Combating Computer Fear and Apprehension through Interactive Multimedia.

An interactive tool was created to gauge the skills and attitudes of individuals and populations regarding computer technology and its attendant changes. The goal of the project was to develop a non-threatening, user-friendly instrument to assess the computer skills and attitudes of preservice and inservice teachers and administrators at all levels. The program was created in Authorware, an icon-based interactive courseware-development tool, to give each user a series of tasks, surveys, and audiovisual presentations about the use of computers in education. Only basic keyboard skills and the use of a mouse are required initially, and computer skills are expected to develop during the course of the interaction. Presentation of the instrument at the 25th annual conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) resulted in user feedback that can refine and further develop the instrument. It appears that it can serve its original purpose and may be adaptable for other purposes. Four figures illustrate screens and elements from the instrument. (SLD)