Group 1 Pages 391-403

Evaluating Educational Technology Evaluate – determine value or judge worth Appropriate – suitable for the educational situation, motivational and promotes learning at correct levels Evaluating educational technology involves determining if technology is appropriate and enhances the teaching and learning process. Evaluating Educational Technology

Sources of Information School districts and state departments of education Districts provide guidance on specific software Department of education provides a list of recommended software In order to access these sources, contact your tech coordinator, curriculum resource specialist, media specialist, tech committee or other teachers

Sources continued Professional educational organizations – provide Web sites with information on software levels, content, and pricing Catalogs – Help identify tech for classrooms and online catalogs provide demos. Colleagues – offer advice about outstanding products Published evaluations – Educational publications and journals have sections dedicated to reviews of educational technologies.

Sources continued Technology conferences – Meetings dedicated to provide a vast array of info and resources for educators Web – Most comprehensive source of tools and resources that provides a vast source of info (EDTECH – larger well known discussion list on educational issues)

Evaluating Software Applications Software evaluation rubric – an assessment tool that provides a number of important evaluation criteria

Evaluation continued Content Valid – the software has well grounded instructional properties, meets standards, provides appropriate content, and teaches what is intended Documentation and tech support Documentation – any printed or online info that provides assistance in installing, using, maintaining and updating software Tech support – service that hardware and software manufacturers and third party companies offer to customers to provide answers, repairs, and other assistance Ability levels and assessment Ability level – refers to students’ current competency or skill level for a specific learning objective Academic level – based on grade level increments to determine if student performance is at appropriate level Tech quality and ease of use Tech quality – how well the software presents itself and how well it works Ease of use – user friendliness

Evaluating Web Resources Not all web information is reliable, so it needs to be evaluated appropriately The evaluation categories include: Authority Affiliation Purpose and objectivity Content and learning process Audience and currency Web design

Evaluation of web continued Authority – refers to credibility of authors and site maintenance Affiliation – refers to professional, school or government organizations with which a website is associated Purpose – the reason and intent for which the website was created Objectivity – the process of determining or interpreting the intent or purpose of the web page and if it is free of bias Content – info a web page provides Learning process – when the content engages students to use higher order thinking skills and become active learners Audience – the individual or group intended to view or use the web page Currency – measure of how up-to-date or timely the web page is and how often it is updated Design – the way it is arranged, uses instructional design principles to deliver content

Web Evaluation Rubric A detailed scoring guide for assessing the value and content of a website.