ALTHOUGH MANY OF THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE HAVE RECEIVED CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION BY TEACHERS OF ENGLISH, THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF CYBERNETICS AND THE USE AND USEFULNESS OF MASS MEDIA HAVE BEEN LARGELY IGNORED. THIS MONOGRAPH BEGINS WITH A CHAPTER ON THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPUTER AND MASS MEDIA AND THEIR IMPACT IN THE NEAR FUTURE ON EVERY ASPECT OF HUMAN LIFE. CHAPTER 2 EXPLAINS THE OPERATION, CAPABILITIES, AND APPLICATIONS OF THE COMPUTER. CHAPTER 3 TREATS THE EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS OF THE COMPUTER AND ITS EXTENSIONS IN MASS MEDIA, ILLUSTRATING ITS PRESENT GERMINAL USE AS A TEACHING MACHINE AND THE BASIS FOR INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS AND SHOWING HOW IT WILL INEVITABLY BECOME INSTRUMENTAL TO THE ENTIRE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS. DANGERS ARE INHERENT IN SUCH A SYSTEM, HOWEVER, AND CHAPTER 4 DESCRIBES THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ONES IN LIGHT OF THE HUMANISTIC AIMS OF A LIBERAL EDUCATION AND, PARTICULARLY, OF ENGLISH AS A SUBJECT AREA. FINALLY, CHAPTER 5 TURNS TO THE IMPACT OF CYBERNETICS AND MASS MEDIA ON THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH. TELEVISION, THE MOTION PICTURE, RADIO, RECORDINGS AND TAPES, AND THE COMPUTER ARE TREATED SEPARATELY IN THIS LAST CHAPTER, THUS EMPHASIZING THE NECESSITY FOR TRAINING PRESENT AND FUTURE TEACHERS IN THE USE--AND WARNING THEM OF THE MISUSE--OF THESE MACHINES. THIS DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE FROM THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH, 508 SO. 6TH ST., CHAMPAIGN, ILL., ORDER NO. 18108, $1.50. (DL)