ion Select e r a w Soft ICT Training June 2002 Contents Job Aid Prepared by Oksana Maibroda Software selection workshop What questions should you be asking before choosing a software program as a tool for your instruction? Not all features will apply to your needs, but a checklist may help you determine how useful your software can be to you and your students. This workshop will focus on different issues such as: What does the program claim to help learners achieve? How does the program help instructors? How easy-to-use is the software? How does the software evaluate the learner's responses? Objectives 1 Defining software 2 Evaluating software 4 Activities 7 Trainer Notes 10 Objectives The objective of this workshop is to prepare teachers to systematically examine computer software before they use it with their students. The activity is designed to provide teachers with a basis for evaluating software and creating their own evaluation form. CSLP — Software Selection Page 1 Defining software There are many different types of computer software packages available on the market today. This workshop will focus on the five that are more commonly used in educational settings. These five types of computer assisted instruction (CAI) software are generally considered to be: ‘Drill and practice’; ‘Tutorial’; ‘Simulation’; ‘Problem solving’; and ‘Educational games’. Drill & practice Drill and practice programs are those that present material to be learned through repetition. This type of program is valuable when teachers wish to an activity that will give immediate feedback. This type of software is often used to enhance lessons in mathematics or other factual material. Tutorial Tutorial software is able to present material that has been previously taught or present new material learned in an individual setting. In essence, a tutorial program will provide an opportunity to enhance previous learning or create new learning based on the curriculum objective. A good tutorial offers help screens to give further explanation or further illustration. The tutorial should present information and interpret wrong answers. When interpreting wrong answers the program should have the ability to continue the lesson from that point by providing feedback on the misunderstood information before continuing with new information. Simulations Simulation software can provide opportunities to test skills in real applications by creating situations that allow students to act in that situation. Simulations are used to teach procedural knowledge, such as learning how to fly a plane or drive a car. Good simulation programs can provide an environment for practice situations that are not possible in the classroom or may put the student at risk . It provides procedural learning when it is either too dangerous or not possible to be in a true setting. CSLP — Software Selection Page 2 Problem solving Problem solving software presents problems for students based on skills they have previously acquired. They provide applications of basic problem solving strategies, means-end analysis, and brainstorming. Problem solving software will help students to create and improve their problem solving strategies. Instructional & educational games Instructional or educational games are software packages that create skills in a gaming environment. The game is provided as a motivational tool whereby the student go through elaborate game procedures, master a number of skills. While all five of the above types of software contain an instructional component, only the drill & practice programs corrects what has been learned, whereas simulations apply what has been learned, and problem solving programs develop learning strategies. Understanding the types of software available will help you evaluate by choosing software by making educated judgements, which software best meets the goals of the curriculum. CSLP — Software Selection Page 3 Evaluating the software Now that we have defined the different types of software available to us, we can begin the process of breaking down the evaluation into smaller, easily analyzed components. The components we will be looking at are: educational value, entertainment value, ease of use, design features, value, and packaging integrity. Educational Value To provide educational value the software must be able to perform in a capacity that meets the teacher's curriculum. The software package should offer good presentation in the topic area or areas to be taught. Graphics and sound should not detract from the program's educational intentions and feedback should be relevant with meaningful graphics and sound capabilities. The program should grow with the student and offer a nice challenge range, as well as, provide strategies to extend the learning. To be educationally sound the program must offer something for everyone by being free of gender, ethnic, and religious biases. When assessing the educational value of a software package, you need to consider what the student can learn from this program and if the learning is meaningful and in line with what you have set up as a goal to meet your curriculum objectives. Entertainment Value Entertainment will provide a level of fun to the educational experience and will motivate the students to use the software over and over again. Entertaining educational software should include graphics, speech, and sounds that are meaningful to students, as well as, provide an appeal to a wide audience. The program should provide a fluid challenge level and allow the student to select from a range of difficulty levels. CSLP — Software Selection Page 4 Ease of Use The ideal software package should be easily used by a student with minimal help or instruction. Students should be able to use the software independently after the first use. It is important that the teachers can look at the software and appropriately evaluate that the skills needed to operate the program are in the developmental range of the student. To be easy to use, the software must provide good navigation by implementing straightforward menus, large icons that are easy to select, and the ability to quickly move in and out of activities at any part. Most importantly, the software must be easy for the teacher to understand how to apply the program in an effective manner. Value Unfortunately, many times our first question concerning software is "How much is it?" It is important that the software creates educational value, therefore a more appropriate question should be "What is it worth?" Considering the cost of a software program, we need to rate the programs relative value considering the current software market. Of course, we must also consider the hidden costs involved with implementing new software. Consider the following questions: • Will you need additional