Software for learning :: What information do teachers need?

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Permalink Reply by indigo196 on February 9, 2008 at 5:41pm

I want to make sure I am responding based on an accurate assumption of what you are asking for. When I checked out the websites you posted links to it looks as though those sites are databases of software (or web apps) available for teachers to use in their classrooms. The TKI site appears to go a little deeper with some screenshots of the applications. Is this impressions accurate? Are you just looking for suggestions as to what could be added or how the data could be better presented?

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Permalink Reply by Marielle Lange on February 9, 2008 at 6:44pm

Thanks for checking that out. I am primarily interested in general structure.

Feedback on how specific sections within that structure, like the "snapshots of learning" one, that proposes screenshots capturing the software in use in a classroom environment are welcome. My priority, however, will be first to come up with a good structure and presentation of the information for the listing of software. Indeed, what could be added in terms of functionality or how the information could be presented.

On what could be added in terms of software to be listed, feel free to use the link suggest software. You will come across a section that mentions "relevance to NZ curriculum"... if this doesn't apply to you, skip that step. To be honest, it's not clear that teachers of any country can contribute. Let's bring up the issue. I personally think there are important benefits at targeting teachers across borders.

What I can have direct influence on is the redesign of the website (look and feel and information structure). My own opinion on the website is that it looks like a website designed in the early 90s (the truth is that the current design dates from at least 8 years). A lot of efforts clearly went into it but I find it not practical at all to use. Despite the usefulness of the resources listed there, usage is not that great. The number of resources is not that great either, which suggests that only a limited number of teachers bother sending suggestions.

Better can be done in terms of attractiveness and ease of use. I am interested in the feedback and criticisms from teachers.

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Permalink Reply by indigo196 on February 9, 2008 at 10:11pm

OK.

I am not a teacher... but I have supported them for around ten years.

1. I doubt many teachers care about searching by title or by publisher... they care about grade level and subject area.
2. I think having the ability to quick-search just freeware or by OS will help as well. That function is there is the advanced search, but expect teachers of varying technical ability to 'know' to hit advanced is not a good plan.
3. Linux is starting to play a larger roll in education so it would be good to add that to the OS selections
4. I would not include 'demos' as freeware - they are demoware.
5. It would be nice to see teachers able to 'rate' software; perhaps a 1-5 star system; similar to how Amazon works. Then I would make it so teachers could sort of highest rated
6. Listing minimum specs for the titles is crucial - teachers will often have to present program suggestions to their IT department and providing min system reqs will always help the process along; potentially allowing teachers to input their specs, subject and grade to search for software would be very helpful
7. I did not like that some result links took me off-site vs. on site overview. In addition some on-site links provided system specs and some did not... all of them should - even if you have to test that before putting the product up
8. The 'snapshots of learning' section could be improved by having the screen shot pop-up load with back and next buttons so users do not have to return to the main page to get the next image. Also, animated examples of the products in use with narration would make a greater impact.
9. I think building a wiki for the products you hi-light would also be beneficial as your user base could help build a how-to for each program. You would have to make the wiki fall under creative commons to get full buy-in from your users.

That is it for the numbered items...

If the site will be opening up to non-NZ teachers then the copyright notices may need to change if you want user input from others. I also have to say that some of the 'deals' that the Ministry of Education has procured for the public schools is outstanding (I wish the US would do the same and if not the federal gov't the states should attempt to do the same). I was impressed with the depth of the overall site... though I think a new menu system may help others find resources they might miss.

I hope my comments assist... feel free to ask me for more if you would like.... just send me a message here on Ning.

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Permalink Reply by Marielle Lange on February 10, 2008 at 1:54am

They do assist greatly. You spotted a few things that had escaped me.

1. Title or publisher, I fully agree.
2. Level was not that relevant for the generic types of software they were listing... but this listing would gain to be expanded in content.
3. New Zealand is supportive of the Use of Open Source in Education (New Zealand Open Source Society, FOSS). Linux should be added indeed.
4. Demoware, indeed, I had failed to spot that one.
5. Ratings, yup, I consider rating. I also consider alternative measures that don't depend on user participation like the number of clicks on that item (number of time teachers required to see the full description). I have come across interesting ratings on a website about web 2.0 awards: Usability, usefulness, social aspects, interface & Design, content quality. I will see if it is possible to come up with similar multiple ratings that work across a variety of software. If I could get data about the number of licenses purchases or install in school, that would provide more objective data. Starting to be a bit overkill, perhaps.
6. Minimum specs, totally agree.
7. Off site vs in site, yes, the difference should be clearly indicated and there should never be off-site linking from the title link. Consistency of behavior is of prime importance.
8. Point taken.
9. Great suggestion. It's not clear whether I can count on much participation (they have a forum "teacher talks" with only a few regulars). But making the editing of specs easier is a bonus. It wouldn't be wiki though but a CMS backend that offers similar functionalities.


