Thursday, September 24, 2009

Management of Electronic Materials: Selection of Software

The use of web-based learning tools provide integrated environments of various technologies to support diverse educators' and learners' needs through the Internet. When deciding on what kind of technology to use in the classroom you need to take into consideration two important factors. The first one is, it should be based upon curriculum goals and matched with the hardware and software you already own. The second factor is, it should also meet a need that is not already being met through other means. Use interactive books if you are trying to focus on increasing fluency in reading. You should also pay attention to how difficult the software is to use, because software that is difficult to use is unlikely to be used in the classroom.
When searching for new technologies for the classroom evaluate each piece of software individually and then compare them. You may find that one does a better job for the particular needs of your classroom.

Before you purchase a software for your classroom, you should ask yourself four important questions:
Will this software be installed in computers in your library?
Will this software be available for checkout?
Will this software be stored and accessed on a networked server inside and/outside your library?
Is a password needed to access the software?
For example, the website we use on campus is called ANGEL. To log into ANGEL we need a user name and password to be able to have access to the site, without our user name and password we wouldn't be able to have access to ANGEL. As students, we are able to access the website on and off of campus, whether we are using computers at a local library or our own personal computers.


"Electronic Materials for Children and Young Adults." eduScapes: A Site for Life-long Learners. 24 Sep. 2009 .

4 comments:

  1. I believe its true that it is important to see how difficult to use. Like i said in my post if you cant use it because its to hard then its kinda useless.I was reading something similar to this about how their are sites that parents can use to check their childrens grades as long as they have their password and email.

    ps. I like your post :)

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  2. I liked that you said the program should be easy to use. I read that technology should be on the appropriate level. If not teachers would have to show the students how to use it, otherwise, students would give up on the program.

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  3. Great information! I like those questions that you have in your summary. Those are very important questions to ask yourself before using a specific software. I like how you used ANGEL, a software program that we are all familiar with, as an example. Good job!!

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  4. Thanks guys! =)
    I know from experience that some software are very difficult to use & after trying to figure it out the first time I've never used it again, so I believe that the software should be easy for students to use that way they use it on a daily basis.

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