Researchers at Rio Salado Community College (Arizona) directing an educational research project, called the Southwest Advanced Learning System for Adults (SALSA), placed personal computers in the homes of production line workers as a supplement to traditional classroom basic skills training. Objectives were to determine whether this supplemental…

Describes the development and pilot testing of an interactive software lesson series designed to increase reading and writing abilities of illiterate adults and adolescents. Results of pilot studies of the High Quality Educational Program indicate the microcomputer approach to instruction combined with appropriate software offers a promising tool…

Describes a structured 20 week program in which the mastery of one segment in the sequence prepares the student for the next step. Focuses on reading and writing, with touch-typing providing a strong backup. Includes a history and principles of the program and the role of the teacher. (MVL)

Eighty-eight sets of parents who enrolled their 4- and 5-year-old children in computer classes completed a questionnaire designed to gather demographic data and information about their reasons for enrolling the children and their attitudes about the importance of computer competence. Parents could check one of three reasons for enrolling their…

Intended for young children just becoming familiar with computers, this counting book introduces and reinforces new computer vocabulary and concepts. The numbers, from one to twelve, are presented along with words and illustrations from the world of computers, allowing for different activities in which children can count or match and name the…

Intended for young children just becoming familiar with computers, this naming book introduces and reinforces new computer vocabulary and concepts. The 20 words are presented alphabetically, along with illustrations, providing room for different activities in which children can match and name the pictures and words. The 20 vocabulary items are…

Designed to promote the use of microcomputers in reading instruction, this paper attempts to dispell apprehensions that the errors made when adapting television to the classroom may occur again with microcomputers. Examples of the failure of television to teach reading in the 1960s and 1970s are presented, and it is pointed out that television, a…

Describes children's books available on CD-ROM that can be read using Apple Macintosh computers. Literacy problems with adults and children are discussed, the use of Discis books to encourage reading and improve understanding is described, first- and second-language learning is discussed, and a list of currently available titles is provided. (LRW)

In an effort to improve the student literacy, a school district in Mississippi implemented the semantic-mapping or cognitive-mapping approach, using the Thinking Networks for Reading and Writing package which provides software, text activities, and semantic maps. Library media specialists played a major role in the project as teacher-trainers,…

Describes study that was conducted to determine whether four- and five-year-old preschoolers could be taught reading skills with computer-assisted instruction, and whether they could learn basic computer literacy skills without direct instruction and drill. Software is described, and the pretest/posttest single group design is explained. (16…

In Western culture literacy encompasses a constellation of values and beliefs far beyond what might be attributed to the mechanical ability to read and write. Many people prize literacy as an end in itself, and attribute to it a whole spectrum of values and social privileges disproportionate to its actual functions in society. They forget that…

Presents a categorization system that allows potential microcomputer users to make more reasoned, conscious choices to ensure that a range of software types and activities are available for their instructional programs. (SRT)

To determine if people analyze words in online reading, an experiment was conducted with 12 congenitally deaf, second generation sign language users with a reading level of 6.64 on a standardized reading achievement test. The hearing controls included seventh and eighth grade students who were matched for reading level. Both groups were split in…

A program referred to as Language Skills Computer Assisted Instruction (LaSCAI) was chosen to assist volunteer tutors in improving the reading skills of adults. The program was demonstrated at two libraries--one rural and one urban--and an evaluation was completed to determine its applicability in enhancing the on-going tutoring programs at these…

This paper looks at the potential of the new electronic media of broadcast television (including teletext and interactive cable), the videodisc, and the microcomputer. It examines the nature and extent of these media as textual communication systems and considers their implications in terms of both the reading skills they demand, and the ways in…