Urges instructors interested in applying computer technology in developmental education and learning assistance centers to survey campus and community computer resources, learn computer terminology, read computer literature, join computer organizations, and consult experts. Offers suggestions for choosing a computer system and programs, writing…

Provides rationale for introducing information technology courses in secondary schools. Discusses priorities (target audiences, time parameters, course topics, resources needed) to be considered before introducing such courses. The author's proposed course is outlined and discussed, consisting of historical/political, economic/social,…

Describes applications of new technology to information handling on the basis of two trends--the miniaturization of electronic circuits and the shift from analog to digital modes of communication. Information technologies discussed are microcomputers, word processors, telecommunications, storage technologies, databases, videotex, and teletext.…

Discusses a short computer program used in teaching the random (RND) function in the BASIC programming language. Focuses on the mathematical concepts involved in the program related to elementary probability. (JN)

The integration of computers into the school curriculum can be aided by collaborating with the technical and corporate community and developing strategies for systemwide cooperation, communication, and coordination. (Author/MLF)

Reviews an educationally valuable and reasonably well-designed simulation of volcanic activity in an imaginary land. VOLCANOES creates an excellent context for learning information about volcanoes and for developing skills and practicing methods needed to study behavior of volcanoes. (Author/JN)

Advantages of having children use microcomputers at school and home include learning about sophisticated concepts early in life without a great deal of prodding, playing games that expand knowledge, and becoming literate in computer knowledge needed later in life. Includes comments from parents on their experiences with microcomputers and…

Tod Hodgdon, a former math teacher, has no background in computer science yet manages to teach a popular programing course to first-time computer users. This article describes his teaching style and presents his views on computers in the schools. (Author/SJL)

A program written in PASCAL designed to find the number of binary trees possible for a given number of nodes is presented. The problem was found to be highly motivating and exciting for the group of introductory computer science students with whom it was used. (MP)

Speech recognition by computers is discussed, including methods of recognizing isolated words and procedures for analyzing connected speech. Describes Bell Laboratories' speech recognition system which attempts to combine major elements of human communication into a single operating unit. (DS)

Instruction using computers is viewed as different from most other approaches to education, by allowing more than right or wrong answers, by providing models for systematic procedures, by shifting the boundary between formal and concrete processes, and by influencing the development of thinking in many new ways. (MP)

Clover Park School District has planned a two-year phased-in implementation of microcomputers. This article describes the successes and problems encountered in the first year of the program, which focused on teacher training. Journal availability: Educational Computer, P.O. Box 535, Cupertino, CA 95015. (SJL)

Details are provided about project SERAPHIM which is aimed at setting up a model system for dissemination of instructional materials in chemistry. Many of the instructional modules that will be handled by the project will be computer-based, with an emphasis on microcomputer-based materials. (MP)

Discusses mini/microcomputers in education including ways computers can be used in schools, computer literacy, positions for and against classroom use of computers, computers as agents of instruction (devices to deliver instruction), computers as objects of instruction (teaching about computers and computer programing), and including the author's…

Describes kinds of results achieved by computer programs in artificial intelligence. Topics discussed include heuristic searches, artificial intelligence/psychology, planning program, backward chaining, learning (focusing on Winograd's blocks to explore learning strategies), concept learning, constraint propagation, language understanding…