INSTRUCTIONAL

Software

WHAT IS INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWA

RE?

Introduction Educational/Instructional software

was first used as a tutoring tool for students in the 60s and 70s, but over the past 30 years, it has evolved into software that incorporates some or all of the five functions for helping students learn including drill and practice, tutorial, simulation, games, and problem solving.

Universities, software companies, and open source projects have all developed software for educational purposes that blends two or more of these five categories of instructional software.

Today's instructional software also uses both objectivist and constructivist learning concepts in its design, which benefits the learner since both concepts are valuable to accomplishing educational goals for students.

Objectivist View Constructivist View

Knowledge exists outside of individuals and can be

transferred from teachers to students.

Knowledge has personal meaning. It is created by

individual students.

Students learn what they hear and what they read.

If a teacher explains abstract concepts well,

students will learn those concepts.

Learners construct their own knowledge by

looking for meaning and order; they interpret what they hear, read,

and see based on their previous learning and

habits.

Learning is successful when students can

repeat what was taught.

Learning is successful when students can

demonstrate conceptual understanding.

Educational software is valuable to ALL ages of students for many reasons including:› making learning more fun,› motivating students,› helping with long-term memory of the

material, and› providing a thorough educational

experience that incorporates many proven learning concepts into the curriculum.

Educational software is best used to increase classroom curriculums, but in most cases, should not be the only instructional method for learning.

Educational software no longer is thought to be a replacement for teachers, but a TOOL that helps teachers do a better job of teaching their students.

SOFTWARE that incorporates some or all of

the FIVE functions for

helping students learn

DRILLS and PRACTICE

Educational software that incorporates the concepts of drills and practice is similar to flash cards, but with more features. Software that uses drills to enhance learning uses repetition to help students learn the material.

Drills and practice are a form of objectivist learning and is excellent for students to prepare for tests and/or learn concepts that are simple or even sometimes complicated, but require memorization of the material.

Some of the drills and practice software are also insightful since it might track the student's progress and continue to display questions until student's answer the questions correctly a given number of times before moving on to the next type of question, or a more difficult problem type. This is called branching.

TUTORIALS Tutorials, like drills, often use

branching by allowing students to move to the next topic after mastering a section, or keep the student in the current section if they have not mastered the material.

Tutorials are more objectivist than constructivist learning since students have little or no input into what is taught.

Tutorials are difficult and expensive to develop, which explain why developers choose tutorials less than other types of educational software to develop.

Tutorials should use a comprehensive approach to instruction and simulate a real classroom experience to teach students the entire learning goals of a subject.

SIMULATIONS Simulations are educational

software tools that simulate the "live" learning experience for students.

Students use simulations in place of the live experience usually in advance of the simulated activity.

The use of simulations saves money and replaces activities that might be not practical or may be even dangerous until the student learns the activity.

Simulations usually allow many different students the opportunity to participate in the simulated (imitation) activity an unlimited number of times in order to master the activity before participating with the actual activity they are learning.

Examples of the types of learning environments to be simulated are:› a chemistry experiment,› operation of an automobile or airplane, or

› biology or medical procedures.

GAMES Games are a form of educational

software designed to be fun, competitive, and motivational for students.

It is best for teachers to integrate games as part of an entire learning curriculum, but not focus on games as the only activity.

A good method of integrating games into the curriculum is as a reward or change of pace to regular learning activities.

Some educators frown upon games because some games have an element of violence and discriminate against students who do not excel in games.

Plus, the educational benefit for games is sometimes difficult to predict. Games incorporate drills and practice, and simulation, but differ because of the rules and format.

Games provide a stimulating learning environment if used effectively, and allow students to learn while enjoying the activity.

PROBLEM SOLVING Educational software that provides

an environment for:

› recalling information,› sequencing,› analyzing,› organizing,› predicting outcomes, and› formulating ideas

Problem solving software helps students learn a sequence of events that leads to the solution, and is often included in math and science educational software packages.

Problem solving software is motivational and improves the interest of the subject for students, but it is often difficult to measure its effectiveness and can sometimes frustrate students who have difficulties reaching the final solution.

Problem solving software can provide both an objectivist or constructivist environment depending on the software's activities and approach to learning.

SUMMARY

can be visited on the Internet or can be bought from software shops or dealers.

INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE

The teacher through his school should decide on the best computer-based instructional (CBI) materials for the school resource collection.

But beware since CBIs need much improvement, while web-based educational resources are either extremely good or what is complete garbage.

GUIDELINES IN EVALUATING COMPUTER-

BASED EDUCATIONAL

MATERIALS

Be extremely careful. Don’t be caught up by the attractive

features forgetting their instructional worth

Evaluate the design and content elements:› Text legibility› Effective use of color schemes› Attractive layout and design› Easy navigation from section-to-section

Clarity in explanations and illustrations of concepts and principles

Accuracy, coherence, logic of information

Relevance/effectiveness in attaining learning objectives

Absence of biased materials

Reflection: Using these software that have

mentioned in this lesson are all useful in enhancing the creativity and skills of a learner. The software that can be downloaded or bought in any sights in the internet are useful but be careful in choosing the program that will be present in the class, there are some programs that  are attractive on the eye but it does not contain a 100% correct content.

THANK YOU VERGIE

ROJAS

ALESTRELLA SANCHEZ JEHAN

SANCHEZ