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Plans for the evaluation of the Time Shared Interactive Computer-Controlled Information Television System (TICCIT) and Programed Logic for Automatic Operations (PLATO) are discussed. These projects represent attempts to implement innovative curricular systems and to demonstrate the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction. Plans for the evaluation of PLATO and TICCIT emphasize the measurement of student achievement to reflect program accomplishments. The evaluation of the systems will be in the form of a comparative field study concerned with the educational impact of TICCIT and PLATO. Results from instruction with the computer curricular materials will be compared with the results from conventional instruction. (Author/BB)

This paper reviews the empirical research that has been done with computer assisted instruction (CAI) in an attempt to gain an overview that will allow the effectiveness of CAI to be evaluated. In the review, the area of CAI is divided into four basic modes: drill and practice, problem solving, tutorial, and simulation. Each mode is defined, and relevant research is discussed. A further section discusses research in applications involving a combination of the four basic modes. Briefly, the conclusions of the review were that CAI can be an effective instructional tool, that students generally learn more rapidly but retain less with CAI than with traditional methods, that CAI is more effective for low ability students than for middle and high ability students, and that both students and teachers are highly enthusiastic towards CAI as a means of instruction. (WDR)

This document reports on a Cooperative Academic Planning (CAP) curriculum development workshop, held in Atlanta, Georgia, December 3-5, 1973. Part I, plenary sessions on curriculum change and improvement, presents four reports: (1) academic programming for the black experience; (2) illuminating instruction with educational technology; (3) planning: a tool for reshaping institutional direction; and (4) opportunities in change. Part II, panel discussion on participatory academic planning, presents three discussions: (1) implications of admissions and financial aid policies to academic planning; (2) federal agency stimulation and curriculum development; and (3) management information systems and academic planning. (MJM)

Cable TV, first used in rural areas, is finding its way into the urban scene. Many innovative projects are taking place across the country, demonstrating that Cable television's potential is not all dreams. Communication technology, including satellites, microwaves, computers, lazers, HVR, videotapes, closed circuit dedicated systems, and others, can and should supplement Cable technology. A broad selection of instructional aids is available to modern educators including: (1) the picture-phone concept, (2) the home video recorder/player, (3) the teleshop service, (4) cable facsimile newspapers, (5) computer assisted instruction, (6) an electronic mail system, (7) subscriber response service, (8) stock market and weather reports, (9) satellite communication, and (10) electronic public libraries. (MW)

The University of Akron has been using computer assisted instruction (CAI) with cable television (CATV) in a system that blends man and machine delivery systems for instruction of its students. The system provides supplemental instruction in a variety of courses, but present hardware does not allow complete fulfillment of the instructional design. Further technological developments are needed to fill the gaps. (Author/WH)

In founding an instructional materials and methods center on a university campus, it must be borne in mind that the type of university and degree of faculty power greatly affect the eventual form of an instructional center. Many people have different ideas concerning how a center fits into the content model of knowledge or the transmission model of teaching. The purpose of an instructional center is often called "improving instruction", but this can be ambiguously interpreted. On the one hand the purpose could be to aid and supplement existing methods and objectives of instruction. This is likely to mean the center is to be a service agency for the faculty. On the other hand the center might seek to go beyond the existing methods and curricula on campus. In the latter case a conflict with faculty can easily develop. The survival of an instructional center sometimes depends on the independence of its funding and the vagueness of its stated purposes. The idea of being a "catalyst for change" should be avoided. Overall, centers should be expected to engage in research, science, and teaching. (WH)

Project PLAN* is a computer managed, individualized learning system developed by the Westinghouse Learning Corporation, and adopted in the St. Louis Public Schools. A summative evaluation of the system was performed. The use of a computer in Project PLAN* allows the teacher more time to spend with individual students and contributes toward record keeping and feedback on student progress. Project PLAN* was evaluated in the elementary grades using the Metropolitan Achievement Test in grades 1, 2, 3 and using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in grades 4, 5, 6, 7. Affective measures were also used to determine the difference in the students' self-esteem, general anxiety, and test anxiety. Other activities of the evaluation included student and teacher questionnaires and a cost analysis. Mixed results were reported in the evaluation, some of which could be attributed to known contamination of the data. (WH)

Utilization of the principles of instructional systems development and of educational technology can eliminate the inadequacies of instructional program development by the (usually untrained) teacher responsible. The four military services have created an interservice committee on Instructional Systems Development, which has created an instructional development model with divisions into three major phases of system design, system development, and instructional delivery. The procedures developed essentially imitate the cardinal principles of good management. Faced with unacceptable alternatives, the Navy decided to gather at a single site the experts in the field to actually design the instructional programs for the instructors. The management of the Naval Education and Training Program Development Center, which has 270 persons and expects 400 more, requires careful coordination and control to ensure that each persons's specialties are used appropriately. (WH)

Colleges with sizable teacher education programs must demonstrate the legitimacy and usefulness of all kinds of educational media and technology. Students and faculty in such colleges need readily available educational media selection centers, which may be considered expanded curriculum laboratories, to help them become familiar with the materials. Assistance needed in selecting materials for the centers may be provided by referrals from information clearinghouses such as ERIC, or by the National Laboratory System (NLS) proposed by committees of the National Book Committee. The NLS, as a network of educational media centers, should also provide selection and evaluation criteria and cataloging of nonprint media compatible with that of Library of Congress. Colleges should provide active leadership in the NLS program. (LS)

