Discusses evaluation criteria for selecting courseware that teaches basic concepts appropriate for preschool and early elementary students. Reviews of the software manual, the courseware itself, and reviews by students are suggested. Other areas of concern that are addressed include instructional quality, production quality, flexibility, and cost.…

This report summarizes one of a series of workshops organized by RAND's Critical Technologies Institute (CTI), on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, to learn from those already implementing new technologies in schools. This particular session explores the educational software market from the demand side and focuses on issues of cost…

Describes a study that was conducted at the University of South Africa to determine the feasibility and the effectiveness of using computer-aided learning for a distance education chemistry course. Highlights include summative courseware testing; cost effectiveness; student achievement; student attitudes; and an appendix that lists responses from…

Criteria were developed and used to determine which of three existing computer-based instruction (CBI) lessons could be repurposed into a multimedia format. Researchers were commissioned to evaluate these three traditional linear CBI lessons by an insurance company. The lessons were updates on company policy and procedures. The repurposed CBI…

What is known about the cost effectiveness of interactive courseware (ICW) is reviewed, and issues that remain are summarized. Effect size is used for reporting the effectiveness of ICW programs. Two ICW media are considered: computer-based instruction and interactive videodisc instruction. Effect sizes for computer-based instruction have been…

Describes criteria developed to determine which of three existing computer-based training lessons could be repurposed into a multimedia format. Reasons for repurposing, types of criteria generated to determine the instruction's repurposeability, and lessons learned from the evaluation experience are covered. (Contains 13 references.) (KRN)

This article presents sets of observations and recommendations for Web-based distance learning, based on formative and summative performance and opinion data collected from participants involved in the design, development, and utilization of Wired Class, a Web-based learning environment that was developed to teach mathematics to Egyptian secondary…