Chapter 6

INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE FOR CLASSROOM USE

A closer look on instructional surface focus of this chapter which gives you the knowledge on selection, benefits, limitation
and problems of the recognized software. Also, the purposes on benefits of other software support tools which are helpful
in producing specific outputs such as creation of brochures, certificates, tests, presentations, web pages, and the like are
describe in this chapter.
Intended Learning Outcome
At the end of this chapter, you are expected to:
 Create an instructional software that can be used in teaching and learning.

A CLOSER LOOK AT INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE

An overview of the different instructional software was earlier discussed in the previous chapter. In this chapter,
selecting suitable instruction software, its benefits and limitation will be further discussed.
Drill-and-Practice Software
Selecting
 Control over the Drill-and-Practice - Answering the given questions or problems are given time limit, however , a good drill-
and-practice software still gives users enough time to think and answer before proceeding to the next question. Users may
be given signal to the software if he/she is ready to go to the question by pressing/tapping a ke or clicking on a mouse
button.
 Answer Judging – A good drill-and-practice program must be to discriminate correct answer from incorrect ones, especially
if the user is required to enter a short answer rather than simply choosing from a selection
 Gives Appropriate Feedback – Two error must be avoided when programs give feedback. First, program display sample,
readable and understandable feedbacks, not t overly design the feedback. Second, programs carelessly give more
interesting feedback when the user answers incorrectly. This, therefore, encourages users to give false answers to see the
interesting response from the program.
Benefits
 Immediate Feedback – Paper and pencil drill-and-practice gives delayed feedback, thus, student would not know
immediately how much they performed in their drill-and-practice. Having drill-and-practice software, students would know
instantly their result and would b able to do immediate corrections if they gave incorrect answers.
 Motivation – Students are not simply motivate doing paper and pencil drill-and-practice for reasons that they do not like
writing or they have poor writing skills. In drill-and-practice software, students get motivated not only because they will not
write, but also because of the idea of being in front of the computer that hey love to operate and manipulate.
 Saving Teacher Time – Teachers can attend to other student needs while their students spend time doing the drill-and-
practice. Some areas that benefitted the drill-and-practice are: Math, typing skills, English and foreign language vocabulary,
countries and its capitals.
Limitations and Problems
 Perceived Misuse – Some teachers make use the drill-and-practice as part of lesson introduction and nt really for practicing
the student`s skills.
 Criticism by Constructiveness – People consider this drill-and-practice as an outmoded approach to teaching for this
contradicts the aim of the restructured curriculum.
See the following sites for sample drill- and- practice software:
Vocabulary Practice by Brainpop –http://www.brainpopsl.com
Chemistry formulas by Chemistry Drills.com – http://www.chemistry-drill.com
Name the Note by Music Dills.com – http://www.musicdrills.com?

Tutorial Software
Selecting
 Extensive Interactivity – Regular and thorough responses to questions must be regularly given along the tutorial to questions
must be regularly given along the tutorial to continuously guide students learning.
 Thorough User Control – Navigation buttons must always be present to aloe students to go around the program and give
them the program and give them the freedom to return or move forward or even end the program at their own pace.
 Appropriate Pedagogy – The instruction must provide complete and sufficient explanation, examples, and demonstration
when necessary to enable the students to understand the lesson well. The lessons, examples, and exercises must be
arranged logically and sequentially.
 Adequate Answer-Judging and Feedback Capabilities – When students are asked to answer in short responses, all possible
answers must be included in the program. Appropriate feedback must likewise be present wherein answers will be provided
by the program after 2-3 tries rather than frustrating the students of requiring them to supply the answer which they do not
know.
 Adequate Graphics – Graphics should always support the topic being discussed. These should always be in line and
appropriate for the instruction.
 Adequate Record Keeping – Summary of progress report of students must be present and can be easily accessed by the
teacher to enable them to keep the track of the student’s performance.
BENEFITS
The benefits enumerated in the drill – and – practice software are also the same benefits of the tutorial software.
Tutorial are self-contained and self-paced instruction which allows students to learn at their own time.