A study was made using behavioral-science knowledge and educational technology to reduce the problem of lost and damaged freight at the St. Johnsbury Trucking Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts. This case study utilized the concept of force field analysis. The concept involved unfreezing a specific set of circumstances in the organization, moving to a new level of well-being in the organization, and then refreezing the organization at this new level of well-being. The key to the success of the program was high-quality training for non-specialists in the function and technology of the specialist which resulted in changing attitudes and perceptions about the need for preventative measures. From this program four major behavioral-science learnings were discovered: (1) to achieve a complex objective, it takes a whole series of training programs aimed at the same objective over a long period of time; (2) training alone cannot do the job, there must be support systems and clear performance goals; (3) the company never had a claims problem; instead, it had inefficient operations due to lack of management knowledge, commitment, and skill; and finally, (4) it is vital that the change agent be personally successful in the process. (WCM)

A review was made of current practices, problems, and related efforts to improve public education. It showed that teachers have been asked to perform an impossible instructional task, and to improve public education a systematic study of the important relevant variables must be initiated. These findings need to be implemented in systematic instructional programs which draw on advanced knowledge of curriculum, instructional methodology, learner variables, and instructional delivery systems. However, psychological research evidence is not directly applicable to the nonlaboratory learning situations in schools. Also, there is little, if any, established data about teaching which is widely accepted. On the other hand, the recognition of trait-treatment interaction analysis is an important milestone despite current criticisms. In addition, computer generated instructional materials have been quite positive when compared to traditional instruction. Programatic research efforts will be required to identify the appropriate variables and relationships and incorporate them into a single adaptive interactive instructional system which can have widespread application. (WCM)

The array of technological devices available for use in the reading program today is impressive. The innovations vary in form and complexity: radio, television, videotape recorder, computer, film loop, cassette, tape recorder, and microforms are but a few of the materials. There are many arguments which could be presented for and against the use of nonprint material in the reading program. However, instead of debating whether print will be superseded by other communication forms and in what ways other communication forms are more effective than print, educators need to explore the ways in which educational technology can make greater contributions to success in reading. Instructional media and the concept of educational technology are still in their infancy. Many devices and plans are presently available for use within the reading program; many devices and plans are in the developmental stages; others are just sparks in some creative imagination. The media do not determine success in reading--rather, it is the teacher's effective use of technological aids that determines success in reading. (WR)

University administrators must not fail to consider the increasingly sophisticated library technology when making administrative and budgetary decisions about college libraries. The declining traditional student enrollment combined with an expansion of continuing education means that the role of the central compus library must be reconsidered. The information explosion, the increased specialization, and the growth of user population have placed severe burdens on libraries. The instroduction of new technology to libraries has met with problems and has been sometimes disappointing, and the long-range view of librarians tends to be that this new technology threatens their position. The systems and technologies most likely to have the greatest impact on libraries in the future are computers, microreproduction (microfiche, microforms), broad band communication (coaxial cables, microwave, satellites, and lasers), video reproducers, and books and graphic devices. (WH)

Presented in this document are the proceedings of the conference to mark the dedication of the Henry Chauncey Conference Center at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey. Included in the document are the opening remarks by William W. Turnbull; Higher Education is a Chauncey Business by Roger W. Heyns; Higher Education in a Steady State: Some Productivity and Manpower Questions by Juanita M. Kreps and James B. Duke; Technology, Humanism, and Higher Education by Lloyd N. Morrisett: and Plato, Ticcit, and Sigi: Demonstrations of Educational Technology in the Service of Higher Education by Ernest J. Anastasio and Martin R. Katz. The dedication ceremony is also included. (PG)

Education's investment in technology is massive. There is growing interest in something called technology assessment, or the evaluation of the environmental consequences (usually second order consequences) of human activities and actions. The investigators conducted a study of the literature of technology assessment to determine the applicability of the theory and methodology of technology assessment to education. Five topics are included in the report of the study. First, a description of the multiple definitions of technology assessment is given. Second, a discussion of the stated and implicit purposes of technology assessments is offered. Third, the assumptions upon which technology assessments are based are explicated. Fourth, the methodology being proposed is examined. Finally, the possible consequences that might occur from educator use of technology assessment are described. (Author)

The Canadian Government has established the Educational Technology Program to encourage the effective utilization of technology to meet educational needs. The success of this program at the federal-provincial level underlies its timeliness and importance. In the area of computer resource sharing, the federal government is aware of the diversity among the provinces in terms of their needs, resources, priorities and stages of development. Thus, each province is being approached to determine to what extent it wishes to work jointly with the federal government in this or other areas of educational technology. (WCM)

The basic similarities between educational technology and organizational development provide a powerful rationale for collaboration. The two disciplines are essentially in the same business, that of systematically changing human behavior. System theory and the system model appear to supply the language and the technology through which such efforts could be effected. The Command Action Planning System (CAPS) employed by the U. S. Navy at the Human Resource Management Center, San Diego was successful for two reasons. First, the entire approach was systematic in nature (i.e., environmental demands were identified, outputs specified, functions derived, resources identified, and the process then implemented and modified until performance was satisfactory). Second, the collaboration of educational technologists and organizational development specialists allowed a comprehensiveness of effort that would have otherwise been impossible. The collaboration appears to have been made possible by the cross-disciplinary aspects of system theory and the integrative capabilities of the system model. (Author/WCM)