Personal computing

Abstract

“A National Educational TV Series at Pre-College Level for Personal Computing and Computer Literacy”, David C. Rine, Western Illinois University.Under grants from the IEEE Computer Society, The Johns Hopkins University, Radio Shack and other agencies, the International Instructional TV Cooperative, source of instructional TV materials to all educational TV networks nation-wide and internationally, has finished and is marketing the implementation of a six-course national educational TV series aimed at the pre-college level in the area of personal computing and computer literacy. The name of the project is “Personal Computing: An Adventure of the Mind”.The objectives of this new series are to illustrate the uses of personal computing, to demonstrate the interface of humans and machines, to identify the fundamentals of communication in personal computing, and to motivate students to be innovative in their own applications of personal computing. Since the personal computer is viewed by many as a mind multiplier, a further objective of this educational TV series is to greatly increase the number of minds that can be multiplied, by taking Personal Computing to millions of children in classrooms across the country.Education and informational programs are closely allied in that both attempt to communicate facts, concepts, and ideas. Both need to be designed with specific objectives in mind. Some of the objectives to be discussed are both attitudinal and informational in nature; that is, they deal with feelings as well as facts. The underlying thrust throughout is that . . . LEARNING CAN BE FUN!