Educational Software Review

Summary of Software Review
Bailey’s Book House

I found that this educational game would be enjoyable and beneficial for students from Kindergarten to Grade Two. It allows students to build their literacy skills through small, interactive activities. The software is not without issues, particularly in its ease of use. It would likely be difficult to navigate through for younger students that are unfamiliar with it. There are very few text supports to aid in navigation and the program does not offer a help button. With regards to ease of use, I did not find this program to be helpful. Bailey’s Book House does offer a lot of educational value. It compliments the language curriculum by building vocabulary and developing basic reading skills. The entertainment and design of the program are engaging for the intended age group. The graphics are out of date, but the activities that the game has to offer are challenging and allow the students to build their language skills. This product offers great value for its price. If searching is done, it can be purchased for as low as $9.99. Although it does not offer any teacher resources or controls, students would benefit from it greatly.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (http://nlvm.usu.edu/)

This is an online website that offers great educational games based around building math skills. The website has activities for students from Kindergarten to Grade Twelve. The website is easy to use, well-organized and easy to navigate through. One of the websites negative aspects is that it does not offer the ability to save students works, as it is an online application. This software offers excellent educational value. It covers all strands of the math curriculum and even incorporates items such as tangrams and geoboards that are used in regular classrooms into its activities. The site is very entertaining and has a great design. It is engaging and offers many age appropriate activities. Unfortunately, the graphics are lackluster and slightly out of date. The product offers great value as it is free and easily accessible for all teachers as long as internet access is available. It does not offer any teacher supports. Most of the activities are well-linked to the curriculum and students could use this software with little teacher assistance.

The Review Process/ Use of the Selected Software in the Classroom

To review Bailey’s Book House and the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, I played each game for one hour. I found that my tests were fairly conclusive. I was able to experience several of the games that both of the software’s had to offer. Unfortunately, I was unable to fully explore these two programs because of the time commitment it would require. This might have led to me overlooking some aspects of these games.

Both of the games require very little technological literacy. Basic knowledge of how a computer works is required. Most of the activities simply required either reading text or a point and click system of interaction.

The two software’s are very accessible to students of all ability levels. The class I work with is a Grade Two class that is evenly split between boys and girls. It is a pretty advanced class that is fairly self-sufficient, with very few special needs. The students may require some task reminders. Unfortunately, technology access could be a problem. The school offers one computer lab that each class only has access to once per week. To use these programs on a regular basis, the students would require computer access more than once a week. With this in mind, the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives can be accessed from home for the students. This could act as a great extension for those that are struggling with math concepts. Instead of sending extra homework, the website could be used to support students learning. The activities closely follow most lessons that teachers are doing in class. Both of these programs build on essential skills such as language and math. They incorporate simple concepts with fun tasks and games. Games on both of the software’s will capture the student’s attention while allowing them to learn in the process. The key feature of both of these programs is how well they follow the curriculum. Each closely aligns itself with the curriculum requirements and allows language and math learning to be extended to computer time. This alone makes me want to attempt to incorporate these programs in my future classroom. Often, it is difficult to find computer programs that fit well with what is being taught in the classroom.

The Evaluations Tools Used

The two tools that I used for the software review were the class developed review sheet and Kathy Schrock’s Technology Administrator review page. The largest advantage for both of these is that they are easy to fill out. These tools are easily accessible to anyone and require very little time commitment. Both use a simple rating scale of agree and disagree on either end, with options in the middle. This allows for each category to be easily classified. The two review sheets are designed with educational programs in mind. The questions from both sheets are very applicable for school and classrooms. All the questions asked are items that educators need to consider when looking at software appropriate for school settings. Using these review sheets would provide an opportunity for educators to analyze the usefulness of various software programs.

There are several disadvantages to these two review sheets. The largest disadvantage is that neither of the sheets offers much space for written suggestions. It would be helpful if after each category, a box for written suggestions was available. Often, I wanted to expand on my thoughts after answering questions but there was nowhere to allow this. By the time I reached the end of the sheet, I often had forgotten what I wanted to add. If the opportunity was given to me to write down my thoughts following the categories, this would have made both of the review sheets stronger. I also found that Kathy Schrock’s review sheet was not well-rounded. In my opinion, a question addressing the educational purpose of the software would be beneficial. Also, I felt that the rating categories that Kathy Schrock’s sheet presented were too specific. Often, I was searching for another rating that was between agree and disagree to categorize my thoughts.

Overall, I felt that the class generated review sheet was well done. Unlike the other one I utilized, the rating scale our class developed provided more options. These extra options allowed me to rate the software more accurately. I felt that our sheet addressed the educational applicability of the software well. For myself, as a future teacher, I feel that this is the most important part of the review sheet. Allowing teachers to critically think about how these programs fit into their educational plan is an essential part of the software review process. Our class review sheet could have been improved if, similar to Kathy Schrock’s sheet, it allowed for more written responses.

Conclusion

The software sheet process offered a great opportunity to evaluate the applicability of Bailey’s Book House and the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. The review sheets allow a person to critically view these games and how they would fit into a classroom setting. I would hope to implement educational software within my classroom as a means to support learning. The games looked are just some examples of games that could be implemented. Educational software can be a great tool to use if the software is deemed appropriate.