Technology In Our Society

Teacher Beliefs About Educational Software: A Delphi Study

Key Findings:The study makes a good point in that traditional material used by teachers tends to be tailored for the unique needs of the class by the instructors. However with commercial educational software the teacher will rarely manipulate the basic software but trust that it is of quality and value that it will meet the objectives for which it was designed. Teachers are more comfortably with the time-honored material and have become familiar with using them in their classes. I even have a colleague on my staff that has been introduce to some software that has the ability to reduce paperwork when administering test to students. It?s a new approach where the students interact with the lesson and respond to questions which has been entered into the software by the teacher. The response from my college was that she preferred doing the testing by paper. This was because of a lack of confidence and comfort in utilizing this new tool of technology. Many teachers that have core curriculum classes are from the same viewpoint. They do not have the skills or comfort to venture much beyond their current teaching methods and tools.

Educational software will not evolve and improve to the level it should without a much larger acceptance and embracing of technology by educators. Software being cognitively, socially, and pedagogically appropriate for students as the article states is based on its improvement and this is conditioned on the feedback from teachers. Comments that aid in software improvement is exemplified in the Delphi study. Observations given said there needs to be software and operating system simplification, really good software should be affordable, and another comment was in regard to ease of use of out-of-the-box software. Feedback such as this is what advances educational software. So, our teachers really are needed to give their perspective and classroom experiences to make software easy, of high quality, and effective.  

Applying the lesson: I do believe that we should embrace new ideas as well as new educational software that apply to our curriculum.  We as teachers must share our experiences with one teachers to help develop our students to their fullest potentials.  I will start to explore more ways on how to integrate other software applications into my curriculum.  I will work with the technology department to explore, purchase, and participate in field studies to ensure that our need for educational software is meet.  Also, I will take the initiative in setting up workshops for teachers to attend and learn more about the new educational software that was purchased. 

One type of educational software that I use is Timeliner.  Using Timeliner, I am able to incorporate events that happened over a period of time.  For instance, whenever I discuss with my students the history of computers they are able to visualize as well as construct a timeline.  To further the student?s knowledge, the homework assignment is to ask their parents what events took place in the student life from birth to present date.  The next class period they must create the timeline in this software and add clipart according. 

Posted at 04:51PM Nov 18, 2006 by ljgladne in General  |  Comments[0]