Three visits to Montevidisco: Spanish enrichment with interactive videodisc

Montevidisco is an interactive videodisc application intended for intermediate Spanish students. It combines language enrichment with elements of role-playing games as the student plays the role of someone visiting a hypothetical city in Mexico, interacting with native Spanish speakers in native situations via videodisc. The concept originated at Brigham Young University in the early eighties, with the video filming done at that time. More recently, the BYU Humanities Research Center has adapted the original material to run on standard microcomputer platforms.There are three implementations of Montevidisco in various stages of development. The first is a side-by-side version that uses a HyperCard stack on a Macintosh to control a separate videodisc player and monitor. The second version uses a video overlay configuration with ToolBook and Windows on an IBM platform. Both of these versions are 'finished' to the extent that they are being used in intermediate Spanish classes at BYU and elsewhere. General marketing arrangements are expected to be finalized this summer. The most recent implementation uses QuickTime on a Macintosh to display digitized video directly from the computer's hard disk.This paper begins with an explanation of the general features of Montevidisco that are common to all three implementations. It outlines some of the design considerations faced and explains how the choice of metaphor influenced those decisions. Some questions that have been raised during the testing and review process are also addressed. The paper then categorizes the significant differences between the three implementations and discusses the technological and pedagogical reasons for them. It concludes with a status report on the QuickTime version and gives an assessment of this new digital video technology in an instructional environment.

Preparing for interactive video

A comparison of the properties of the video cassette recorder (VCR) and the videodisc player points up the advantages for education of disc as a medium for the storage and playback of video signals. It is argued that some form of optical disc technology is very likely to come into language classrooms before the end of the 1990s and that it will be welcomed by those teachers who are currently attempting to use their VCRs as flexible resources in their language programmes. Different applications of interactive video in education and language study are described, with reference to recent examples.

The Air Force Academy Instructor Workstation (IWS): I. Design and Implementation

In this article we discuss the design and implementation of a computer controlled instructor workstation. The original design consisted of an AT-class computer controlling a laser videodisc player, with graphics overlay, data acquisition, administrative support, and central file serving included. We include the background leading to the decision to develop an instructor workstation, as opposed to a standalone tutorial system; goals of the system design; rationale behind the choice of programming language used; description of the system design; and description of the current configuration. As currently implemented, the system consists of a controlling computer, the videodisc player, and the central file server.

Interactive Videodisc Instruction in Pre-Calculus

The interactive videodisc player, managed by a microcomputer, combines the unique instructional qualities of video with the interactive flexibility of the computer. This article reports on the design considerations involved in the development of a series of eight interactive videodisc modules in pre-calculus mathematics. This system, entitled Preparing for Calculus, takes advantage of the unique attributes of each component of the system. The materials provide systematic instruction along dimensions that teachers often have difficulty implementing in classroom situations, but which have been demonstrated to be effective in mathematics instruction. Preliminary field test results indicate that the materials are highly effective, both for review and for initial learning of new concepts and operations.

A Combined Videotex/Videodisc System for Tourist Information

Videotex and videodisc are two relatively new media for electronic publishing. Although the current state of technology can deal with information in different forms, no one information system can handle all vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information at the same time. The convergence of the existing technologies may provide a new environment for electronic publishing and trigger a new range of applications in this area. The Brighton videotex/videodisc project has undertaken a pilot study into a combined videotex/videodisc system in which a videodisc player is controlled by a videotex terminal so that control information on videotex pages can select still frames, or sequences of frames, on the videodisc. The system has been developed in co-operation with the English Tourist Board. It is intended to mount a public trial of the system in the near future. This paper presents a description of the combined videotex/videodisc system. The user facilities are described in detail and there is a brief discussion of the technical issues involved in the implementation.