Software for Active Learning Chapter 8 Software for Active Learning

Application Software for Active Learning Productivity Software has made businesses more efficient, but can also be used to serve instructional tasks Word Processing Software can be used to demonstrate real-time essay editing, teach grammatical structure, offer a collaborative platform for student writing, and teach outlining skills Spreadsheets teach graphing, order of operations with equations, or illustrate the use of mathematic functions Database features can help students organize & order data

Application software Categories Prensentation Software Used to support lectures through highly organized, engaging content Create flash cards and mini-tutorials, and lets students creatively practice using and applying 21st century skills Students can create organized and collaborative presentations using links to multimedia elements or websites Powerpoint, Prezzi, Glogster, etc. Desktop Publishing Software Create professional page layouts for publications or electronic circulation Create a class newsletter for communication with parents or classroom handouts for students Create stories, field trip reports, posters, and signs to display/share

APPLICATION SOFTWARE CATEGORIES cont. Graphics Software Illustration and Draw programs, students can create their own illustration of a concept as a learning strategy; create new art from scratch or customize existing art; teachers can create elements for presentations and student handouts, and allow for student creativity in completion of assignments; students can create or edit images for a report, add graphics to a greeting card, or illustrate an idea to share online; the programs provide all tools necessary to add visual elements to teaching and learning activities Animation and 3D programs are used to create computer-generated imagery (CGI); students are required to analyze content, systematically describe through storyboards, and represent it using animation; students can break down, work with, and become actively

APPLICATION SOFTWARE CATEGORIES cont. Involved with content; 3D graphics give teachers a way to give a virtual world/effect in instruction Imaging Software Scanners, Photo-editing software, i.e. Adobe Photoshop Converts or alters digital images; correct red-eye, color management, etc. Hard copy versions of assignments can be digitized and updated or edited for other instructional purposes Reference Software Provides digital versions of resources once only found in books, i.e. encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, etc. Students can easily jump to targeted information It can be a valuable tool for effective software decision making

ACADEMIC SOFTWARE Specifically designed to promote learning. With academic software all teachers can find programs that will engage students in active learning. It is written for every grade level and every content area.

ACADEMIC SOFTWARE CATEGORIES Tutorials Presents new material in a carefully orchestrated instructional sequence with opportunities for practice and review Self-contained lessons aligned with core standards All are interactive, the student must respond for the tutorial to progress A well-written tutorial that includes multimedia components can be very effective in supporting instruction Drill and Practice Software Reinforces previously presented content, used to question learners on key points so students can practice knowledge Provides instant feedback to responses and ranges from simple quizzes to complex and interactive quizzes

ACADEMIC SOFTWARE CATEGORIES cont. Allows students to control the pace of interaction and targets areas of weakness in content Provides excellent practice before formal test and can be used as a diagnostic for teachers who are fine-tuning their classroom instruction Educational Games Presents and reviews instructional content in a game format, and children accustomed to video games have a comfortable environment when learning this way Target specific content and the game elements shouldn’t overshadow the content Teachers use educational games to add entertainment as an enhancement to the classroom The types of educational games are adventure games (provide

ACADEMIC SOFTWARE CATEGORIES cont. students with the opportunity to solve mysteries and participate in educational adventures), arcade games (educational adaptations of popular games), and classic puzzle games Simulations Presents students a model or situation in a virtual format Provides the most real interaction in educational software, it responds to user movement Offer students the opportunities to interact with content and participate in discovery learning Problem-Solving Software - Helps students acquire and practice problem-solving skills, testing hypothesis, solving word problems, using critical thinking, etc. to come to conclusions

ACADEMIC SOFTWARE CATEGORIES cont. Problem-Solving software gives learners an environment where they can learn by doing, explaining why something happened and running a series of tests to find out if they are correct Most beneficial in science and math and testing logical relationships to solve problems independently Problem-Solving software adds dimension and depth to content while students expand and refine problem-solving skills, and offers learning opportunities for students that would be difficult to present in any other way Brainstorming/Concept-Mapping Tools - Provide a digital environment where the learner can develop ideas and concepts and experiment with connections between them through creation of visual concept maps

ACADEMIC SOFTWARE CATEGORIES cont. Used to capture a cooperative learning group’s diverse ideas and turn them into a cohesive whole Used to help individual learners to grasp large, complex ideas by visualizing the ideas on a computer screen Used to help the class to develop a joint overview of a new instructional topic about to be explored Offers opportunities for students to clarify thinking, understand relationships, and identify their own misconceptions Academic Databases Organized and searchable collection of related information A more direct approach to finding research information than search engines, because they are dedicated to particular types of information Have a narrower content area focus

ACADEMIC SOFTWARE CATEGORIES cont. Authoring Software Technology-savvy educators can create their own software, it offers the tools and features to create customized instructional content Can create hypermedia presentations, reviews, games, etc. with content of your choice Can create web-based flash cards, reviews, assessments, ebooks, etc. Content-Specific Software Software that is strictly specific to your content area Examples: Illuminations (math), Chemical Education Digital Library (science), National Geographic & Smithsonian Institution (social studies), Starfall (language arts), etc.

MOBILE APPLICATIONS FOR ACTIVE LEARNING The use of mobile devices that are supported by either Android or Apple operating systems are increasing in the classroom Teachers use digital education apps to engage students in the learning process Schools have integrated the use of mobile devices by establishing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs for students

INTERGRATING ACADEMIC SOFTWARE Challenges (for mobile devices) How to integrate them with other existing school and district software, dealing with pop-up ads in the use of free apps, how to protect student privacy because apps collect data from users Funding for these technologies and devices Opportunities Offers students many options to understand information Entertaining reinforcement of content Creating opportunities to discover & interact with the outside world Can teach, review, remedy, encourage discovery, engage all learning styles, & more while focusing on required content Promotes/reinforces the 21st century skills needed in our digital society, & teach critical digital age skills and behaviors