Friday, September 24, 2010
Assignment 2 - Software Selection Forms
My district does not have a software selection form available. I think this type of form would be very helpful in a school district to help alleviate confusion on why software is being ordered and how it will be used in the classroom. There are a variety of teachers, and topics that need to be covered, so a software selection form would leave little to no confusion on who wants to use it, what students are going to gain from the software, and background on what kind of learning experience the software will provide. It is another form, but I think it will help teachers get products that they really want to help better the education of their students.
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My school district also does not utilize a software selection form. However, I also think that it would be extremely useful to track who would be utilizing the program, the knowledge students will gain from the program, and these would then indicate whether or not the software is worth purchasing. Software can be very expensive, especially to equip an entire classroom or school ditrict. Districts usually don't want to waste money purchasing software that only one class is going to utilize.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many software packages are purchased that are never used due to compatibility issues? The software selection form would hopefully cut down on wasteful spending.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that a selection form would help to select better fitting technologies for the school. It is hard to just pick a technology and have it work seamlessly. Just like you said many things need to be looked at when acquiring technologies such as teacher and students ease of use and if the technology is indeed one that will help the students the most of that type available.
ReplyDeleteErin,
ReplyDeleteMy district (W-B Area) does not have a software selection form either. I agree that the more people that are involved in software selection or the selection of any type of educational technology, the better the end result. I thought the idea of a Software Selection committee was a great idea! Unfortunately in some districts (as it is the case in mine), technology decisions are made by a select few people. Those that make the decisions sometimes have very little to no teaching experience at all.
I agree Erin, it would allow teachers who want the software and will use to get it better. And with our district doing everything electronically now it really wouldn't be that much work, especially if all you have to do is fill out and hit send.
ReplyDeleteMichele- Good point about the ease of adding an electronic software selection form! The only issue I can see with that is having to complete the entire for at once, because it isn't always possible to save a form in progress.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the idea of a committee, I think this a great idea. In addition to the teacher finding and testing the software, it could certainly be helpful to have other teachers, aides, administrators, or even community members test and help with the final decision.
Michele
ReplyDeleteI also believe it would help standardize the process of purchasing software. The problem is as you mentioned is that different software is needed for different subjects which makes it difficult to create one standard form.
I think we're all in agreement that the Software Selection Form would definitely add to the ease of integrating quality software into the curriculum. I'm in the same boat as you, in that my district does not currently use the forms.
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