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Are you confused by terms that educators use? The ASCD Lexicon of Learning might be what you need.

 

 

 

Math Software

More about Our Software Collection

 

Many of the software titles included in our software index are being used in districts in Ohio and across the U.S. Our database began with a list of software products collected from a survey of 13 mid-sized urban districts in Ohio during 1999-2000.

Patricia Deubel spoke with software developers, school administrators, technology coordinators, and teachers to learn about products they were using to prepare students for Ohio's high school graduation test in mathematics.  CT4ME does ongoing research  to upgrade the list and keep it current.

The software titles for this project have been gathered in four ways.

 

Survey Titles	Software titles were included on the Ohio Ninth Grade Proficiency Test Mathematics Impact Survey. This survey was used in a 1999-2000 study Mathematics Software and Achievement on the Ohio Ninth Grade Proficiency Test, which received support from the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Urban Schools Initiative. The study measured the impact of software use on preparing grade 8 students for their first attempt to pass Ohio's required graduation math test.  See a summary of this research listed in our section for Papers:  The good and bad news of software use for mathematics proficiency test preparation
Other Titles Used	Teachers who were surveyed suggested other commercial and Internet software titles they used to help prepare students for the March 2000 math test.
Software Wish List	Teachers suggested software titles they wanted to use, but were not able to do so because cost was over the budget of their school or computers were not powerful enough. Some titles were of interest to special education math teachers.
Ongoing Research	This is an ongoing project to help teachers to select the best software products, which help students to learn math concepts and to prepare them to pass math standardized tests. Here's your chance to email us with your favorite math titles or input and rate software you have used. Send us an email with your favorite math title. Use our form to evaluate and tell us about the instructional and technical features of math software you use.

 

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Planning for the Use of Instructional
Software Applications

 

 

Software is only one piece of learning.  The Software & Information Industry Association (SIAA, 2007) indicates, "The following factors should be considered when planning for the use of instructional applications:

• learning standards it supports

• learning needs of the students for whom it is intended

• current teaching methods

• organization of classrooms and other learning spaces used for technology

• daily instructional schedule

• assessment methods for the area of learning

• other technology-based programs used by the students for similar purposes

• non-technology learning materials available to the students." (p. 15).

Need help with your implementation?

On November 8, 2006, the SIIA issued its new Software Implementation Checklist for Educators, It is one part of its Software Implementation Toolkit, and includes 10 basic concepts for effective software implementation, the essence of which follows:

• The process begins with objectives, planning before implementation, involving all stakeholders in planning and obtaining their buy-in.
• A successful implementation plan would have an evaluation component with criteria for success that is monitored by an effective leader with decision-making authority.
• All physical components and equipment for implementation to match software requirements would be present.
• Staff would be trained.
• Learners would have the prerequisite knowledge/skills to match the software specifications for use.
• The implementation would be monitored and issues resolved.  Each stage of implementation is evaluated and informs the next implementation stage. (p. 2)

Most of the concepts include a context with details to consider for each stage in implementation.

Then in April, 2007, the SIAA issued its Software Implementation Toolkit: Guidelines for K-12 Educators.  The toolkit is intended to:

1. Help K-12 educational institutions make better use of software products through the use of effective implementation practices.

2. Highlight the importance and impact of implementation practices on obtaining results from software use.

3. Provide K-12 educators and administrators with practical tools to use in the implementation process (p. 4).

Those tools include a complete set of blank implementation planning forms.

 

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Additional Sources for Product Information

 

   The Center for Implementing Technology in Education and National Center for Technology Innovation developed TechMatrix, a searchable database for math, reading, writing, and assistive technologies.  Find evidence of effectiveness and products that support the instruction of K-8 students with special needs.  Supporting literature on promising practices for the instruction of K-8 mathematics for students with disabilities is also provided.  Over 50 math products are reviewed for technology and instructional features: differentiation, cursor control options, customizable interface options, input/output options, text to speech capability, embedded resources, drafting options, word prediction capabilities, text-embedded prompts.  Links to vendors are provided.

Closing the Gap has an extensive resource directory with hardware, software, other assistive technology, producers, and organizations (e.g., those in your state) that serve children and adults with special needs.  You can search for software by disability, access aids, professional management, skill level, academic content area, or define your own category.  Hardware can be found via disability and input/output device.  Plus, you can search by product category.

The Educational Software Preview Guide Consortium has published its Educational Software Preview Guide for educators seeking software for preview.  This is not a buying guide, however, as educators should examine the products before purchasing.  An online searchable database lists more than 800 titles of favorably reviewed software for PreK-12 classroom use, with approximately 280 of those for mathematics. Information indicated for each title includes platform, grade level, instructional mode, a brief description of each product (a sentence or two), and publisher contact information.

Superkids.com provides reviews and ratings of educational software.

 

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References

 

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See our Math Software Titles | Use our Math Software Evaluation Form