Educational Software - Week 7

I cannot believe it is already week 7!! It has been a challenging seven weeks but certainly a beneficial one. I have learned a great deal about technology and have already inserted several pieces of technology into my first unit's lesson plans. I believe that the times have indicated that technological software is advancing to the point where it is necessary to include technological advancements in the classroom setting to heighten our students desire to learn.

After reading about the seven types of educational software, I can honestly say that I have, to the date in my teaching career, included about four of them in my classroom. As a math teacher, however, I have found it a little more challenging to find appropriate and useful software.

This past schoolyear, I actually was given the opportunity to purchase educational software called Kidspiration. This is software that develops visual learning in any educational subject or topic. I introduced Kidspiration while working with fractions. You can always tell a student how to add or subtract fractions, however it is much more useful if they are able to see visuals and manipulate things in order to grasp the concept in an easier way. My students were able to create fraction bars that matched the fraction given and this made them more accountable for their learning.

I used it to talk about rational numbers which is a large objective in the 7th grade year. They had to create a venn diagram and compare and contrast. The students were so intrigued by the visuals and the ability to copy and paste pictures that they paid more attention to the actual content without even realizing it.

Kidspiration is easy to use and manipulate which makes it an even more attractive educational software tool.

The second piece of software that my entire school uses is something called Compass Learning. This is a program where teachers from the county can submit activities or quizzes/tests that other teachers are able to use for the purposes of their own classroom. Students are each given an id number and they go onto the their Compass Learning site. Once there, they can only access the activities or assessments that I have chosen for them to use.

For instance, last year I wanted to give my students a practice test on geometry after we finished our unit. I log on to the teacher site for Compass Learning. I searched through many geometry assessments that are provided by the county but also by teachers. I chose one and assigned it to each student. The students then take the assessment. They are immediately given results. From there, they are given drill and practice and problem solving activities to remediate or practice on the areas that they failed or did poorly on. After this, they will take the post-assessment. I will be provided with a spreadsheet of all scores for all parts for each student.

I enjoy Compass Learning as it is easily accessible and easy to navigate. Since it is tied to teachers throughout the county, it is also organized with content standards and objectives so that I know what I am giving will be relevant and useful towards the success and knowledge of the current topic in my class. I also like that it is individualized for each students learning style and needs.