Future textbooks. (Windows on Science, the first videodisc-based science program approved as a textbook)
by Alan Bechtold

Interactive multimedia computing has entered the public schools in a big way. Windows on Science, the nation's first videodisc-based science program approved as a textbook, has been adopted by 65 percent of the 3400 elementary schools in Texas. This is the first time in the U.S. that a videodisc-based program has competed head to head with traditional textbooks for state textbook-adoption funds.

Optical Data, producer, publisher, and distributor of Windows on Science, says the program will serve as the sole science curriculum in two large Texas school districts, replacing textbooks altogether. This year, more than 7000 Texas educators learned how to integrate Windows on Science into their curriculums. The program consists of 11 videodiscs as well as lesson guides, activities, and a language lab.