LIMITATIONS and PROBLEMS

 Criticism by Constructivism – Tutorial contradicts the objective of constructivism learning since tutorial software delivers
directed instruction rather than allowing students to construct and generate their own knowledge through hands-on projects.
 Lack of good Products – this is being encountered due to the difficulty and expense of designing and developing tutorial
software. Difficulty in programming and including of suitable graphics to give appropriate pedagogy in teaching and
demonstrating the concepts well are the dilemmas in producing well-packaged tutorial software.
 Reflect Only One Instructional Approach –What should be taught for a given topic, how to teach the topic or lesson
effectively, in what sequence the learning tasks will be presented are always the questions in producing an effective tutorial
software.
See the following sites for sample tutorial software:
Trigonometry Challenge by ETCAI – http://www.etcai.com/page10.html
Laws of Motion by The physics Classroom – http://www.phyicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws
He Constitution by Congress for Kids – http://congressforkids.net/Constitution _writing constitution.htm

SIMULATION SOFTWARE
Selecting
There is a realistic and accurate representation of a system. Clear set of directions must be present in the
software; models a real or imaginary system. Can model physical phenomena, procedures, and hypothetical situations.
The impact of actions must be clearly seen.
Benefits
 Compress Time – Students do not have to wait for the living to grow and develop its cycle in real time for this can be
presented in the stimulation software in just a couple of minutes.
 Slow Down Process – Events or processes that happen that is invisible to the human eye can actually be played in slow
motion to enable he students to see how such event or process happens in reality.
 Get students Involved – The participation of the students is necessary for them to be able to learn what may happen in a
particular situation.
 Make Experimentation Safe – Simulation software is best in keeping the students safe I learning things like driving
vehicles, handling volatile substances, search and rescue situation etc.
 Make the Impossible Possible – Waking on the moon, traveling to the universe, witnessing the volcanoes erupt, are just a
few examples of allowing the students to experience the impossible and learn the possible.
 Save Money and other Resources – Though learning by doing is the best learning experience, simulation software may
still give rightful learning experience at a fraction of the cost, like dissecting animals, hardware unit, and the like.
 Allow Repetition with Variations – Simulations allow students to repeat events many times as they master the lesson they
wish to learn.
 Allow Observation of Complex Processes – Simulation software makes learning and understanding of complex lessons
and processes easier for students to see what is happening.

LIMITATIONS and PROBLEMS

 Criticism of Virtual Lab Software – Students may not get actual and quality learning if real experiments will be taken in
substitute virtual labs than doing it in the hands-on-labs. Simulations can just be used as supplements to regular labs.
 Accuracy of Models – Simulation software may give inaccurate or imprecise perspectives of the subject matter. Real
experience is still better than being replaced by substituted learning experience.
 Misuse of Simulations – There is a possibility that students would unlikely to develop effective problem-solving skills due
to plainly mastering the activities given simulation.
See the ff. sites for sample simulation software:
BioLab Fly by BioLab – http://www.biolabsoftware.com/bls/fly.html
Stock Market Simulation by National SMS –http://www.nationalsms.com
Digital Frog by Digital Frog International – http://www.digitalfrog.com

