Uses of Dynamic Geometry Software (DGS) are often limited purely to a verifying role. Presents a case study that emerged from a project in which DGS formed an integral part of the pedagogical arrangement. The study demonstrates how the contrasting power of DGS might be utilized in a guided discovery setting. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/ASK)

Assesses the capabilities and limitations of a collaborative writing software program used in a French foreign language writing course. Discusses the value of collaborative writing in foreign language writing; provides an introduction to collaborative writing software; and offers practical classroom activities. (SR)

Reports findings of a case study that explored the possible benefits that dyslexic children might have when engaging in the creation of their own multimedia project. Concludes that the open-ended character of a multimedia authoring package can encourage creative thinking and interest for content and style of presentation. (Author/LRW)

Written by a father of a child with autism, this article discusses the child's symptoms, the diagnosis of autism, and the child's behavior problems. It describes the use of different types of computer software that has enabled the child to experience a series of cognitive jumps. (CR)

Discusses the importance of standards in introductory programming courses that enable novice software developers to write correct programs to specification and time. Considers issues involved with assessing students' programming abilities. Provides an overview of an automated assessment system adopted at the University of Warwick (United Kingdom)…

Provides a conceptual framework for evaluating Automated Instructional Design (AID) and Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) systems. Evaluation systems including personal, pedagogical, product-oriented, user-oriented, and context-oriented methods are discussed. Figures representing components of the evaluation process are presented. (Contains 25…

Provides advice and suggestions for educators or parents who are trying to decide what type of computer to buy to run the latest computer software for children. Suggests that purchasers should buy a computer with as large a hard drive as possible, at least 10 megabytes of RAM, and a CD-ROM drive. (MDM)

This instructional module presented by the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) provides guidelines for teachers and other test developers to help them construct test item banks. Setting up an item bank and using it are described, with a consideration of software that can be used. (SLD)

Two studies with a total of 82 students (grades 5-7) with learning disabilities found that, unaided, students corrected 9% of their errors; with spelling checkers, they corrected 37% of errors. Spelling checkers failed to identify about 30% of errors. Students usually selected the correct word from spelling checker suggestions. (Author/DB)

Undergraduate students used an intelligent collaborative learning system with the Jigsaw method of cooperative learning, and were monitored by the group leader as they developed algorithmic projects. The system components and operation are described. Students thought that the system, although slow, was easy to use and useful for collaborative…

Describes four stages of multimedia development: (1) preparation; (2) instructional design; (3) production; and (4) evaluation. Discusses strategies and recommendations for each of the steps as identified by the staff of the Educational Technology Laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina. (AEF)

Describes a language generation system, which, given data files describing a natural language, generates utterances of the class the user has specified. The system can exercise control over the syntax, lexicon, morphology, and semantics of the language. This article explores a range of the system's potential applications to second-language…

Discusses a school study of the evolution of a child language. A software program was developed to challenge Italian children in sentence structuring, motivate their sentence production in a game, provide feedback on the linguistic structure and the game context, and classify linguistic productions. (26 references) (Author/CK)

Describes a course that weaves the learning of how to use the chemical literature with a discussion of the chemistry of the elements. The use of computer programs and games enables students to explore trends of properties among the elements. (DDR)

A theory of how people detect and correct their own performance errors during skill practice is proposed. Blame assignment, error attribution, and knowledge revision are identified as three cognitive functions in explaining error correction. The theory is embodied in a computer model that learns cognitive skills in ecologically valid domains. (SLD)