1. Software for Active Learning
Chapter 8
Software for Active Learning

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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