The Copyright Act's restrictions on educational use of videotape recorders need clarification either by Congress or by the courts. Administrators and media specialist practitioners should become familiar with licensing agreements and copyright restrictions that accompany audiovisual and technological materials. The use of commercially produced…

Computer software packages that are commercially available for physics instruction are compiled in this paper. Information for each program includes: the broad subject category (i.e., mechanics, waves and sound, heat and thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, optics and light, modern physics, mathematical models, or general reference/testing…

TXTPRO, a computer program developed as a graduate-level research tool for descriptive linguistic analysis, produces simple alphabetic and word frequency lists, analyzes word combinations, and develops concordances. With modifications, a teacher could enter the program into a mainframe or a microcomputer and use it for text analyses to develop…

Recent technological advances and new software packages put unprecedented power for experimenting and theory-building in the hands of students at all levels. Microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) and model-solving tools illustrate the educational potential of the technology. These tools include modeling software and three MBL packages (which are…

This ERIC Digest examines the uses of databases in the social studies, including what a database is and how to use it, types of databases available for social studies classroom use, and the role this educational tool can play in achieving the goals and objectives of the social studies. A distinction between print and computerized database files…

The effects of a multidimensional latent trait space on estimation of item and person parameters by the computer program LOGIST are examined. Several item pools were simulated that ranged from truly unidimensional to an inconsequential general latent trait. Item pools with intermediate levels of prepotency of the general latent trait were also…

Microcomputers need to be introduced and effectively managed in academic organizations, where compatibility becomes an important issue as users wish to communicate with other users via computer. The need to standardize hardware and software thus becomes an important issue. The first step in selecting a microcomputer standard is the selection of a…

A practical guide to conducting and reporting graduate-level research projects outlines each step in the research process and discusses both practical and theoretical considerations. Chapter 1 addresses idea and topic development. Chapter 2 discusses the purposes, procedures, and sources for literature reviews and searches. In chapter 3, the…

This courseware evaluation rates the Design Your Own Home program developed by Avant-Garde Publishing Company. (The program--not contained in this document--uses standard architectural scales and 126 shapes to allow creation of structural floorplans and sideviews.) Part A describes the program in terms of subject area and hardware requirements…

This publication is an annotated guide to software for teaching adult literacy recommended by the Adult Basic Skills Technology (ABST) Project. The ABST Project was initiated in 1982 as the Region X Adult Education Software Project, an effort by the State Adult Basic Education Departments of Washington, Oregon, and Alaska to provide adult basic…

The paper reports an inter-agency cooperative project to investigate the use of different instructional data bases to determine which characteristics were most facilitative for the instruction of 14- and 15-year-old urban students with a range of abilities in a summer career exploration program. Special education and rehabilitation professionals…

As part of a long-range information systems planning effort at the University of Miami, the impact of technology on the organization was assessed. The assessment covered hardware, office automation, systems and database software, and communications. The trends in computer hardware point toward continued decreasing size and cost, placing computer…

This description of activities initiated through the Computer Technology Project of the provincial education ministry in Alberta, Canada, covers the 2-year period beginning with establishment of the project by the Alberta Department of Education in October 1981. Activities described include: (1) the establishment of the Office of Educational…

This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of a computer literacy program for 4-year-old Head Start students and their teachers that was developed through the efforts of the Indianapolis Head Start program, the Children's Museum, and the Indiana University School of Education. The report covers: (1) the objectives of the program; (2) a…

This report briefly describes the background, software, tools used, and future directions of the Scholarly Services project which began in 1987 in the OCLC Office of Research. Several selected projects are reviewed to illustrate how sample data are extracted from the OCLC Online Union Catalog to support scholars in their research endeavors. The…