Texas Telecomputer Grid/Bilingual Career Education Demonstration Project. Final Project Performance Report.

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193

Office of Career Education (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC.

Adult Education; Basic Skills; Bilingual Education; Career Choice; Career Education; Computer Assisted Instruction; Computers; Delivery Systems; Demonstration Programs; Educational Media; Educational Research; Educational Technology; Evaluation; Failure; Job Search Methods; Program Development; Program Effectiveness; Research Needs; Spanish Speaking; State Programs; Success; Teaching Methods; Telecommunications; Television; Tenure

A demonstration project was conducted in 1975-76 at three locations in Texas to show the effectiveness of the Texas Telecomputer Grid (TTG) as a teaching method in bilingual career education. (TTG is a system designed to connect regional concentrations of computer and television resources by microwaves to transmit televised programs, computer information, and face-to-face conversations without the use of telephones.) A course, entitled "The World of Work: Career Orientation for Adults," was developed to incorporate the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic into the topics of job choice, search, and tenure. Of the 218 adult students who enrolled in the course, the 74% who participated in the evaluation study were for the majority Spanish-surnamed. Except in the area of affective development toward careers and education (which reflected little difference), TTG was found to be more effective than conventional teaching methods, and, in general, to be a flexible, viable delivery system for bilingual career education. Further study is needed to explore (1) the learning style of Spanish-speaking adult students, (2) the application of TTG to other areas of career education, and (3) other possible uses of TTG's ability to simulate face-to-face conversations. (ELG)

1979

ED164773