Microcomputers in Special Education: Promises and Pitfalls

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Abstract
The microcomputer is making it possible for teachers with a modicum of familiarity with computer technologies to introduce computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in special education rooms. The hardware and software are flexible, inexpensive, and friendly to users; capable of integrating a broad range of peripherals into instructional materials; and reliable. This paper indicates major features of microcomputer systems and indicates some limitations of the current microcomputer systems for special education applications. Many questions about the effectiveness of CAI remain, especially with special populations. With exceptions, the instructional software for current systems is uninteresting, trivial, and sparsely available because the systems are so new and limited in capacity. Teachers must become computer-literate, knowledgeable in instructional classroom management systems and, most of all, comfortable with the technology.

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