Week Two

Chapter Three Notes

• What is instructional software? -Programs made to help students with instructional material on the computer or online.
• Instructional software comes in many different varieties. Among these are: drill and practice, tutorial, simulation, instructional games, and problem solving.
• Drill and practice software: used to practice skills learned in school (might be typing, multiplication facts, etc.)
• Tutorial: this kind of software includes instructional material; it's meant to teach students content (not necessarily to practice skills)
• Simulation: serves as a demonstration of skills or a process to be learned in class. Allows students to visualize a process or see how something should be done.
• Instructional games: a fun way to practice skills and master content!
• Problem solving: logic and reasoning
• Some instructional software packages contain material that can be classified as more than just one of these categories.
• Many software programs are now available online, increasing access and decreasing costs to users.
• Online software allows greater flexibility and personalization; also allows networking between users (and comparison across students, etc.)
• Drills and practice: can be useful because it provides immediate feedback to users. Students know right away if they're right or wrong, and this immediate feedback helps them to correct and retry.
• A problem with drills and practice software is that it basically replaces the traditional worksheet and provides little opportunity for exploration and discovery.
• Instructional games are very useful because they provide a fun way to learn material. Students are motivated by the competition such games encourage.
• Games shouldn't replace traditional instruction/practice but rather enhance it when appropriate.
• Integrated Learning Systems (ILSs) contain multiple functions that allow students to learn, practice, and analyze their performance and growth.
• ILSs can be used in many ways, including remediation, mainstream instructional delivery, and enrichment.
  
• This sounds like Study Island, a software program my school uses to practice skills for the DSTP. It includes some tutorial material, skills practice (drills) and games.
  

Chapter Four Notes

• The basic three software tools are: word processing, spreadsheets, and databases
• There are many reasons to use these basic software tools. In particular, they can improve accuracy, appearance, and productivity. For example, students who type a personal narrative in a word processing program may create a more legible, accurate product than a student who handwrites the same narrative.
  
• Recently, open-sourced software programs allow users to access software for little or no cost. Programs that operate online are accessible from many computers and allow for more interaction and integration between users.
  
• Word processing has proven to be very beneficial in helping students learn how to revise writing. When deleting or changing something is as easy as clicking a mouse and pressing a key, students are more careful with their final product than they are when they write pieces by hand.
  
• However, word processing can also have a negative impact on students' handwriting if used too much. Students should always have many opportunities to practice handwriting in school.
• In addition, since most standardized tests do not allow word processing, students who have had little practice writing answers to timed essay questions by hand may be at a disadvantage.
  
• Spreadsheets are programs designed to organize, manipulate, and analyze numerical (or categorical) data.
• Spreadsheets allow for quick calculations and pictorial representations of large quantities of data.
• Spreadsheets can be very useful when studying statistics, graphing, and changes over time (especially in science and math classrooms).
• These can also be used to help teachers assign grades to students.
• Spreadsheets can monitor progress toward student goals.
• Spreadsheets may require a lot of additional instruction; programs like Microsoft Excel require knowledge of formulas that are not necessarily user-friendly (in my own experience, manipulating data in Excel has been very difficult and frustrating at times).
  
• Databases allow users (teachers or students) to store, organize, and compare data and information.
  
• Databases are useful for searching for information for research purposes (reports, research papers, etc.)
  
• Databases help students learn good researching skills and problem solving skills.
• Sometimes, databases have too much information that is difficult to sort through. Students may get frustrated with the amount of time it takes to access whatever it is they're looking for.

Chapter Five Notes

• There are lots of different tools available online and in software packages to help teachers with daily tasks such as materials preparation and lesson planning.
  
• Online programs (and offline software) allow teachers to create worksheets, tests, and quizzes. There are also programs available to create games and puzzles, and to create academic certificates and other documents useful to have in class.
• Electronic grade books allow teachers to enter grades and manipulate data to match teacher needs and grading requirements. Grading weights can be changed and progress reports created to assist teachers in communicating the academic needs of their students to parents and guardians.
  
