This paper offers an action plan that facilitates the implementation of educational reform in New York State by taking into consideration the major recommendations of four recognized publications: "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century,""The Revolution That Is Overdue: Looking Toward the Future of Teaching and…

This paper describes Contact North/Contact Nord, a pilot project that attempts to improve strategies for distance education in Northern Ontario, Canada. The goals of the program include meeting ongoing and future educational needs of rural Canadians by improving the design and operation of technologically enhanced distance education programs. The…

This volume is the first of three reporting research that is intended to help postsecondary occupational education deans and directors become able to plan more strategically for using new instructional technologies to meet emerging needs. This document begins with a packet of guidesheets made up of materials from all three volumes. Relevant…

Designed as a guide for policy formation, program development, and resource allocation, this report identifies and evaluates future trends and their implications for California's De Anza College (DAC). Section 1 contains introductory information on the purposes, processes, and components of institutional planning at DAC. Section 2 assesses the…

In anticipation of the educational needs of the late 1980s in science, mathematics, and engineering education, the National Science Foundation has supported a variety of projects that can serve as examples and models of the uses of computing in science education. These projects fall into three categories, focusing on the computer as a tool of…

Several approaches being used to support students in distance education programs in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries are described. Britain's Open University support services are offered through tutor-counselors in about 260 local study centres throughout the United Kingdom. Students are assigned to specialist tutors who…

Factors related to the extraordinary growth and development of school libraries in the United States between 1945 and 1980 are reviewed in this report, which describes the establishment of standards for school library media centers, Knapp Foundation funding of school library projects, federal funding of school libraries, the professional…

This report describes and interprets findings from the 1981-82 national mathematics assessment, the third such assessment conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The results show a leveling off of the performance of American 17-year-olds, who had shown a decline between 1978 and 1982; 9-year-olds' performance has changed…

Throughout the history of education in America, curricula have been expanded to meet individual and societal needs. There has been and will continue to be exploration of issues concerning the future of education. Four issues that have emerged in the 1980's are consumarism, privatism, technology, and quality of life. A "consumer" approach to…

Using information from relevant literature and recent surveys and interviews with administrators of many of Rhode Island's smaller school districts, the report identifies options/strategies which may be useful in counteracting the potential adverse effects that low, or significantly declining, enrollments may have on the comprehensiveness of a…

Web-based, e-learning classes, or online classes that use a proprietary course management system such as Blackboard, are an increasingly prominent part of higher education, particularly in community colleges. In fact, more than three-quarters of community colleges now offer the same course in face-to-face and online modes. And community colleges…

Effective evaluation of educational software is a key issue for successful introduction of advanced tools in the curriculum. This paper details to developing and evaluating a tool for computer assisted learning of science laboratory courses. The process was based on the generic instructional system design model. Various categories of educational…

This article reports on the use of Web logs ("blogs") and online discussion forums in an instructional technology course in a teacher preparation program. Key goals behind the use of these tools included exposure for students to computer-supported communication and collaboration, encouragement of reflective practice, and a better…

This article describes a comprehensive assistive technology (AT) teacher preparation model designed to address both general education and special education or early childhood education students. National technology standards provide the context for the model that incorporates (a) an innovative component, consisting of web-based modules and…

This report explores the use of media for the dissemination of nutrition information to rural areas. Dr. Everold Hosein, in his closing address to the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute's meeting on Nutrition and Mass Media, calls for the support of mass media managers in national development activities. He sees no conflict between media…