Relative Advantage of Instructional Software

The purpose of this post is to conduct a brief overview of the five main categories of instructional software and to discuss the relative advantage of using instructional software. According to Roblyer (2016), the five main categories of instructional software include: drill and practice, tutorial, simulations, instructional games, and problem solving. In my opinion, there is a lot of overlap between these categories. However, there is also some generally agreed upon differentiation between them.

Drill & Practice:
The drill and practice category typically includes software that allows students to practice concepts learned in class. A teacher can use this type of software as a pre-assessment, or as practice and reinforcement, or as a required or choice activity. One example that I had a very positive experience with is Quizlet. My son used that program to create flashcards and track his progress as he studied for exams at his trade school. A very different example of this category is WolframAlpha. This website allows students to input math equations and then see the answer.

Tutorials:
The tutorial category includes software and websites that allow students to take control of the time, place, and pace of their learning. Typically, tutorials are built with videos or animations that explain certain concepts and how to operationalize them. The Khan Academy may be the best know math tutorial site on earth. Although it started out as a collection of math help videos. This tutorial site now teachers math, science, computer programming, history, art, and economics. A much different type of tutorial site is Gooru Learning. Gooru allows teachers to curate collections of online resources targeting a particular concept. Then students can work through the collections at their own pace. It is also worth noting that, while YouTube is not truly a tutorial site, it does contain the largest collection of tutorial videos on the Internet.

Simulations:
Simulations differ from the previous categories in that they introduce the idea of choice into the learning experience. Typically, simulations allow students to make choices of what problems to solve or tasks to complete. A great example of a math-related simulation site is Geogebra. This site allows students to create representations of equations and other mathematical concepts while giving students the opportunity to experience and manipulate math in ways that they could not otherwise do. Desmos is another math exploration/simulation site. Desmos allows students to do powerful data analysis and modeling in a simulations platform.

Instructional Games:
I would consider many of the instructional software and websites that fall into the other four categories as frequently involving games or some level of gamification. That makes this particular category very broad. That said, I know of many elementary schools in Riverside County that use BrainGenie and/or Funbrain for math games. Students are engaged by the games, even if most games lean more toward drill and practice than toward problem solving.

Problem-Solving:
The problem-solving category of instructional software is the most intriguing to me. Good problem-solving software includes opportunities for students to practice a variety of skills such as: metacognition, observing, recalling, sequencing, analyzing, organizing, inferring, predicting, making analogies, and formulating ideas (Roblyer, 2016). One of the districts I work with has made a big investment in working with Dreambox. This problem-solving game environment focuses on elementary and middle school math. The teachers really like it because it allows for individualization and it has pretty powerful data analytics. Algodoo is one that I have not seen in use, but have heard many good things about. The non-profit organization, Common Sense Media, rates Algodoo very high in quality and in learning potential.

Relative Advantages:
The relative advantages of using instructional software are many. However, they depend on the category of software (Roblyer, 2016). For example, drill and practice software typically have the advantages of providing immediate feedback, increasing motivation, and saving teacher time. Tutorial software is recognized for having the important advantage of being a self-paced learning experience. Simulation software includes the advantages of compressing time, slowing processes, increasing engagement, saving funds, repeating with variations, and observing complex processes. Instructional games have the advantages of increasing engagement, and working on some non-cognitive skills. Finally, problem-solving software provides the advantages of visualizing mathematical processes, increasing interest and motivation, and making connections to real life situations.

Roblyer, M.D. (2016). Integrating educational technology into teaching (7th Ed.). Allyn & Bacon.