Designed for publishers and producers, this document initiates the annual subject area(s) adoption of basic instructional materials for California schools, kindergarten through eighth grade. The document presents an overview of the total instructional materials adoption-distribution process, specific instructions relating to initial submissions…

In much current language teaching using the communicative approach, the use of texts in the classroom is overly restricted. This is true of both the types of texts used and the activities based on them. Three conventional "communicative" uses of texts illustrate this: using texts to practice processes of language use, to serve as models,…

Intended to assist media managers in making appropriate decisions and planning allocations of resources for an instructional program, this study was designed to determine if captions displayed on instructional video programs interfere with learning in hearing audiences. Subjects were 80 university students enrolled in five undergraduate general…

Contemporary controversy about the proper mix of autonomy and obligation in teaching reveals contention concerning the role of teachers as professionals. At the classroom level, this controversy revolves around the individual teachers' translation of prescribed curricular policy into the operational curriculum of the classroom. An exploratory case…

Issue advertising is intended to inform an audience--most commonly with the intent of changing unfavorable opinions or reinforcing favorable ones--to affect cognition (in contrast to the behavioral emphasis of product and service advertising, intended to stimulate trail and adoption). To explore public reactions to printed and televised issues…

This collection of reprints from The Computing Teacher contains 11 articles on the selection, evaluation, and organization of software published between August 1983 and March 1986, as well as more than 20 reviews of educational software packages published between December 1982 and June 1986. The articles are: (1) "The New Wave of Educational…

Produced to provide educators and library media personnel with some understanding of and direction in the rapidly expanding field of microcomputers and their applications, this monograph includes several articles dealing specifically with media center applications and others concerned more generally with the microcomputer in educational settings.…

This discussion of the educational potential of audiotape and videotape cassettes in distance teaching considers each medium individually, with examples of how the Open University has tried to exploit them in its teaching, and comments on some major differences between the two media and their implication for education. Characteristics of…

This paper presents a global approach to the media comparison literature. Beginning with the pros and cons of media research, it discusses the results of both individual and meta-analysis research, compares the different methods researchers have used to determine media selection, and concludes with the most recent trends in media selection. It is…

This discussion of a major problem area in education--the curricular and implementation aspects of the application of the computer or new information technologies--focuses first on the use and integration of computers in existing courses or subjects in the curriculum, and defines some key terms. The next section considers issues in the…

A discussion of the usefulness of computer-assisted instruction in the second language classroom focuses on the value of teacher involvement in material development. It outlines an approach for the teacher to use in becoming familiar with existing courseware, describes the concept of authoring systems, defines commonly-used strategies for…

The purpose of this inservice program is to introduce new staff members in elementary, middle, or high schools to the nonprint resources in their building so they will be able to select, produce, and correctly use nonprint media to improve instruction as quickly as possible. It is designed to be taught by the staff member who is most familiar with…

A study examined the effectiveness of English dictionaries in assisting in error correction by beginning learners of English as a second language. Lexical errors made in examinations were collected and coded by type, and the usefulness of the "Longman Active Study Dictionary", designed for ESL learners, in helping to correct the errors was…

Advice on the selection of suitable instructional materials to support the chosen method(s) of instruction is offered in this booklet. The first of four sections takes a brief look at the different roles that instructional materials can play in the three main instructional modes--mass instruction, individualized learning, and group learning. The…

These three documents contain information to aid in selection of instructional materials for schools. The first begins with a list of 17 instructional materials selection criteria, bibliographic format and user interest criteria, criteria for non-fiction and fiction materials, and a nonprint review form. The second document, a handbook for…