This newsletter has been designed to update and supplement the curriculum guide "Resources for Teaching Virginia Government." Issue 1 features "Campaigning on the Tube" (J. Babb), an articles that teaches about television's role in promoting political events and candidates in Virginia. "...Demagogues, Pedagogues,…

The daily use of music in a Kingston, Ontario, Canada, special needs classroom motivates severely neurologically and mentally handicapped students and encourages their communication skills. In a special project, handicapped students use tape recorders with special switches to indicate to nonhandicapped elementary students what music appeals to…

The social contexts students need to encourage productive collaboration in their writing can be provided by attending to various design features of the English microcomputer laboratory. Collaborative learning offers a powerful alternative to traditional classroom teaching methods and helps students become part of a community that approximates the…

A literature review of studies on educational computer applications and use revealed that U.S. school districts have incorporated microcomputers into both their instructional and administrative processes. Apple and Radio Shack's TRS-80 microcomputers are the two most popular microcomputers used. Mathematics and language usage are most often…

The many advantages claimed for using the computer in adult literacy instruction--privacy, immediate feedback, individualization, control, and flexibility--have also been observed in the practice of dedicated teachers, without the help of computers. Fortunately, many scholars still emphasize the need for teacher sensitivity and teacher-student…

Although the importance of systematic evaluation of educational policy and practice is well established, various problems confound the intention of evaluating regional or national activity with regard to computer-related activities in education. At least two of these problems relate to a general conception of the appropriate entry points for…

This history of computer text analysis of student writing while brief, is complicated by the fact that there are actually three distinct efforts underway to use the computer for such purposes. There is a certain amount of overlap among the efforts, but their intentions are different enough to warrant separate review. The first effort is toward…

A study was made of: (1) computer use by administrators, teachers, and students in south Georgia public schools; (2) administrators' perceptions of the ability of new teachers to use computers; and (3) the future of computers in public schools. A questionnaire was sent to 193 schools in the 44 school districts in the Valdosta State College service…

Word processing and the LOGO programing language are two microcomputer applications that are beginning to show benefits as learning tools in elementary school classrooms. Word processing packages are especially useful with beginning writers, whose lack of motor coordination often slows down their acquisition of competence in written communication.…

Computers frequently are not utilized adequately or optimally in classrooms. However, selected principles of learning are applicable to computer and software usage. They include: (1) meaningful and achievable exercises; (2) sequential learning; and (3) purposeful content. Learner interest, motivation, and balance among objectives are significant…

Describes New Jersey Institute of Technology's (NJIT) comprehensive plan of becoming a computing-intensive campus. Explains how it provided full time freshmen with microcomputers, free of charge, and how use of computers was integrated into various courses at NJIT. Reviews accomplishments of the program. (ML)

Explains the procedures and materials involved in converting a high school's punch-card system to an online database. Identifies the capacities of the new system and highlights its advantages. (ML)

Reviews the use of spreadsheets and gives examples of how they can be adapted for data analysis in a science laboratory situation. Highlights the benefits and limitations of this approach for students. (ML)

Clarkson University provides each student with a Zenith microcomputer, the cost covered by tuition, eliminating many problems of computer availability and opening doors in the curriculum that were previously closed. (MSE)

Questionnaire responses of Israeli headmasters (N=110) on the introduction of microcomputers in their schools for handicapped children revealed a common emphasis on cognitive skill training and basic skill development with the hope that the computer's characteristics (clear-cut goals, feedback, adaptable pace, high response rate) would facilitate…