Projected employment reports indicate that most new jobs will involve occupations in which computer skills are essential, but surveys reveal that many people with a disability currently lack these computer skills. One way to address the gap is to prepare students while they are attending primary and secondary school. The National Business…

This study examined the composing processes of five postsecondary students who used or were learning to use speech recognition software (SR) for college-level writing. The study analyzed their composing processes through observation, interviews, and analysis of written products over a series of composing sessions. This investigation was prompted…

The four-week university-sponsored summer Computer-based Writing (CBW) Program directed by the head of a special education initial teacher licensure program gave teaching interns opportunities to work with young struggling writers in a supervised clinical setting to address keyboarding skills, writing conventions and knowledge and application of…

Many children struggle with writing. Idea generation, planning, organizing ideas, editing, and encoding a final text all have a part in a child's producing a publishable copy. Part of the challenge for these students is how working memory can be overloaded when initially planning and writing at the same time. To address this issue, the author…

Children with visual and motor disabilities constitute a distinct group with a unique set of educational needs. Such children are often grouped with the broader population of children with multiple disabilities and visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) (Erin, 2000; McLinden, 1997). The chief characteristic of…

Digital literacies are typically distinguished from traditional literacy either in terms of content (media vs. print) or practice (page turning vs. keyboarding and clicking). This article presents a case for an approach that emphasizes the "who" of reading by contrasting traditional and digital literacies in terms of who counts as a reader.…

Despite the educational benefits, computer programming has not been adopted in the current K-12 education as much as it could have been. One of the reasons for the low adoption of computer programming in K-12 education is the time it takes for (especially young) students to learn computer programming using a text-based programming language, which…

What's hot? That's the question everyone asks during BookExpo America (BEA), held this year at New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center May 29-31. This article presents "Library Journal's" ("LJ's") review editors on their personal favorites from the BEA show floor. These include cookbooks, genre-crossers, small presses,…

Computers, computer programs, and other novel and vivid technological applications to language learning can unintentionally redirect attentional resources and therefore increase the salience of unplanned as well as targeted features. Incidental activities such as keyboarding (Henry, 1992), manipulation of a mouse (Meunier, 1996), and other…

Discusses the pros and cons of teaching touch keyboarding in elementary schools. Indicates that business teachers favor it to prevent development of inefficient keyboarding habits, and elementary teachers argue that it conflicts with whole-language theory and developmental appropriateness. (JOW)

Addresses issues concerning (computer) keyboarding instruction in an attempt to determine if the teaching of such skills to kindergarten and primary grade students should be considered a "must" in the early childhood curriculum or if such practices might have some drawbacks. (BB)

Discusses using word processing programs with beginning writers, including story illustration and keyboarding. An approach to student writing with computers is outlined, highlighting planning, goals definition, and teacher and student aims. Sample student assignments and a sample writing task card are provided. (PEN)

Reviews children's software packages: (1) "Fun 'N Games"--nonviolent games and activities; (2) "Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo"--matching, logic games, and animal facts; (3) "Big Job"--12 logic games with video from job sites; (4) "JumpStart First Grade"--15 activities introducing typical school lessons; and (5) "Read, Write, & Type!"--progressively…

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) for Math still use traditional data input methods: computers' keyboard and mouse. However, students usually solve math tasks using paper and pen. Therefore, the gap between the manner the students work and the requirements imposed by these typing-based systems expose students to an extraneous cognitive load,…

Elementary students are expected to engage in written expression that is handwritten and typed. One critical skill of written expression is sentence construction: the composition of multiple words that follow rules of semantics and syntax. Unfortunately, many students with disabilities struggle to successfully handwrite or type complete sentences.…