Presents a Multimedia Title Development Environment (MTDE), which integrates multimedia information, tools used to produce it, and their formats and storage media as objects in an Asset Repository for use by cooperative design teams. The system's architecture and data model are described; and examples are provided of MTDE use and steps in updating…

Explains how modern programming systems empower beginning college students taking computer literacy courses; provides suggestions for designing courses and on the selection of appropriate software; and gives examples of course content and of approaches to course development using the Visual Basic programming environment. (22 references) (LRW)

The opinions of gifted female students at an academically challenging southern high school concerning how women, especially southern women, are portrayed on television were solicited. The girls were guided in examining assumptions, identifying role models, and rejecting the stereotype of the southern woman. (DB)

A detailed analysis and computer-based solution to a puzzle addressing the arrangement of dominoes on a grid is presented. The problem is one used in a college-level data structures or algorithms course. The solution uses backtracking to generate all possible answers. Details of the use of backtracking and techniques for mapping abstract problems…

Discusses what a functional chemical information workstation should provide to support the users in an academic library and examines how it can be implemented. Highlights include basic design considerations; natural language interface, including grammar-based, context-based, and statistical methodologies; expert system interface; and programming…

Introduces the concepts of object technology, discusses object technology's method of reusing software, and examines three main factors that influence software reuse: commonality, connectivity, and commitment. Presents steps that should be taken in the transition to object technology, and reviews present and future benefits for information…

Potential problems for college and university computing functions posed by arrival of the year 2000 (Y2K) are discussed, including arithmetic calculations and sorting functions based on two-digit year dates, embedding of two-digit dates in archival data, system coordination for data exchange, unique number generation, and leap year calculations. A…

Y2K problems include software programming issues involving chronology and microchips embedded in every conceivable piece of electronic equipment. Procrastination is not in schools' best interest. Administrators should initiate five conversion stages: awareness, assessment, renovation, validation, and implementation. A sample equipment checklist…

Recorded home television viewing of 2-, 5-, 8-, 12-year olds, and adults on time-lapse videotapes over 10-day period. Found that cuts, movement, and overt purposeful character behavior were positively related to viewer's looking behavior, independent of child versus adult programming. Associations with looking behavior for other features depended…

Argues that a focus on building an authoring tool for a complete learning environment is misplaced. Analyzes the task of authoring a commercial educational system. Describes the Visual Translator, an authoring tool written specifically for this purpose. (Author/CCM)

Describes ongoing work in designing modular software components based on open standards and a specific instructional design theoryuinstructional transaction theory. Focuses on applied technological solutions to overcome identified limitations of current authoring environments, including proprietary architectures, instructional design theory…

Discusses the poor technical and design quality of many Web sites and provides tips for improving quality: use meta tags; provide page sponsor identification, links back to home page, page titles; display a paragraph describing the purpose of the Web page; avoid using frames and publishing pages under construction; check language and mechanics;…

Discusses new trends in the World Wide Web. Highlights include multimedia; digitized audio-visual files; compression technology; telephony; virtual reality modeling language (VRML); open architecture; and advantages of Java, an object-oriented programming language, including platform independence, distributed development, and pay-per-use software.…

Shows how some of the simple ideas in complexity can be investigated using a spreadsheet and a macro written in Visual Basic. Shows how the sandpile model of Bak, Chao, and Wiesenfeld can be simulated and animated. The model produces results that cannot easily be predicted from its properties. (Author/MM)

Discusses the development and introduction of expert tutoring systems (ETS), or intelligent tutoring systems. Explains MONAP-PLUS, an example of an authoring tool for the design of an ETS that includes models of the subject domain, the learner, and the learning process; a user-friendly interface; and techniques for developing algorithmic…