INSTRUCTIONAL GAMES
SELECTING
 Appealing Formats and Activities – Adventure and levels of complexity that match learners’ abilities fun learning.
 Instructional Value – Instructional game should serve as educational and motivational tools which give importance to the
value of learning.
 Physical Dexterity is Reasonable – The purpose of motivating the students should be evident in the instructional game
and not the other way around. However, if the object of the game is to learn physical dexterity (e.g. for students with
physical challenges), the focus of the game should be learning context-area skills, rather than physical dexterity. The level
of physical dexterity for content-area games should be untroublesome to all students.
 Social, Societal, and Cultural Considerations – Instructional games should highlight positive messages rather than war
and violence among peoples of different nations, beliefs, and cultures.
Benefits
 Games are more interesting than traditional instruction (Randal et al., 1992)
 Retention of information is longer
 Assists teachers to get students to focus on the topic
 Makes learning more engaging and motivational (Ash, 2011; Corbett, 2010;Squire, 2005)
Limitations and Problems
 Learning versus Having Fun- Some schools disagree in incorporating games in instruction for they believe that games
draw away the attention of the students from the real purpose and that is learning the lesson. The focus of the students is
toward winning the game of instruction/learning.
 Confusion of Game Rules and Real-Life Rules-Rules in games differ from rules in real-life. Game rules may give students
difficulty in transferring the skills learned through games to real-life situations.
 Inefficient Learning- Balance between motivation and learning must be maintained the classroom so not to lose the value
of education when using instructional games.
 Classroom Barriers- Instructional games sometimes cannot be implement in the classroom due to some difficulties
encountered, such as requirements of the game software do not match with the specifications of computers in schools,
 some teachers have negative views toward computer games, time needed to complete the game is longer than the
normal class hours, and others.
See the following sites for sample instructional game software:
Spore by Electronic Arts, Inc. – http://www.spore.com
Lure of the Labyrinth by Thinkport – http://www.labyrinth.thinkport.com
Jeopardy Review Generator by Super Teacher Tools –
http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy
Problem-Solving Software
Selecting
Teachers should see to it that the software should be able to develop the skills of the students in solving various kin=ds of
content-area problems. The software should also have the feature that would keep the interest of the students in moving
on in solving problems. The problems should be challenging to bring out the level best in the students.
Benefits
 Promotes visualization in mathematics problem solving.
 Fosters better understanding in visualization of abstract concepts.
 Improve interest and motivation I doing problem-solving activities. This will allow students to become more active and
impulsive problem solvers.
Limitations and Problems
 Effectiveness of Problem-Solving Software – The problem-skills that students supposed to be developing through the use
of the software may not actually be helping them to learn these skills though software catalog claims that it can foster
problem skills. The student may be enjoying in solving problems using the software but they are not actually learning or
developing the skills needed. Teachers have use the problem-solving software first to confirm its effectiveness that it truly
achieves the end-results of developing skills in problem-solving.
 Suitability in Learning Strategy of the Students – The instructional strategy of the problem-solving software may not suit
the learning strategy of the students, thus will limit their learning and developing of problem-solving. The kind of
instructional strategy of the software may bring negative effects in directed instruction .
See the following sites for sample problem-solving software:
Memory challenge by the Critical Thinking Co. - http://www.criticalthinkin.com
Sequences by the Tool Factory, Inc, - http://www.toolfactory.com
Crazy machines by Viva Media LLC –http://www.vivamedia.com
Software Support tools
It is undeniably true, as mentioned in the previous chapter, that the productivity software like word processing,
spreadsheets, presentation software, and the like, are helpful for both teachers and students in accomplishing their
respective tasks in supporting and meeting the requirements of teaching and learning.

This time, you will learn other software support tools that likewise benefit teachers in teaching and students in
learning in various classroom situations. These software support tools offer the following advantages:

 Improved efficiency and productivity

 Enhanced more product appearance
 More precise and aptness of information
 More support for collaboration

Software Support Toll categories

1. Materials generators 3. Graphics tools 5. Research and reference tools
2. Data collections and analysis tools 4. Planning and organizing tools 6. Content-area tools

Example Software Tool Purposes and Benefits

Desktop Publishing Software For creating letterheads, brochures,
 Microsoft publisher http://office.microsoft.com flyers/posters, newsletters, newspapers,
 Adobe InDesign and Pagemaker http://adobe.com and books.
 Quark Express http://www.quark.com
Web Page Design Software for creating, editing, and updating web
 Adobe Dreamweaver http://adobe.com pages and websites for project work
 Microsoft webMatrix http://www.microsoft.com display and information dissemination of
lessons with links like Webquests.
Whiteboard Activity Software for creating of lessons presentations and
 Notebook (for use with Smart Boards) http://smarttech.com activities that students can interact with.
 ActivStudio or Activinspire (for use with Prometheus Boards)
http://www.prometheanworld.com

Example Software Tool Purposes and Benefits

Test and Rubric Generators For creating of tests and test items
 Exam View Learning Series http://www.einstruction.com banks,Administer tests online;
 Test Creator http://www.centronsoftware.com
 WondershareQuizCreator http://www.sameshow.com Teachers may create or adopt rubrics for
 EasyTestmaker http://www.easytestmaker.com rating students’ projects and other
 RubiStar (use program of pre-made rubrics) http://rubistar.4teachers.org performance assessmnts.
 Rubric Builder http://www.rubricbuilder.on.ca
 Rubric Maker http://recipes.teach4learning.com
 Example Software Tool Purposes and Benefits
Worksheet and Puzzle Generators For creating of puzzle activities and
 Crossword Puzzle Maker http://armoredpenguin.com worksheets to improve student’s skills.
 Worksheet Works http://www.worksheetworks.com
 Quia Web http://www.quia.com
Graphic Document Makers For creating of certificates for awards
 Print Shop Deluxe http://www.borderbund.com and recognition, flyers, cards, and other
 Smart Draw http://www.smartdraw.com artistic and decorated documents.
PDF and forms makers For creating of documents in Portable
 Adobe Acrobat Pro http://adobe.com Document Format(PDF) and creating
 PDF Maker pilot http://www.colorpilot.com forms that can be accomplished online.
 Cute PDF http://www.cutepdf.com
 FormArtist Professional http://www.quask.com
Roblyer, M. &Doering, A. (2013)
Data Collection and Analysis Tools
Collect data from students; support decision making; analyze data from experiments and research.

