Edtech 541 Todd Dumais

Instructional Software
Relative Advantage Instructional software (IS) has been used for many decades and with the extensive use of PCs for school and personal use the quality of IS dramatically improved. Todays instructional software is designed not only for the teacher in mind but also with the understanding that the end user, students have often been exposed to very sophisticated games through PCs or gaming systems like the Xbox. IS designers must create activities, games and simulations that educate the user, but they must be engaging and stimulating in some manner. With the use of IS in the classroom teachers have another resource at their disposal that will help their students to learn, teachers can use drill and practice or very sophisticated problem solving software. The use of IS will continue to be innovative and creative to keep up with demand from teachers and students that enjoy learning in different environments. The IS industry is adapting to the growth of the internet and increased school connectivity. More companies are creating web based sights that offer more IS material. They are also able to offer more details, visuals, limited trials or some other method to inform, and attract new users. This makes it much easier to attract and direct traffic to increase revenues, thus helping the IS companies to be creating and innovative. In the end students benefit from having better access to more high quality IS material. There is a variety of Instructional Software, and they can be broken into a various types, the options are as follows.

Drill and Practice The goal of this type of software is to provide the user to repeatedly review concepts and ideas. The idea is to help the learner work at their own pace and provides them with immediate feedback and allows them to learn to quickly recall information. The relative advantage of drill and practice is they allow the learner to work on problems and get feedback on correctness (Roblyer, 2013). It is one way for visual/auditory learners to learn, as well as any learner looking to reinforce basic skills and move them from short term memory to long term. Example Sheppard Software, this web site allows users to drill and practice on a variety of Social Studies areas, including history and geography. As this is a web based site the teacher does not have to

buy or update the material. The teacher simply has to assist the student to the appropriate area in need of review. http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/ A web site designed to create flash cards is study blue, this is a drill and practice option/ http://www.studyblue.com/hello

Tutorials Tutorial software is more robust in its objectives than drill and practice as the purpose of tutorial IS is to provide all the material and instructional activities a learner needs to master a topic: information summaries, explanation, practice routines, feedback, and assessment (Roblyer, 2013). The relative advantage of tutorial software is this is robust enough to provide similar support that would be available in the classroom as it will help the learner by supporting various learning styles and give feedback and support material. Example This web site has links to a variety of Social Studies based tutorial web sites; each web site offers a variety or opportunities to master a topic, concept or idea. The teacher can choose a specific area and send students there, thus supporting classroom activities and allow students to master a particular area. http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/boldtkatherine/SocialStudies/SocialStudies_GeographySkills.ht m#Canada

Simulations A simulation make take many forms, they may contain elements of a game, a role-play, or an activity that acts as a metaphor. The chief element is that they have context, such as Dungeon and Dragons. Ultimately the purpose of the simulation is not to win but to acquire knowledge and understanding. The relative advantage of simulations is that it forces the learner to think critically and to contemplate various scenarios before taking action to solve problems. Example The first example deals with the underlying causes of WWII and has various scenarios that allow students to solve pre WWII problems in order to prevent the start of WWII. http://multimedialearningllc.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/causes-of-wwii-simulation-game/

This simulation example is free on the web, but it is from a company that sells simulations. http://multimedialearning.org/games.php

Instructional Games Instructional games are software designed to increase motivation to learning by adding gaming elements, rules and /or competition to learning activities. Play offers a means for understanding and supports motivation and learning in a holistic way. Instructional games can be done as a team or individual games, classroom based or on-line. The relative advantage is that instructional games improve retention and transfer-of-learning to the user. Instructional games build confidence as well as competence; they foster team and individual performance. Instructional games build problem solving skills and place them in context so as to provide the learner with real world experiences without the real life consequences. Instructional games increase motivation by adding game rules to drills or simulations (Roblyer, 2013). Example The site Mission US is designed for students to review key aspects or the American Revolution, but ion a game situations with audio, visual and other games like stimulations for the learner. The learner has the opportunity to have learning reinforced through a game based learning platform, thus increasing engagement for the learner. http://www.mission-us.org/

Problem Solving Software Problem solving games are designed around a central problem that students must find a solution to. The goal is to create scenarios where students must either work together or individually to develop problem solving skills and to build upon preexisting skills. When students work collaboratively to solve problems, they often have to opportunity to solve areas of the problem related to the skills they are strong at and then contribute that to the group. When working individually to solve problems, learners are able to work on a variety of skills and develop their problem solving skills along the way. Teachers directly, through explanation and or practice, the steps involved in solving problems or help learners acquire problem-solving skills by giving them the opportunity to solve problems (Robyler, 2013). The relative advantage is that students are able to develop their problem solving skill; these skills are crucial in the modern work force. Example The web site is designed to help students solve a variety of real life problems in a group environment. The learner participates online and has access to real world experts that are a

resource and provide feedback. The web site also offers the opportunity for participants to join real organizations to solve the problems outside of the website. http://www.urgentevoke.com/

References:

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson