Software tools help an educator manage and organize the course resources.Tutorials, simulations, games, and assessments are examples of resources. Angel is a great course management tool for educators and students because lesson plans, tutorials, homework, and quizzes can all be accessed, as well as, communication between teachers and students. Monitors, printers, USB flash drives, and Smart boards I feel are all essential to a classroom for educational purposes. I was asked to bring in a USB flash drive for one of my classes, I thought," why do I have to have a USB flash drive, can't I save my work to the computer?". The next day, after saving my work to my USB drive, the computers crashed and everything on the computer was gone. Had I not saved my work on the USB I would have had to start all over.
When evaluating hardware and software characteristics of quality tools are pedagogical issues, subject matter, language and grammar, surface features, questions, answers, and feedback, invisible functions, and offline materials. While reading about evaluating hardware and software I tried to apply the characteristics to the software i use for school. CourseCompass and mastering biology are quality tools because controls built in for playing tutorials, information is accurate and organized, text is understandable, bookmarks show completed sections, questions reflect the lesson, answers are clearly marked, data is stored continuously, and are well written.
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Your post is great! I like how you used ANGEL & CourseCompass as your examples for software that we use at school. I also agree that the subject matter is key when selecting technology software for classrooms. Some teachers buy software for computers just to keep their students busy, but they need to keep in mind that the software is based upon curriculum goals too.
ReplyDeleteI really liked that Erica used a real life example in her explanation, as well as including Angel and Course Compass (as Samantha mentioned. But to continue on Samantha's point, is it not okay to have software both be used to keep students busy and to focus on curriculum goals? After all, some of the best games for children, such as Little Einstein games, are both fun, interactive, and learning centered. I also agree with Erica that technology and hardware are not essential in the classroom, but remember, technology is not a cure all; it should be used to enhance learning, not be its only source.
ReplyDeleteYes it is ok to have software both used to keep students busy and to focus on curriculm goals, but buy "busy" I meant that some teachers just have pointless software such as games on computers that don't have anything to do with education.
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