This document on Italy is one of a series of five published by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. The document includes a preface, two major parts, and two appendices. Part 1, the Italian context, includes three chapters. The first chapter describes small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and craft firms in the…

This study was designed as a systematic investigation of the feasibility and effectiveness of student authored videodisc presentations in a non-major introductory level college biology course. Students (n=66) used a quick-learn authoring system, the Macintosh computer, and videodisc player with color monitor. Results included: (1) students managed…

This document describes the use of educational technology (including radio, television, computers, telephones, satellites, and optical laser discs) in adult literacy programs in Australia. Chapter 1 describes the scope of the study that resulted in the document and defines both literacy and educational technology. Chapter 2 contains a generalized…

This report discusses three recent developments in foreign and second language education. The first is the "proficiency movement," which is leading teachers and curriculum planners to find effective ways of measuring functional language proficiency and of bringing students to pragmatically useful levels of speaking, listening, reading,…

Instructional technology is defined as a systematic way of designing, carrying out, and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives, based on research in human learning and communication and employing a combination of human and nonhuman resources to bring about more effective instruction. The main question…

By 2010, when the information age and a service-oriented economy should be thriving, accessing, manipulating, and interacting with information will be the most desirable career skills. Educational reform programs designed to improve these skills through the development of competency-based education programs, instructional technology, and critical…

The role of social scientists and educators in the information revolution is to monitor the social, political, and economic consequences of increased use of technology and to research affective, cognitive, and social outcomes. Six issues provide a focus for addressing the impact of these changes. (1) An assessment of how the technological…

Future issues in educational and occupational testing were discussed at the 1985 Educational Testing Service (ETS) Invitational Conference. Gregory R. Anrig, ETS President, predicted that advances in cognitive psychology and technology would influence tests to serve individuals more than institutions, to help individuals learn and succeed, and to…

This report concentrates on problems of displaced blue-collar and nonprofessional white-collar workers. Chapter 1 is a summary. Chapter 2 discusses policy issues and options focused on helping people prepare for worklife changes and helping workers to cope if displacement occurs. A definition and description of worker displacement are offered in…

Two questions--how school boards might create more productive schools using the tools of the electronic age, and how they might create new learning opportunities and overcome some of the problems schools now face--were addressed at the national conference summarized in this document. The report reviews the current status of public education today…

This report presents the findings of a survey ("Programs and Activities Using Technology To Serve Students at Risk of School Failure") of a sampling of large school districts in the United States and Canada, conducted to obtain information on the use of technology to serve students at risk of school failure for the participants in a…

The international literature on learning at a distance is reviewed with attention to student participation, faculty issues, the technology of delivery, necessary support systems, and the organization and process of distance education. Distance education is used in many content areas in economically diverse countries. Individuals who must learn at…

This paper describes the KEY Program as a successful cooperative effort of the Rochester (New York) Institute of Technology (RIT) and the Livingston-Steuben-Wyoming Board of Cooperative Educational Services (LSW-BOCES). The KEY Program's primary mission is to expand course offerings to high school students in the Rochester area through distance…

This report contains six research papers and a summary of a panel discussion on the topic of cognition and the adult learner. The papers are as follows: "Psychology and Adult Cognition" (Wilbert J. McKeachie); "Biology and Adult Cognition" (Frank Farley); "Technology and Adult Cognition" (Barbara Grabowski); "Enhancing Cognitive Skills" (Richard…

The oral testimony and prepared statements of educational researchers and practitioners comprise this record of a hearing on the proposed national research and development center for the effective education of disadvantaged youth. Committee members expressed concern about Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement…