514-5 Educational Software



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|(1) General Software Review. In this activity you will be reviewing software that you would find useful in your roll as a teacher. |

|Note, this is a review of software, not websites. Websites can be used only if they have a high level of interactivity and |

|animation such as those at . Although we have software on our local servers, much of it is antiquated, and |

|students are best served by downloading freeware and shareware. |

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|Review five or more pieces of educational software. You are free to choose any piece of software that is of value either for |

|instructional, administrative, or professional purposes. You must have hands-on experience with the software... watching someone's |

|software review is not sufficient. |

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|Write a paragraph describing each program and your professional opinion of its usefulness in education. |

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|At least one of your titles should be freeware or shareware that you have downloaded from the Internet. |

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|Include a screen capture from the software. |

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|Choose the best one from among these 5 for the formal software review/presentation. |

| |Title |Review |Screen Capture |

|1 |American | |[pic] |

| | |A cute, online magazine from the American Musum of Natural History. | |

| |Museum of |Divided into sections: Meet the Microbes, a colorful definition of | |

| | |viruses, bacteria, and protozoa; Bacteria in the Cafeteria, a simple | |

| |Natural |game to help children become aware of potential dangers; Infection, a | |

| |History |board game that lets you break thru the human defense system; How Lou | |

| | |Got the Flu, explains how infectious diseases spread; Amazing Microbe | |

| | |Hunters, another game that teaches about early innovators, and the | |

| | |Mixed Up Microbe Mystery, which puts players into the position of | |

| | |Epidemiologists -- disease detectives. They track down the causes | |

| | |behind diseases and find ways to control them. | |

|2 | | |[pic] |

| |BBC |A rich site that covers a variety of topics using multiple approaches | |

| | |(factual text, flash movies, interactive quizzes). Sections include: | |

| | |Interactive body (organs game, skeleton game, muscle game, nervous | |

| | |system game, puberty demo); Psychological tests (Can you read faces? | |

| | |What disgusts you? Are you a thrill seeker?); and printable versions | |

| | |for handouts. | |

|3 |Kids Health| |[pic] |

| | |An incredible new KidsHealth feature written just for kids! Here you | |

| | |can explore interactive journals written by kids who have different | |

| | |conditions or illnesses. You'll learn all about these kids by reading | |

| | |their entries, checking out their doodles and animated drawings, seeing| |

| | |what things they keep in their journals, and hearing all kinds of | |

| | |sounds. You'll discover how these kids feel, what problems they might | |

| | |face, what they think about, and more. Most importantly, you'll find | |

| | |out that they are not that different from anybody else. | |

| | | | |

|4 |PBS KIds | |[pic] |

| | |It's My Life is organized across five topic "channels": Friends, | |

| | |Family, School, Body, and Emotions. Printable activities include | |

| | |journal pages, discussion questions, worksheets, and word puzzles. | |

| | |Lesson Plans on Bullies , Home Alone, Smoking, Eating Disorders, and | |

| | |Drug Abuse. It doesn't say it; but seems perfect for girls. Comments | |

| | |from a staff member's 13 year old daughter indicate "it's great." | |

|5 |National | |[pic] |

| |Inst. of |Medical mysteries is a problem-based adventure game that engages you, | |

| |Health |the player in the role of a scientist, historian, and detective. | |

| | |There are three missions, each with its own learning objective. The | |

| | |knowledge gained from each mission will help you understand how | |

| | |infectious diseases are spread. | |

|(2) Formal Software Review. In this activity you will be reviewing software that you would find useful in your roll as a teacher. |

|Note, this is a review of software, not websites. Websites can be used only if they have a high level of interactivity and |

|animation such as those at . Although we have software on our local servers, much of it is antiquated, and |

|students are best served by downloading freeware and shareware. |

| |

|Select one software product for formal review and presentation to the class. Write reviews for each according to the format |

|guidelines provided on the following page. Post you selection. |

(1) description of program (Paragraph) •

This educational we application contains interactive activities such as journal, discussion questions, word puzzles, and worksheets of many health topics. This web application can improve students’ literacy skills and at the same time tackle everyday health issues.

(2) Basic Information

(a) Title • PBS Kids

(b) Publisher • CastleWorks, Inc.

(c) Cost $ FREE

(d) _ __shareware _X__freeware ___ commercial

(3) Target Population

(a) Is this designed for _X__ teachers or _X__students to use ?

(b) If students, in what subject and at what grade level ?

(c) Where would this best fit into the curriculum?

1. Subject • Health

2. Grade level • 9-12

3. Academic ability • Regular Health and Sheltered Health classes.

(d) Would this software maintain the interest of this population. Explain.

• This web application would maintain students’ interest because they can choose topics they are interested in. this user friendly and simplified version will entice students to tackle health issues and focuses on increase literacy skills.

(4) Content Goals

(a) What, if any, concept(s) does this program introduce ?

• Increasing reading/writing skills and vocabulary development are introduced in this web application.

(b) How effective of a job does it do at teaching these concepts?

• The web application is effective in that it engages and allows students to read, write, and discuss on a more personal level. It also provides great impact in students’ lives where they can relate to other teens and their health issues.

(c) Compare with traditional techniques for teaching this concept(s). (What, if anything, does this software accomplish that traditional forms of instruction could not do as effectively. Explain)

• This approach offers an interactive technique and therefore an engaging alternative pedagogy technique when compared to traditional techniques.

(6) Process Goals

(a) What type(s) of reasoning does this program encourage (rote memorization, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, deduction, induction, etc.)?

• This web application allows students to practice many of the clues in Blooms Taxonomy. For example students can describe, interpret, examine, and analyze, etc. the simplistic and engaging health topics that can enhance their everyday life.

(d) Compare with traditional techniques for stimulating these reasoning skills. (What, if anything, does this software accomplish that traditional forms of instruction generally do not do as effectively. Explain)

• Traditional techniques offer stories about teens that have the same health issues. Teens can respond in the classroom, but will not get feedback. This web application is unique in which it allows teens to participate in the threaded discussions. For example, a teen can post on the web and another teen can respond to their posting.

(7) Lesson Plan. Write three specific tasks, questions, goals, or projects that you would have your students accomplish or answer after using this software.

(a) • Students often request extra credit. I can assign discussion questions as topics for essay writing.

(b) • I can increase students vocabulary by creating vocabulary exercises from words used in the web application.

(c) • This web application has suggested readings that can be used as supplemental readings/

(8) Summary Assuming that you had access to this software, would you use it in your classroom? Explain why or why not.

• This web application is supplemental material to a curriculum. Again, it increases literacy skills and allows students to relate to other students their age, which are experiencing the same health concerns.

|(3) Formal Presentation of Software: One or two sessions will be scheduled for formal software review. During these sessions you |

|will present your software in small groups or to the class using network sharing software such as Apple Remote Desktop. Once you |

|have decided on software to review, post your decision on the newsgroup as specified in class or on the web-page. first-come, |

|first-served. |

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|Make a presentation of your software using the following guidelines Each presentation must be limited to 15 minutes. |

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|Your presentations should stress how this software can be used effectively in the curriculum. |

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|Do not spend time discussing mechanics (menu structure, etc.) nor shortcomings |

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|Illustrate how the software can be used to enhance instruction. |

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|Provide your peers with a "hands-on experiences" lesson if at all possible. |

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