Heather L. McNeilly, RCOE, Appalachian State University
Software Evaluation
While in block at Appalachian State University, one of my assignments was
to evaluate software that students use in the classroom. Part of the requirement
for the evaluation was that to choose a piece of software and find out
how it could be beneficial to a student. As an intern, I worked at
Mabel Elementary School in a second grade class. The software that I evaluated
was on a second grade level. After I finished evaluating the software,
a student with whom I was working closely got the opportunity to try the
software out also. The software that I chose was Unlocking Measurement
K-2.
By using software in my classroom, I will be able to meet the needs of
many of my students. Students that may need extra attention on certain
areas a unit could use software like this to help boost their understanding.
There are many different ability levels available to choose from, so any
student could find something that could help them in some way. In the classroom,
software programs can be great items to help students reinforce what they
have learned. They can also be used to help students that may need extra
assistance on a particular skill or subject.
In doing this software evaluation, I located, evaluated, and selected a
software program that was appropriate to the content area that I was wanting
to use with a particular student(10.6). By
using Unlocking Measurement K-2, I was able to use technology-based tools
that are specific to math(11.3). The software
was a use of technology that helped to improve the student’s understanding
of skills in the area of math. The differences in learning and performance
will be met through the different levels of difficulty. The differences
will also be met with the different areas of measurement that the software
offers(13.1).