Screen designers for computer-mediated instruction (CMI) products must consider the motivational appeal of their designs. Although learners may be motivated to use CMI programs initially because of their novelty, this effect wears off and the instruction must stand on its own. Instructional screens must provide effective and efficient instruction,…

Initiated in 1980 with two telecourses on educational access television, the distance education (DE) program at Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ) currently includes over 35 credit and continuing education telecourses, 160 teleconferences downlinked annually, community forums on public television, and award winning educational…

Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ) enrolls over 6,300 students annually in college-credit telecourses and computer-based courses. At the midpoint of each term, all students who have withdrawn from a distance education course are surveyed regarding their reasons for withdrawing and their perceptions of possible improvements. In winter…

This theme issue includes four articles on the effective use of computers and electronic technology in education, and on equitable access to educational technologies for Hispanics and other minority groups. "Teachers and Instructional Technology: Wise or Foolish Choices" (Laura Chris Green) describes three unproductive roles for computer…

A project using a computerized concordancing program in combination with a computerized corpus of academic texts to teach academic English is described. It is intended for native speakers and learners of English, and focuses on frequently-used words common to all academic fields. The vocabulary was selected from an academic word list, and…

Research has been conducted which develops case studies on how to engage scientists in partnerships with teachers. Studies have focused on the Internet and the World Wide Web as potential conduits of research results to the classroom, particularly if scientists and teachers were involved in joint creation of Internet-based curriculum and lesson…

This paper discusses the use of computers to modify the learning processes of preschool children. Focusing on children from non-francophone, lower-class, immigrant families in a suburb of Paris, France, the paper discusses the development of specialized computer software to allow children to type the names of animals, objects, and people on the…

Pupils in middle schools should have ample opportunities to write with the use of word processors. Legible writing in longhand will always be necessary in selected situations but, nevertheless, much drudgery is taken care of when using a word processor. Word processors tend to be very user friendly in that few mechanical skills are needed by the…

This document contains the welcoming and keynote addresses and selected papers from a 1993 symposium of the International Visual Literacy Association. Topics addressed in the papers include: visual literacy; research methodology and design for content analysis of visual images; multimedia as courseware; design issues in authoring multimedia…

The paper affirms the necessity to incorporate new technology and new assessment techniques into any restructuring of the way the Florida state system of public schools now functions at the local school level. If the intent of public education is to prepare students to become thinking, contributing members of the 21st century, teachers not only…

Research on the motivational aspects of multimedia games may provide ways to design more engaging user information systems which increase users' exploratory and information-seeking behaviors. Two small-scale exploratory studies examined the effects of introducing information on the intrinsic motivation of users of a CD-ROM game. Results of the…

This paper reports preliminary findings from an ongoing longitudinal study of preservice teachers mathematical knowledge and confidence. The subgroup for this study consists of 11 preservice teachers from a group of 60 students enrolled in the 2-year teacher education pilot program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), Toronto…

This study investigates children's spatial cognition in the microcomputer environment created by "HyperGami." Two categories of spatial cognition have been described: spatial visualization, which involves mentally rotating, manipulating and twisting two- and three-dimensional objects; and spatial orientation, which involves the ability…

A traditional dichotomy has always existed between the quantitative origins of computers and the subjective and expressive nature of art. Computer technology, however, has become simultaneously more sophisticated in its application and more simplified in its use. Computers can now serve as viable and productive components of an art education…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the use of technology and student computation and geometry achievement. The study also examined possible relationships between achievement differences related to demographic and background characteristics of the students and the use of technology. The sample of 956 students in…