methods of technology training in teacher education from the 1920s to the present. Highlights include the effect of computer technology; teacher use versus student use of technology; and the need to teach how to use and integrate traditional media in classroom instruction as well as computer media. (LRW)