To determine whether online training courses are effective, companies should evaluate training software when considering its purchase or development. Author describes the development and use of an instrument for evaluating online courses created by AT&T's Network Operations Education and Training organization. Also includes the On-Line…

Interviews Dr. Ernest Balajthy on the current role of computer technology and artificial intelligence in reading education. (MG)

A consumer-oriented model for evaluating instructional software, which would provide educators with a comprehensive outline for evaluating educational products for purchase and implementation, is proposed. Six components of such an evaluation include program characteristics, rationale and specific objectives, content, instructional format and…

Seven subjects participated in a comparison of the normal and noise suppression settings on the Spectra 22 speech processor of the Nucleus 22-channel cochlear implant system. Group data revealed no significant difference in performance between the two settings for either monosyllabic words in quiet or sentences presented in background babble.…

Discusses a new paradigm for choosing educational software, based on the perspectives of the teacher, student, and designer; describes a study of the use of this paradigm by a group of teachers. Results indicated the paradigm helped assessors to articulate a holistic awareness of educational issues, enabling a coherent review of pedagogical,…

Surveyed 112 early childhood teachers, administrators, college faculty, curriculum specialists, business representatives, and students on the current status of computer integration in early childhood classrooms. Found that 79% of the respondents used computers with children aged 3-5 years and that the majority stressed that computer software for…

A discussion of technology in higher education looks at common, often erroneous, assumptions made in evaluating computer applications for teaching. The Flashlight Project, a three-year effort to develop and share procedures used by colleges and universities to evaluate education strategies for using technology, is described briefly. (MSE)

Provides historical background information about multimedia CD-ROM encyclopedias and evaluates 11 recent releases. Discusses access to information, costs, content, technological developments. Rates the text, multimedia, and user interface. A sidebar provides a 10-year chronology of CD-ROM encyclopedias. (AEF)

Describes the method for producing the equiangular spiral, the geometric curve generated by modeling an insect's orientation process to an illumination source, utilizing a LOGO Turtle program which is included. (JJK)

Describes a course on critical reading at Indiana University-Bloomington that uses case studies of problematic teaching situations and computer-assisted communications to help students develop dialectical thinking processes. The use of two computer programs, Electronic Classroom and RoundTable, is explained; argument analysis is discussed; and…

Describes and compares several exchange/transfer formats used to upload records into software host programs, including unstructured or plain ASCII; fixed field; delimited ASCII; tagged; MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging); and graphic. It is concluded that CD-ROM producers should strengthen the built-in output management of programs and offer…

The fourth in a series of articles on the evaluation of microcomputer software for information storage and retrieval, conducted by the Netherlands Association of Users of Online Information Systems (VOGIN), presents test results for six indexing and full-text retrieval programs--Ask-It, KAware, Texplore, TextMaster, WordCruncher, and ZYindex. (13…

Describes a variety of computer software programs and student activities utilizing the computer to help teach secondary social studies. Suggests using word processors, painting programs, and computer simulations for history and government courses. Concludes that successful use of computers in social studies instruction depends on the design of…

A study assessed the effectiveness of a computer software program in teaching a list of unfamiliar words to eleventh graders, by comparing the program's instructional approach, which incorporates definitional and contextual word knowledge, with approaches that use definitional or contextual information only. A modified mixed approach proved most…

This article discusses studies supporting the use of computer-managed Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and potential deterrents using such software, and summarizes software evaluation criteria. A checklist/rating scale is presented and applied to two software programs: the "Talley Goals and Objectives Writer" and "IEPs…