Educators will be able to try out videodisks and playback machines without obligation under a new "preview program" being offered by the Optical Data Corporation, a leading videodisk manufacturer.
The program will allow schools to borrow an ldp-1200 videodisk player, manufactured by Sony Intelligent Systems, and videodisks produced by Optical Data and ABC News InterActive, a subsidiary of the television news organization.
The machines and disks may be used for up to 30 days before deciding either to purchase or return them.
For further information on the terms and availability of the program, contact Pamela Herber at the Optical Data Corporation, Warren, N.J. 07060.
The Discovery Channel, meanwhile, plans to publish a Discovery Interactive Library of videodisks for the school market.
The Maryland-based producer of cable-television educational programming expects to develop as many as 100 two-sided disks over the next five years. The first is expected to be made available to schools throughout the United States in July.
Resource guides for teachers, detailing proven methods for successfully using computers to teach various student populations, are available from the Computer Learning Foundation.
The package includes three volumes of the best lesson plans received in the 1988 Computer Learning Month competition, as well as a compilation of the best cooperative-learning plans submitted during last year's Computer Learning Month.
The series, which emphasizes the integration of computers into the regular curriculum, also includes volumes on early-childhood education, special education, and telecommunications.
With the exception of "Telecommunications in the Classroom," which sells for $10, all of the guides are available for $6 each from the Computer Learning Foundation, P.O. Box 60007, Palo Alto, Calif. 94306-0007.
Written policies are a keystone of cohesive planning for the application of technology to solve educational problems, according to a report by the technology arm of the National School Boards Association.
The 58-page report, published by the nsba's Institute for the Transfer of Technology to Education and the Josten's Learning Corporation, stresses that an educational "vision" must drive the integration of technologies into the curriculum.
Copies of "On Line: Policies & Planning for Educational Technology" are $12 each, with discounts for bulk orders. Contact nsba/itte, 1680 Duke St., Alexandria, Va. 22314.--pw