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analysed your context, you also need to decide on your teaching purpose:
What are you trying to
teach?
For software to be effective it needs to be
integrated into the subject and support the curriculum or teaching
aim. The topic being taught may therefore be an important factor.
When learning about far away places, software designed and reflective
of these places may be very relevant. An exploration of the Amazon
rainforest or the French revolution could be brought to life with
text, graphics, sound and video depicting the place or period. Software
using, for example, French imagery and cultural symbols may however
be distracting when the focus of the learning is on solving problems.
Buying a baguette from a Parisian street vendor in Francs or Euros
may be more confusing to the African child than the basic numeracy
required to work out their change in their own currency! When choosing
software it is important to identify when its use would fit in with,
or complement, the learning programme or curriculum plan for the year,
and to draw on it at the appropriate point.
What and how are learners expected to learn?
When choosing educational software it is often
easier to focus on what and not how learners learn. Educators may
choose a software product because it is suitable to what is being
taught. This may, however, neglect any consideration for methodology.
Consider:
- Are learners being encouraged to compete with
each - one learner's success is another's downfall?
- Is thinking encouraged or is the focus on rote
learning?
- Can learners anticipate the answers and "cheat
the system" without actually learning anything?
- Does the software allow learners to create
their own knowledge - can they shape the outcomes and publish
their voices or work - or are they simply in a response mode?
As with all teaching, educators need to be critical
of the methodology used in the software and able to use a variety
of products in a flexible manner to fulfil their varying objectives.
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