The Internet introduces something quite new into ordinary everyday communication. It is now possible to carry on extensive interactions with other people without being fully present or even identifying oneself. While this has always been the case to some extent with the use of written and printed communication, as well as with telephone, radio,…

This paper articulates a framework for thinking about the role of place in human experience. The question of why physical place is important in all experience is dealt with through a review of recent work on the concept of place, including Keith Basso's ethnographic work with the Western Apache on their belief that an enduring sense of place…

This paper addresses the question of whether instruction is a product or a practice and the relationship of these two concepts to instructional design. The points of view presented are based on the framework articulated by Habermas for dealing with different types of relationships between theory and practice and Grundy's application of these ideas…

Three major approaches to the use of computers in education are examined, serious limitations of each are presented, and questions are raised as to the efficacy of technologolizing education. The drill and practice approach is shown to embody a deterministic, behavioral technology that turns learning into a systematically-designed and…

This paper discusses the implications of Lucy Suchman's conclusion that a theory of situated action--i.e., the actual sense that specific users make out of specific Xeroxing events--is truer to the lived experience of Xerox users than a cognitive account of the user's plans--e.g., the hierarchy of subprocedures for how Xerox machines should be…

This discussion first analyzes major claims of a cognitive-developmentalist perspective on the use of microcomputers in early childhood education. Five topics are specifically addressed: microcomputers and intellectual structures, microcomputers as cultural events, microcomputers and strategy repetoires, instruction and the self-construction of…

Three experiments were performed in which subjects were exposed to two sizes of the Embedded Figures Test (EFT), and subjects in the third experiment were also exposed to two sizes of the Rod and Frame Test (RFT). In the first experiment, where the EFT had a size differential of 1 to 4, a nonsignificant size effect and a significant rank…

Analyzes three major approaches to the use of computers in education: (1) drill and practice; (2) tutorial, and (3) simulation and programing. Courseware for each approach is discussed, educational philosophy and types of knowledge are described, the effect of computers on learning processes is examined, and 114 references are provided. (LRW)

Discusses the potential that definitions of visual and television literacy offer for understanding computer literacy. Three areas of visual literacy research covered include visual communication and languaging; visual processing and thinking; and general definitions of visual literacy. Anderson's television literacy objectives are also reviewed.…

Describes application of instructional systems design, dialog design principles, and human factor considerations in developing the Pennsylvania Department of Education's computer-controlled intelligent videodisc system, which allows K-12 teachers to preview language arts television programs and overcome their technology anxiety. The top-down…

Describes the design of a BASIC computer program which enables students to learn BASIC in the context of top-down structured projects and discusses a specific example which uses a program to teach students about double-scripted variables and data structures. (MBR)

The kind of learning experience provided by the LOGO programing language, its efficiency as a learning tool within the school curriculum, and the role of the teacher in the LOGO environment are each discussed. (MNS)

This response to criticism of an earlier article on situated critical pedagogy discusses social construction versus narcissism; student empowerment; perceptions of learning and teaching; situated cognition versus relationalism; knowledge and action; and the nature of theory. (eight references) (LRW)

Discussion of the socially situated and constrained nature of educational computing focuses on situated critical pedagogy and computer education. Four areas are highlighted in an examination of teaching/learning situations: (1) praxis, i.e., a relationship between action and reflection; (2) situated critical pedagogy; (3) interpretive processes;…

Raises several questions about information technology. After arguing for the importance of physical place and presence in how people construct meaning, form personal biographies and public histories, and develop living communities, the article contrasts this with the consequences of the abstractions of place and presence in virtual, on-line…