Computing authorities at 34 research universities have launched an effort to create a national computer network for higher education several times as fast as the Internet. The network would be supported by several corporate partners in computer and telecommunications industries and by the federal government, would not replace Internet connections,…

Academic Systems Corporation is successfully producing courseware in beginning, intermediate, and college algebra using mediated learning, which provides students with instruction and exercises and teachers with feedback on student progress. The courses present students with real-world problems to solve. Users find the courses pedagogically sound…

While videodisks lost the home-entertainment market to videotapes in the 1980s, they may be emerging as a valuable instructional tool for simulating real-life situations. High costs and production time and lack of standardized technology remain constraints on the medium's use. (MSE)

Student interest in computing and computer services on campus is causing colleges to rewrite brochures, but student misinformation or lack of knowledge about computing remains a problem. (MSE)

A lack of cooperation between engineering and liberal arts faculty members, along with inadequate student advising, has thwarted efforts to broaden the education of engineering undergraduates. A report by the Association of American Colleges, "Unfinished Design: The Humanities and Social Sciences in Undergraduate Engineering Education," is…

The congressionally appointed Task Force on Women, Minorities, and the Handicapped in Science and Technology calls for cooperation among schools, colleges, industry, and federal and state governments to increase the pool of science and engineering talent through programs similar to those following the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957. (MLW)

The Meiklejohn Education Foundation conference, "Liberal Education in the Age of the Computer," is discussed. Several professors believe that computers are friends to facts, but can be the enemies of ideas. There was also some fear that education suffers from a deluge of data that the computer age had brought. (MLW)

Demonstrators who shut down the campus of Gallaudet University forced the resignation of the newly elected president, Elizabeth A. Zinser. A better spirit of cooperation between faculty and the administration is expected. (MLW)

The Deaf President Now Council at Gallaudet, which orchestrated the demonstrations at the school, had 12 adult and 4 student members, but the student members ran the protests. Nonviolent protest tactics learned in a civil-rights course inspired the students. (MLW)

Researchers evaluating several courses taught online found that the instruction can be as effective as traditional classroom instruction and improves students' perceptions of educational quality, access to education, involvement in the classes, and access to professors. (MSE)

Many colleges are expanding their traditional programs to promote exchange of students and faculty members and explore new arrangements with colleges abroad. Some observers say American institutions are moving too fast to meet demands for American-style education and do not adequately oversee operations overseas. (MSE)

The technology to replace printed journals with electronic counterparts is now available. While it may face a long battle for acceptance in many disciplines, it is also likely to have greater impact on traditional means of disseminating scholarship than will desktop publishing, and offers the potential for improved peer review. (MSE)

The Supreme Court will not hear an appeal by a software publisher suing the University of California at Los Angeles for copying its computer programs, upholding state rights in copyright law. However, federal legislation paving the way for such suits in the future is being drafted. (MSE)

HEMAR Education Corporation, a finance corporation, has announced a tuition prepayment program and invited colleges to participate. The program allows parents to pay postsecondary tuition years in advance at deeply discounted rates, with guarantees that the amount paid would cover college attendance costs. Unlike existing programs, college choice…

Professors and computer-industry representatives working to establish a peer-review process for academic software have had to pause to consider how software should be reviewed. They are turning away from the familiar book-review format in favor of a more scholarly, comparative approach focusing on classroom use of the materials. (MSE)