This monograph for teachers addresses two emerging areas in the computing field--providing inservice training in microcomputer use for the general teaching population, and integrating the use of microcomputers into the overall curriculum. A brief discussion of why computers should be used in the classroom introduces five chapters which provide overviews of the following topics: (1) the use of computers in teaching and learning (areas of computer use and using the computer as a teaching/learning tool); (2) types of software available for schools (computer-assisted instruction software, applications software, and databases); (3) integrating computers into the classroom; (4) developing a plan for using computers in the classroom (setting up a classroom computer center and working with only one computer in the classroom); and (5) evaluating educational software (general questions, questions about instructional design, and questions about physical characteristics of the program). A concluding statement argues that the key to continued growth and expansion in the educational computing field lies with classroom teachers and urges them to take an interest in computers and begin to use this important new tool in their classrooms. A 71-item reference list concludes the document. (EW)

Originally published in 1989, this book differed from others on the topic of microcomputers and education at the time, in that it focuses on the influence that microcomputer technology has on children in their early years, specially pre-school and elementary ages. Microcomputers have the capacity to do great harm as well as good and a full explanation of the technical and philosophical issues involved will be of interest to a number of disciplines. Other topics explored are – the potential uses of microcomputer-technology in early childhood education and current research and theory building on microcomputers and early education. This book should be read by teachers, sociologists, psychologists and researchers in education.

The Eighty-Fifth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I

In the first edition of this seminal study, Larry Cuban presented the last century of American teaching as one of a stable teacher-centered pedagogy. Within this framework, Cuban explored how major school reform efforts to alter classroom teaching often resulted in modest shifts in pedagogy in elementary schools and even less change in secondary schools.Now, in this second edition, How Teachers Taught: Constancy and Change in American Classrooms, 1890–1990, Larry Cuban returns to his pioneering inquiry into the history of teaching practice in the United States, responds to criticisms, and incorporates the scholarship of the last ten years. While not abandoning his basic thesis of the remarkable continuity in teacher-based instruction, Cuban now examines more closely the phenomenon of “hybrids” of student-centered and teacher-centered pedagogy, and finds many instances of classroom change sufficient to give pause to those who see futility in classroom reform. The author looks closely at socioeconomic contexts and the evolution of curriculum content. In the final chapter, Cuban directly assesses the implications of his work for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. Historians, sociologists, and educators will also find powerful relevancy to their work, and the general reader will join in an exciting search for historical realities. “There are no bumper-sticker solutions to educational problems here, no election year gimmicks. Rather, this book presents the seasoned hopefulness and skeptical wisdom of a scholar-practitioner who gives us a better map of where we have been and a sense of where we might go.” —From the Foreword by David Tyack