Spring Seminars Report. Information Technology and Education Programme. Occasional Paper ITE/3/85.

This report contains excerpts from papers and summaries of discussions and program actions carried out during a series of seminars held to establish research priorities under the Information Technology and Education Programme (ITE) in the United Kingdom. The seminar on "Information Technology" (IT) included Kenneth Ruthven's consideration of IT content and methodology; Tony Scott's presentation of the aims, course descriptions, and key features of The London Borough of Croydon's computer studies courses; and John Gardner's presentation on the teacher's role in raising the levels of IT literacy, clarification of the meaning of IT literacy, and the need for evaluation of IT techniques in education. The seminar on "Implanting Innovation and Teacher Education" included discussions of changes that are needed/anticipated in education as a result of the availability and adoption of IT, the barriers to change, IT based materials, and the teacher's relationship with class members. The last seminar, on "Artificial Intelligence and CAL Development," commenced with a consideration of a range of issues prepared by Bob Hart, which included the meaning of computer assisted learning (CAL); using the computer to help the child transcend physical and computational limits; the development of applications that transcend the traditional curriculum barriers; creative media; support for the teacher; program designs that allow children to break out of strait jackets of arbitrary structures; and the role of research. Other points discussed were reflected in a summary paper by Tony Scott from which several excerpts are given in this report. Appendices include a list of attendees and a discussion of ways in which ITE plans to promote applications of artificial intelligence in education. (DJR)