As distance education technology enables institutions of higher education to offer courses to students throughout the country, it is important for student affairs to offer opportunities for these students to connect with the institution. This article reviews the relevant literature on distance education and discusses differences between providing…

At the University of Mauritius, blended learning is defined as the application of technology to support a range of teaching and learning activities in courses that are mainly given to full-time undergraduate students on campus and part-time mature students on postgraduate programmes. This article reports the observations of two studies that were…

Latent trait theory supposes that, in testing situations, examinee performance on a test can be predicted (or explained) by defining examinee characteristics, referred to as traits, estimating scores for examinees on these traits and using the scores to predict or explain test performance (Lord and Novick, 1968). In view of the breakthroughs in…

The applications of telecommunications technology, computers, and other technologies are addressed in five papers. In an overview, Raymond J. Lewis, Jr. suggests that colleges and universities are finding that telecommunication technologies offer cost effective ways of reaching adult learners, and that open broadcast television has been the…

Situation comedy (sitcom) dialogs that are included in PLATO lessons for first year Russian students are described. These comprehension exercises make use of both the touch panel and the audio capabilities of PLATO. The sitcom dialogs were written by a native speaker of Russian and are based on the vocabulary in the textbook plus a small number of…

The use of computer assisted instruction (CAI) at Indiana University to provide basic grammar review to beginning writing students, and the results of an evaluation of the PLATO system as a learning resource are described. At the time of the evaluation, the CAI curriculum in use was the Language Arts Routing System (LARS). The evaluation involved…

Experimental instructional projects and educational programs generated by teachers at the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago are described. Department-based projects include the following: introductory botany for nonscience students, University of Illinois, Urbana; futuristic and technological approaches to nonmajor biology, Ohio…

Departmental differences in student perceptions of teaching effectiveness were measured using behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS). The 495 college students were taking junior and senior level courses in art, business, computer science, French, psychology, and sociology. Each subject completed either the BARS or a simple summated scale, both…

Forecasting models for maximizing postsecondary futures and applications of the model are considered. The forecasting of broad human futures has many parallels to human futures in the field of medical prognosis. The concept of "exasperated negative" is used to refer to the suppression of critical information about a negative future with…

More than ever, schools must develop procedures to increase cost effectiveness and control in the purchasing, storage, delivery of, and accounting for educational equipment and supplies. This document is intended to provide beginning purchasing officials, as well as other administrators and staff, with a basic understanding of the purchasing…

This monograph summarizes 21 presentations from a symposium whose theme was technological literacy--an understanding of the impact of technological descisions. These presentations are divided into five categories. The six presentations in the section, The Context of Technology Education, focus on technological literacy for living in today's…

This paper describes competency-based systems and system components in vocational and occupational education and other areas of elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education. Seven systems of competency-based instruction are discussed: Program for Learning in Accordance with Needs, Individually Prescribed Instruction, Individually Guided…

This guide to studying at the Open University concerns the problems of independent learning for the adult student. Working effectively as a student requires clear and realistic goals, support from close contacts at home and work, a business-like approach, and a desire to learn. Study techniques covered are when and where to study, how to read…

To give those business and vocational educators involved in curriculum development a better understanding of data processing personnel requirements, a study was initiated to determine the status of data processing equipment and personnel in selected Pennsylvania businesses. Following a literature review, a questionnaire was developed, revised, and…

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR PARTICIPANTS, INCLUDING STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SUPERVISORS AND CONSULTANTS, SPECIALISTS AND TEACHER EDUCATORS FROM ALL SERVICES OF VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION REPRESENTING 31 STATES AND CANADA, ATTENDED THE SEMINAR WHICH HAD THE PURPOSES OF (1) INFORMING PARTICIPANTS OF THE MANY NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN…