Introduction to Educational Software

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Introduction to Educational Software

• C. Candace Chou
• University of St. Thomas

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Drill and Practice

• Programs present materials to be learned through
  repetition
• The cycle
• An item is selected.
• The item is displayed.
• The learner responds.
• The program judges the response.
• The learner receives feedback about the response.
• Examples
• Flashcard Queuing, games, vocabulary exercises,
  etc.

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Advantages and disadvantages of Drill and Practice

• Advantages
• Competition (against other learners, the
  computer, oneself, the clock)
• Cooperative learning (team effort)
• Multiple modes and display variety
• Goal setting and scoring
• Reinforcement of basic skills
• Immediate feedback
• Disadvantages
• Drill and kill (from overuse)

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Tutorials

• Tutorials present materials that has been
  previously taught or present new materials
  learned in an individual setting.
• Difference between tutorials and drills
• Tutorials offer more than questions and feedback.
• In tutorials, learners gain new concept in
  similar fashion of learning from a teacher
• Types
• Linear tutorials provide the same instructional
  sequence of explanation, practice, and feedback
  to all learners regardless individual
  differences.
• Branching tutorials direct students to certain
  lesson or parts of a lesson according to students
  responses to pretests or posttests.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Tutorials

• Advantages
• Provide learner control
• Motivation (alternative learning strategies)
• Self-paced reviews of instruction
• Instruction when teachers are unavailable
• Disadvantages
• Difficult to design
• Expensive to develop
• Unavailable in many topic areas

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Simulations

• Simulation is a computerized model of a real or
  imagined system designed to teach how a system
  works
• Difference from other programs
• Learners must create their own sequence
  (including learning tasks and order ) for using
  simulations
• Types
• Those that teach about something (Physical
  Iterative)
• Those that teach how to do something (Procedural
  Situational)
• (Roblyer, 2002)

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Simulations

• Advantages
• Motivation
• Transfer of learning
• Efficiency
• Flexibility
• Disadvantages
• Concerns over accuracy

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Instructional Games

• Instructional games are courseware whose function
  is to increase motivation by adding game rules to
  leaning activities.
• Types
• Adventure and role-playing games
• Business games
• Board games
• Combat games
• Logic games and puzzles
• Word games
• Characteristics goals, rules, fantasy,
  challenge, fantasy, safety

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Issues in Instructional Games

• Conflict between educational goals and the
  characteristics of games
• Efficiency of learning in games
• Disagreement about whether games are intrinsic or
  extrinsic motivators
• Educators negative beliefs about games

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Evaluation Guidelines for Educational Software I

• 1. Documentation
• Is the manual included?
• Are the instructions clear and easy to read?
• Are goals and objectives clearly stated?
• Are suggested lesson plans or activities
  included?
• Are other resource materials included?

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Evaluation Guidelines for Educational Software II

• 2. Ease of Use
• Is minimum knowledge needed to run the program?
• Are potential errors trapped?
• Is text easily readable on the monitor screen?
• Can the user skip on-screen direction?
• Can the student use the program without teacher
  intervention?

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Evaluation Guidelines for Educational Software III

• 3. Content
• Is the content appropriate to the curriculum?
• Is the content accurate?
• Is the content free of age, gender, and ethnic
  bias or discrimination?
• Is the presentation of the information
  interesting and does it encourage a high degree
  of student involvement?
• Is the content free of grammar and punctuation
  error?
• In a simulation, is the content realistic?

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Evaluation Guidelines for Educational Software VI

• 4. Performance
• Does the program reach its stated goal?
• Is the goal worthwhile?
• Does the program follow sound educational
  techniques?
• Does the program make proper and effective use of
  graphics and sound?
• Does the program present appropriate
  reinforcement for correct replies?
• Does the program handle incorrect responses
  appropriately?

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Evaluation Guidelines for Educational Software V

• 5. Versatility
• Can the program be used in a variety of ways?
• Can the user control the rate of presentations?
• Can the user control the sequence of the lesson?
• Can the user control the level of difficulty?
• Can the user review previous information?
• Can the user enter and exit at various points?
• In a tutorial, is the user tested and placed at
  the proper entry level?
• In a simulation, can the instructor change random
  and control factors?

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Evaluation Guidelines for Educational Software VI

• 6. Data Collection
• Is the programs data collection and management
  system easy to use?
• Can student data be summarized in tables and
  charts?
• Is the students privacy and data security
  ensured?
• (from Forcier and Descy, 2002)
• 7. Technical requirements
• Are the required platform, operating system,
  peripherals (mic, headphones, printer, Internet)
  specified?
• Are the text, graphic, video and audio
  presentations clear?

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Seven Steps to Software Selection

• Analyze needs
• Specify requirements
• Identify promising software
• Read relevant reviews
• Preview software
• Make recommendations
• Get post-use feedback
• (from Komoski, 1995)

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Software Evaluation Procedure

• Identify needs
• Locate titles
• Complete hands-on reviews
• Collect student reviews
• (from Roblyer, 2002)

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Overview of a Model for Design and Development I

• Development Methodology
• Pre-production
• Create storyboards with review cycles to
  establish adherence to technical and
  instructional standards
• Production
• Create and assemble media elements according to
  the storyboards and course-development standards

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Design and Development II

• Post-production and quality review
• Perform technical reviews, debug, and test the
  programmed lessons for a adherence to the
  storyboards and programming standards.
• Delivery or implementation

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Design and Development

• Phase 1 - Planning
• Define the scope
• Identify learner characteristics
• Establish the constraints
• Cost the project
• Produce a planning document
• Produce a style manual
• Determine and collect resources
• Conduct initial brainstorming
• Define the look and feel
• Obtain client sign-off

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Design and Development

• Phase II - Design
• Develop initial content ideas
• Conduct task and concept analysis
• Do a preliminary program description
• Prepare a prototype
• Create flowcharts and storyboards
• Prepare scripts
• Obtain client sign-off

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Design and Development

• Phase III - Development
• Prepare the text
• Write program code
• Create the graphics
• Produce audio and video
• Assemble the pieces
• Prepare support materials
• Do an alpha test (done by the design/develop
  team)
• Make revisions
• Do a beta test (by the client)
• Make final revisions
• Validate the program (from Allessi Trollip,
  2001)

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References

• Alessi Trollip, (2001). Multimedia for Learning
• Forcier Descy (2002). The computer as an
  Educational Tool Productivity and Problem
  Solving
• Golebiewski, M. Evaluating Software
• Komoski (1995). Seven steps to responsible
  software selection.
• Roblyer (2002), Integrating Educational
  Technology into Teaching