Evaluate Software and Hardware Tools Used for Instructional Purposes

In the article, EVOLUTION OF EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE EVALUATION: INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE ASSESSMENT written by (Bayram and Nous) the main purpose surrounds the idea of revolutionizing educational software through evaluations and assessments. The main goal of educational software is to be effective in the classroom and serve students and teachers to enhance learning. The article discuses the need to revolutionized instructional software rather than just producing mass products of the same quality at faster rates. The final aspect of this article is the discussion of terms and how they are interchangeable at times while at other times it means completely different things. “The four words description, review, evaluation and usability combined with the words software, technical, pedagogical, or educational, generate a set of 16 possible terms hindering a simple across-the-board comparison of software.”
The article also tells of how teachers choose software to best fit their program they are teaching. Since the technological revolution there are several options to choose from when picking programs to assist the objectives the teacher puts into place. Only through working with the program personally and testing it out is the teacher able to choose what is best for their students. The usability of the mass amount of products is another subject this article touches on. Many of these programs do not meet the needs to fulfill the objectives and it has been that way for many years. “The weaknesses identified often with evaluation practices include their normative nature, subjectivity, lack of reliability, and difficulty in obtaining an overall impression”. In conclusion the article states how evaluations of the use of computers in curriculum and the different types of educational software is greatly needed to revolutionize this field.

http://www.tojet.net/articles/324.htm

Bayram, Servet and Albert Nous. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology . April 2004. 25 9 2009 .