• Statistical packages also allow teachers to compare students with each other and with students in other classes or schools. Progress can be monitored and displayed visually either in a chart or graph format.
  
• Data can also be collected from computer-based testing systems, which allow quick and automatic grading and little chance for error.
  
• Computer-adaptive testing is particularly useful in that it can change the difficulty level of a question depending on students' performance on previous questions. This is a much more reliable and dependable way of measuring what students know and what they need to learn.
  
• Graphic tools can be used to help students create, edit, and manipulate images on the computer (may include photographs, drawn images, charts, or graphs)
• More recently, technological advances and decreased costs have allowed students to create projects using video and audio-recording materials.
  
• Teachers can use online tools for planning and time management. Some curricular programs offer online lesson-planning tools that allow teachers to custom fit the components of the curricula to their particular classroom demographic and schedule.
  
• Research and reference tools (dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, etc.) help teachers and students develop independent research skills that will be crucial in secondary and higher education.
  
• Certain content-specific tools (e.g., graphing calculators, GPSs, or design software) can help students apply what they've learned and increase the amount of experience with technologically up-to-date materials. This can serve as very good vocational training as well.

Chapter Eleven Notes

• In mathematics and science, great caution must be taken to prevent technological tools from becoming crutches. These tools should serve to supplement, but never replace, thinking.
  
• Virtual manipulatives can be useful in teaching number theory, operations, and in modeling processes and concepts that are difficult.
• Mathematical problem solving should be supported using technology (calculators, spreadsheets, etc.)
• Mathematical principles and concepts should be discussed in a number of different formats, including visual, audio, tactile, and symbolic. Technology can help to teach all four of these components.
  
• Data should always drive instruction. Scientific and mathematical technology can help teachers identify problem areas and address the specific needs of individual students and the class as a whole.
  
• Online math programs can provide motivation to struggling math students who struggle to stay focused in class.
  
• There is an increase in the need for scientific literacy in our culture, which makes scientific experiences with technology all the more valuable.
• Programs that can accurately simulate the scientific process (hypothesis, data collection, data analysis, and communication of results) are useful tools to help students discover (in a controlled environment) scientific principles.
  
• There are beginning to be more and more websites/programs that model scientific processes without needing expensive materials or dangerous procedures.
  

Chapter Twelve Notes

• Social Studies is divided into a number of themes. Among these are: culture; time, continuity, and change; people, places, and environments; individual development and identity; individuals, groups, and institutions; power, authority, and governance; production, distribution, and consumption; science, technology, and society; global connections; and civic ideals and practices.
• Since Social Studies is often relegated to last place in the educational priority ladder, technological resources for Social Studies instruction are rarely purchased for schools and school districts. However, such resources do exist and are developing rapidly.
• There is a huge amount of information related to social studies content available online and in research databases. Parsing this information into usable pieces may be a challenge of the social studies student, but practice with these research tools is invaluable due to the need for information literacy.
• Simulating problem solving in historical social studies contexts has been shown to be very helpful in teaching the struggles of our ancestors. For example, the program "The Oregon Trail" takes students through the steps of packing equipment, hunting, and surviving deadly diseases on the trail. This simulation program gives students a taste for what it was really like on the trail.
• Graphical representations (charts, timelines, etc.) can be easily accessed and created using computer software. Creating maps on a computer is a valuable way for students to learn about maps and navigation.
• Virtual trips: make field trips costless and easy! Students can visit historical landmarks, cities, and other places worldwide. Photographs can be edited together to create a 3D tour of historical buildings - great for studying architecture and museums.
  
• Students can interact with students worldwide through email and other forums for global communication. These activities foster cultural understanding and learning about different peoples and places.
  
• Electronic storytelling gives students an opportunity to view authentic cultural narratives. This is an especially good way to expose students to oral tradition and "unwritten" histories.
  
• One learning goal of every student is to be able to critically engage with technology and with other sources of information. Several student-centered websites help engage students with the process of evaluating sources and becoming informed consumers of products and information.