On the situation in the US, I can't comment. Similar initiatives are taken in various countries. Becta, in the UK, provides its own listing of software relevant to schools.

On other ideas I have had. Provide information on the file size (some apps like Poser take 200MB). Add a link "related software" or freeware alternative for commercial software (for photoshop, present Gimp as a freeware alternative)..

Anyway, I am putting some of my notes and links I come across when doing a bit of research for this project, on my personal wiki.

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Irish on February 9, 2008 at 8:47pm

After looking at the site here are a few quick ideas you may wish to consider!

Listing Open Source software and websites by subject would be helpful. It would fit well with how we use delcious to bookmark our favorite sites.

Picture icons for headings would add color, interest and provide an easier user interface, at the very least you could use color codes.

Try featuring a website or different software application each week and then allow teachers to comment under the articles along the lines of a blog.

Your Page header needs more color and should have an easy to recognize Logo

Just my humble opinion since you asked

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Permalink Reply by Marielle Lange on February 9, 2008 at 10:13pm

That's all very good comments.

Listing by subject is on my list. I would like to implement an ajax interface, whereby you can restrict or expand the listing by ticking a box next to each subject on the top of the screen. I will have to double check that it pass the accessibility constraints.

On my list is also to separate this very very vague and poorly informative "Type" column into separate columns. Contents (animation, audio, graphics, etc.), Instruction :: Method (activity building, drill and practice, etc.) & Subject (Mathematics, Literacy, etc.), Technology :: Environment (web, pc, mobile) & OS (mac, windows, linux, webapp) & Software type (presentation, programming, word processing, etc.). Showing these different categories could help the user get an idea of what is available. Making it possible to search by any combination of these categories could also speed up and facilitate search (there seems to be too often an assumption in educational website that the user would be ready to spend 1 hour reading each single entry to try and find out whether the resource is of any interest.... well other webdesigners know that that time limit is well under 5 minutes... I will aim at making it possible to find the information you look for within 1 minute).

I was thinking that it may be good to increase the immediacy of information by providing the start of the description, cut to 255 characters under the name of the software.

Could you be more explicit for picture icons for headings. Could it be that you mean picture icons for categories (an icon for mathematics, an icon for graphics, etc.)

On a different software each week. Excellent idea. On my list was replace the single "new" with a list of the 10 last added. Your idea is even better. I am under the impression that there is a person dedicated to this resource and I know that the company is responsible for the publication of the edGazette, so it's worth what the options are to make it more "alive" / ever changing. A review of a software could be material for both the monthly gazette and the website.

The header is shared through all TKI website. In the development version, more modern banners have been designed (more web 2.0 style).

Easy to recognize logo depends on how much they want this website stand for itself. Even if they are not keen to individualize this section, a more telling picture could indeed enhance the page.

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Anybody checked out the "compare" option? Do you find it any useful?

What about options to rate or comments. Would teachers take the time to do that. What are the websites in which you tend to take the time to comment and the ones where you can't bother?

Keep them coming

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Permalink Reply by Richard Laugesen on February 12, 2008 at 5:12pm

I'm jealous! I would love that job.

There seems to be a lot of interesting things happening in education in NZ lately, loads of ICT integration. Can't wait to see where it all leads. I was born in NZ but live & teach in Aussie so have an interest in all things NZ.

As far as the site goes:

* The design seems a little dated. Perhaps the readability could be improved with more whitespace.

* How about a simple Digg style voting system where teachers give their tick of approval for a resource. That would open up possibilities like "10 most popular resources of the week", etc. Has a lower barrier of entry and investment for the users than a full ratings system.

* What about a discussion page associated with each resource where teachers could leave comments, reviews, etc.

* To be honest I didn't find the compare feature that useful.

* I also agree with the points that indigo and kelley mentioned.

Maybe you could review Termites once the site is up and running ;)

Cheers,
Richard

http://tinyrock.com

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Permalink Reply by Marielle Lange on February 13, 2008 at 1:09pm

Well, I do love that job ;-).

On Digg, not bad idea, there is an open source product, pligg that let you have a digg infrastructure at no cost. Problem is we need to integrate within another CMS, so we can't use pligg. Rating is a good thing to have though.

Comments are good practice to.

Is Termites a project of yours? The website looks great!

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Permalink Reply by Richard Laugesen on February 14, 2008 at 12:12am

Yip, Termites is one of my projects. The plan is to release some of my software under the Tiny Rock brand. Thanks for the complement, I've tried to keep it clean, simple, and clear.

Been getting a fairly good response to the release, building traffic has turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated though! It's all worth it just for the buzz of seeing other teachers use my software to get their classes a bit more manageble.

It's great to see you getting genuine input from the community. Can't wait to see the results.

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