Example Software Tool Purposes and Benefits

Database Software For storing of information that can be accessed and
 FileMaker http://www.filemaker.com located easily by typing only the key words.
 Quickbase http://quickbase.intuit.com
 Microsoft Access http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ access
Electronic Gradebooks For keeping track of student’s record and
 PinnacleGradeGradebook http://www.globalscholar.com computation of student’s grades.
 Teacher Planet listing of many gradebook packages
http://www.gradebooks4teachers.com
Statistical Packages For data calculations which produces descriptive and
 SPSS http://www/spss.com inferential analysis that are needed in researches.
 SAS http://www.sas.com Can be used by teachers in teaching statistical
 Analyse-it http://www.analyse-it.com procedure.
 XLStat http://www.xlstat.com
 NCSS http://www.ncss.com
 Stata http://www.stata.com
Online Survey Tools For designing and implementation of surveys and
 SurveyMonkey http://www.surveymonkey.com questionnaires which can be used by both teachers
 Zoomerang http://www.zoomerang.com and students.

Example Software Tool Purposes and Benefits

Student Information System For keeping track of student, class, and
 PowerSchool http://www.pearsonschoolsystems.com school data
 Pinnacle SIS http://www.globalscholar.com would eventually help in making
 Tyler SIS http://www.tylertech.com/solutions-products/school- decisions. Basically,
solutions the system can:
 Quickschools http://www.quickschools.com  track and report student’s
attendance
 keep records on student demographic
data
 create class scheduling
 track and report on test scores and
achievement by objective
 inform parents of their child’s grades and
attendance via online
Computerized-Based Testing Systems This is also known as computer-assisted testing.
 Exambuilder http://www.exambuilder.com This system allows students to take tests via
 Easy Test http://www.easyteach.com/easytest.html online
 ComputerTest 2.0 http://www.cubeapps.com on- screen computer which provide
results afterwards.
Students Response System or Clickers This is also called as personal response
 Students Response Solutions http://www.turningtechnologies.com system or classroom response systems.
 Smart Response http://smarttech.com This allow teachers to display a question
 Activate,ActiveExpression,ActiveEngage http://www.prometheanworld.com which can be simultaneously answered by
 iRespond http://www.irespond.com the students, and results can be seen by
the teacher immediately. This system
enhances students’ engagement in class
instruction.
Roblyer, M. &Doering, A (2013)
 Graphics Tools
Allow teachers and students to enhances the illustration to be placed in documents (flyers, brochures, newsletter,
and the like) and web pages.

Example Software Tool Purposes and Benefits

Draw/ Paint Programs Used to create own graphics to be inserted
 Adobe Illustrator http://www.adobe.com into the documents or web pages.
 CorelDraw http://www.coreldraw.com
 KidPix http://www.broderbund.com
Image Editing Software Used to modify, enhance and format photos
 Adobe Photoshop http://www.adobe.com to be inserted into the documents and web
 ACDSee Pro Photo Manager http://www/deriction.com pages.
Charting/ Graphing Software Used to create and graphs to illustrate the
 SmartDraw http://www.smartdraw.com data entries.
http://www/webopedia.com/
 The Graphic Club 2.0 http://www.tomsynder.com
 List of plotting/ graphing software
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of _information_graphics_software
Media Collection Clip Art , Photo, Animation, Sound, Video,
 Graphics for Teachers http://www.teachingheart.net and Font Collection add design to the
 Microsoft Media Collection http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/image documents and presentation which make the
 Istock Photos http://www/istockphoto.com output more professional and artistic in
 Digital Sound Factory (musical instruments) appearance.
http://www.digitalsoundfactory.com
 Flaming Text http://www.adobe.com./type/collections.html
 Adobe Fonts Collection http://www.adobe.com/type/collections.html
 Animation Factory http://www.animationfactory.com

