Educational
software is an extremely broad category, and one that has been poorly
defined. One could look at it in many ways, but for the purposes of
this module we suggest that you regard educational software as predominantly
computer-based software that enhances and/or supports teaching and
learning. Software is a programme that allows you to perform various
tasks on the computer. Educational software is just one of the teaching
and learning resources that you could use. Your choice of educational
software should be determined by your specific needs. You look for
a resource that can fulfil a specific function in your context – that context is determined by the curriculum outcomes. Software would
be appropriate if it helped your learners to achieve the learning
outcomes and assessment standards through one or more of:
- repetition and practice (especially in Foundation
Phase and remedial situations)
- basic skills development
- cognitive (thinking) skills development
in the broad context of your learning area content. However, the topic of educational software is
more complex and we recommend that you read the following before
continuing to the activity: For the purposes of this
module we will categorise educational software into the following
categories (We would like you to focus on the first six):
Developmental
- Basic skills development -
basic numeracy and literacy development in the lower phases. e.g
Maths Blaster
- Creativity and organisational tools
- content-free tools that enable the learners to organise
and present data in creative ways without the purpose of actually
developing cognitive skills.
- Cognitive skills development
- content-rich educational software that aims to develop thinking
skills, especially higher order thinking skills such as problem
solving, decision making, synthesis, analysis, evaluation.
- Remedial and special needs
- software specifically designed or specifically appropriate for
use in circumstances of remediation and special needs.
- Simulations
- software that simulates what could be done in reality such as
flying a plane.
Instructional
- Learning area-specific content and
skills - this may overlap with other categories , but
the concepts would be specific to learning areas rather than general
cognitive or basic skills.
- Repetition and practice -
sometimes known as drill and practice, providing a high number
of repetitive tasks to develop mastery.
The following categories are not discussed:
- General reference and informational CD's
- Applications
- Administrative
- Online resources
- Predominantly print resources that have limited
CD resources.
Quite often software will have a combination of
the above. For example, many programmes have built-in assessment;
many basic skills development programmes include repetition and
practice. |