Effective Use Of A Computer-Managed Instruction Program

Abstract

Linda is a first-grade teacher. This month she is working on initial consonants with her class. She has a whole wall of instructional materials at her disposal, as well as piles of workbooks, worksheets from her last several years of teaching, and the resources of the Chapter 1 office at the district building.

Linda sits at her desk and writes out code numbers of the several Initial Consonant Skills that were determined as important by the Chapter 1 staff. Johnny Jones is student 1101, so Linda writes 1101-010101, 1101-010102, 1101--010103. Similarly, she goes through all the students in her classroom, deciding which instructional skills they need to work on next week, listing their student codes and skill codes on the appropriate Skills Request Form. After school, she drives to the local Chapter 1 office to drop off this form.

The next morning the secretary at the Chapter 1 office types that list into the Apple computer, prints it out to verify accuracy, then processes that Request File through a specifically developed computer program. An hour later, the computer printer will have printed out a sheet for each student in Linda's class containing up to six instructional activities appropriate for the skills Linda wants the student to work on the next week. Additionally, there will be a printed list of all students assigned to each instructional activity for Linda to use when grouping students during the week. Linda can now concentrate on working individually with her students rather than spending many hours keeping detailed records about her students.