hardware to implement the software successfully? • Will the software require significant teacher training? • Can the software be applied to a wide range of topics or does is have a narrow curricular relevance/use? • Can the software be used over a network to benefit the whole school or only on a single desktop computer? Package integrity Software companies spend millions of dollars each year to give their packaging the ‘eye catching’ appeal that will make you want to make the purchase without considering the technical issues or reading reviews. Before purchasing an educational software package, be sure to look for the following information. • The packaging should clearly state the educational objectives and age appropriateness of the program. • You should look for several ‘true’ screen shots to illustrate the content features, as well as, the system requirements to use the software. CSLP — Software Selection Page 5 • CSLP — Software Selection Good educational software will always state the specific learning skills addressed by the software and offer a thirty day money back guarantee for unsatisfied customers. If a company truly creates great educational software they will have no reason to hide these features from consumers. They will proudly display all the information needed to help you make an educated decision on your purchase. They will be so confident that you will find a benefit of their product that a money back guarantee is not a big deal. When software companies do not provide this information on their packaging it is like trying to guess what a novel is about by looking at its cover. So, ‘Buyer Beware’. Page 6 lection e S e r Softwa Activities Activity 1: Compiling evaluation criteria Brainstorm criteria that you would include in an evaluation form that reflects your personal teaching philosophy keeping in mind the students and the topics you intend to teach. Write your ideas on large chart paper. Activity 2: Development of evaluations forms Use the computer or pen and paper to create an evaluation form with the criteria that meet your needs and those of your students. This can be done collaboratively in small groups or individually. Decide on the type of measurement you would use (e.g. rating scale, strengths/weaknesses, checklist, etc), the grade level you are targeting, and subject area. Once your form is done apply it to a software package of your choice. Use the questions found at the end of this document to complete this activity. Activity 3: Presenting your results Present the results of the evaluation you conducted to your colleagues. Here are some software evaluation features and questions to help with your evaluation form development activity. • Documentation & supplementary materials • Program content • Presentation • Effectiveness • Audience appeal & suitability • Practice/assessment/feedback • Ease of use • User interface and media quality 1. What are the objectives of the software? a. What is the intended purpose of the software, and where is it intended to be used? b. What does the program claim to help learners achieve? c. What is the developmental level of the intended audience? d. How does the program help instructors? 2. How user-friendly is the software? • Instruction manual • Quick and easy • Save previous work • Quit from any point • Save previous work • Self-explanatory or based on a set of rules or instruction 3. How does the software evaluate the learner's responses? • Informative feedback 4. Does the program focus on different learning styles in the exercises? • Recognition • Recall • Comprehension • Experiential learning (learning by doing) • Constructive understanding (using computer as a tool to discover new information) 5. Does the program offer exercises that can be worked on by a pair or a group of students as well as an individual? 6. How does the program keep track of students' scores/make them available to the instructor? • Keep a record number of correct/incorrect answers • Track of total time spent on an exercise • Average scores • Chart their progress CSLP — Software Selection Page 8 7. What types of activities does the software offer? • Games • Text Construction /Reconstruction • Quizzes • Simulation • Problem Solving • Tutorial • Drill-and-Practice • Exploratory Activities 8. How does the software present these activities? • Cloze • Storyboard • Jigsaw Reading, etc… 9. Does the software offer a selection of possible correct responses (where appropriate)? • Feedback for both correct and incorrect answers • ‘Flag’ errors • Allow students to repeat exercises (correct mistakes) 10. How much control does it allow learners and/or instructors over the content of the lessons? • Modify lessons or add customized lessons CSLP — Software Selection Page 9 lection e S e r Softwa Trainer Notes What you must do: • • • Introduce software selection and evaluation and what issues teachers should be aware of when choosing software for their classroom. Use the activities to allow teachers to develop and share their own criteria for an evaluation form. Provide some sites that teachers can use as a resource. Things you will need for your workshop: • • • • • Handouts for all participants Projector and computer with live internet connection for the presenter Computers for all participants or pen and paper Large chart paper with makers Power Point presentation on Software Selection Resources http://www.microweb.com/pepsite/ The PEP site is an informational resource for Parents, Educators, and children's software Publishers. The content of this site has been developed in response to the interests and needs of these three audiences. • http://www.evalutech.sreb.org/ EvaluTech is a searchable database that contains more than 7000 reviews of instructional materials recommended for classroom use in kindergarten through grade 12. Trained reviewers using extensive criteria evaluate these materials. Products evaluated include computer software, audio/visual materials, CD-ROM-based reference databases, websites, and print materials. Evaluation criteria include some correlation to state student academic standards. There is no fee for searching or for printing reviews. • http://www.caslt.org/ The Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers promotes the advancement of second language teaching throughout Canada by creating opportunities for professional development, by encouraging research and by facilitating the sharing of information and the exchange of ideas among second language educators. • http://www.qesnrecit.qc.ca/index.html The Québec English School Network mission statement Supports and promotes pedagogical collaboration and innovation in our community of learners. It provides interesting links for both English and French teachers in the province. • CSLP — Software Selection Page 11