Classification of the Uses of Computers in Education.

A scheme which classifies the instructional applications of computers is designed to overcome the confusion created by the imprecision and equivocation associated with computer terminology. The classification is restricted to instructional applications, allows that some applications could apply to more than one category, and reflects a continuum of applications from simple to complex. Five major types of applications are postulated--laboratory tools, teaching support systems, teaching systems, learning systems, and tools for research. Laboratory tools include calculators and compilers. Teaching support systems aid the management of teaching and cover 1) teacher-oriented applications such as data banks, answer processors, statistical packages and test generators and 2) the student-oriented applications of individual testing and computer-managed instruction. Teaching systems are those in which the computer is the main support of information; drill and practice and computer-assisted tutorials are the major applications found under this rubric. Simulations and inquiry dialogues are subsumed under learning systems, while in the final category, research tools, are activities such as course and test validation and the development of learning models. (PB)