Xref: utzoo comp.edu:1997 comp.cog-eng:936
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!rutgers!ucla-cs!math.ucla.edu!redwood!troly
From: troly@redwood.math.ucla.edu (Bret Jolly)
Newsgroups: comp.edu,comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Meter Reading as Computer Literacy
Summary: Color can help a lot.
Message-ID: <387@sunset.MATH.UCLA.EDU>
Date: 30 Jan 89 02:03:36 GMT
References: <12.UUL1.3#913@acw.UUCP> <edAWg54Cmn1010gUyXQ@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> <928@novavax.UUCP> <840@afit-ab.arpa>
Sender: news@MATH.UCLA.EDU
Reply-To: troly@math.ucla.edu (Bret Jolly)
Distribution: na
Organization: UCLA Mathematics Department
Lines: 22


  I am teaching 4 lab sections of a beginning computer course which
uses IBM PC compatibles. The main lab area has black and white monitors
but there is an auxiliary lab which has color monitors. The color monitors
are significantly easier to use, for the students and for me. For example,
the cursor keeps getting lost in reversed-field displays on the black and
white monitor. Different types of blocks selected by the word processor
are displayed in different colors on the color monitor. These blocks are
either undifferentiated or are marked by means which reduce legibility
on the black and white monitors. 

  When I worked as a technical flunkey in operations for the Deep
Space Network, the control center had (essentially) black and white
displays, while the spacecraft tracking stations had color displays.
The color displays were significantly easier to read. Some people have
claimed that color makes things worse, but I think these people were
just exposed to very badly designed color displays. Color may make no
difference for some applications, and I doubt it would help
professional programmers much. But for tyros like me, my students, and
my former comrades in technical flunkeydom, it makes a big difference.

-Bret