COMPUTER AIDED INSTRUCTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00780R001300060034-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 17, 2002
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: April 25, 1966
• Content Type: MFR

CO ` ICE Ti L
Approved For Release 2003/04/29 : CIA-RDP84-00780R001300060034-7
D/ D S R3GIST:Ri
F I L ]S
2 5 APR 1966
SUBJECT: Computer Aided Instruction
1. On Thursday, 21 April 1966, I attended a briefing about computer-
assisted instruction given by Albert E. Hickey representing Entelek Incorpo-
rated of Newburyport, Massachusetts sponsored by the Office of Research
and Development/DDS&T. Also present were:
2. Mr. Hickey talked for about 35 or 40 minutes about some of the ways
in which computer hardware is being used as an aid to instruction. The talk
was almost exclusively oriented toward equipment and the slides he used
depicted student-computer interaction via a cathode ray tube console, and a
light pen. I felt the talk tended to create the impression that the state of the
art in computer-assisted instruction techniques is such that all we need to
do is call upon these people and they would deliver the solution to our instruc-
tional problems. It was only during the question and answer period that some
of the realities of life began to emerge.
3. In response to direct questions, Mr. Hickey acknowledged that very
little has been done with computer-assisted instruction in foreign languages.
That which has been done, of course, teaches only reading at the most
elementary level. It will be many years at least, and it may never be prac-
tical, to use computer-assisted instructional techniques for teaching spoken
languages.
4. The system development work preparatory to writing computer
programs permitting courses of instruction to be offered was also glossed
over entirely during the presentation and again only in response to a direct
question did Mr. Hickey offer the estimate that about 40 hours of system
work and about 7 hours of programming time are necessary to prepare one
hour of instruction. I suspect that even these estimates are highly optimistic.
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25X1
25X1
 Approved For Release 2/MMP84-00780 R001300060034-7
5. A further briefing and hardware demonstration is scheduled for next
week in the Office of Computer Services which I plan to attend.
25X1
Special Assistant to the
Deputy Director for Support
SA-DD/S:RHW:deg (25 Apr 66)
Distribution:
Orig - DD/S Subject
1 - DD/S Chrono
Approved For Release 2003/0
- D 00780 R001300060034-7
ENTIAL