Planning and Organizing Tools

Allow teachers and students to organize ideas and plan lessons and class schedule.
Example Software Tool Purposes and Benefits

Outlining and Concept Mapping Software Helps students to develop[ their writing skill to
 Inspiration http://www.inspiration.com accomplished well written reports, short
 Kidspiration http://www.inspiration.com/kidspiration stories, and other writing task.
 SmartDraw https://www.smartdraw.com
Concept mapping software helps an individual
to explore and outline ideas to properly outline
his/her thoughts in writing the intended output.
Lesson Planners Guides teachers in preparing lesson plan and
 PlanbookEdu http://planbookedu.com activities in a standard format.
 ILessonPlan http://ilessonplan.com
 MyLessonPlanner http://mylessonplanner.com
Scheduling, Calendar, and Time Management Tools Help teachers and students to plan their
 FileBuzz Teacher Calendar Software activities and events daily, weekly, or monthly.
http://www.filebuzz.com/Educational/1.html This reminds the users of the events, duties,
http://www.webopedia.com and responsibilities to be accomplished.
 Reel Logix Calendar Software http://www.thecalendarpalnner.com
 Easy Schedule Makers http://www.patrena.com

Research and Reference Tools

Assist teachers and students in doing their research work.
Example Software Tools Purposes and Benefits
Online Encyclopaedia Helps both teachers and students in
 Encyclopedia Brittanica http://www.britannica.com finding the facts and information in
 Encyclopedia.com http://www.encyclopedia.com accomplishing their assignments, projects,
and researches.
Online Atlases and mapping Tools Helps users to know more about local,
 Wordatlas http://www.wordatlas.com/atlas/world.htm national, world, and celestial geography
 Rand McNally.com http://www.mapquest.com which are needed in their learning.
 The National Map http://nationalmap.gov
 Atlas of the Universe http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com
 Google Maps http://maps.google.com

Online Dictionaries and Thesauruses Helps teachers and students to widen their
 Technology words: Webopedia http://www.webopedia.com vocabulary
 Any words/thesaurus: Merriam-Webster http://www.merriam-webster.com
 Any words/thesaurus: Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com
 Content Area Tools
Assist teachers and students in enriching their knowledge in a specialized content area, such as reading, math,
science, computer, art, music, language, social studies, drawing and technology education.
Example Software Tool Purposes and Benefits
CAD Systems Help student in creating models of buildings, houses, cars, and other
 AutoCAD structures.
http://usa.autodesk.com
 Alibre
http://www.alibre.com
Music Editors, Sequences, and MIDI Tools Helps students in developing their own musical piece and compositions.
 iLike and Garageband
http://www.ilike.com
 listing of MIDI products
http://www.midi.org
Reading Tools Help teachers to select stories that may be related to the topic they will be
 readability calculation software teaching. Students motivation in reading would likely improve and have
http://www.readabilityformulas.com reading for enjoyment.
 accelerated Reader AR
http://www.renlearn.com/ar
Microcomputer-based labs (MBL) Also known as probe ware. Assists teachers and students in
Calculator-based labs (CBL), and accomplishing their experiments that might need measuring of light,
Graphing temperature, voltage, and speed.
Calculators
 vernierLabQuest Graphing calculators help in illustrating equations in graphs.
http://www.vernier.com
Calculator-based labs allow connection of probes or sensor to a graphing
calculator rather than to a computer.
Geographic Information Systems GSIS GSIS allows the users to study geographic locations.
and
Global Positions Systems GPS
 ARCView GSIS
http://www.esri.com/software/arcview

Example Software Tool Purposes and Benefits

 GPS curriculum GPS allows the users to find its way to their destination with complete
http://www.educaching.com calculation of positioning of places.
 Magellan GPS
http://www.magellangps.com
 Garmin GPS
http://www.garmin.com
Online Foreign Language Dictionaries and Allow users to understand other foreign languages by looking up its
Language Translators meaning and translation to their local languages.
 Listing of foreign language dictionaries
http://www.foreignworld.com
 WorldLingo
http://www.wordlingo.com
 Babylon9
http://translation.babylon.com