educational software

Choosing & Using with the End in Mind

Educational Software

• Evaluating software

• Making a choice

• Starting out to be successful

• Getting results

• What’s new?

• What’s coming?

• Questions & Discussion

• Door Prizes

Evaluating software

• Criteria

• Who are the customers?

• Results?

• What else do we need or want?

• Determine

• Priorities (among results, customers, needs/wants)

• Which program/s may fit

• Pilot

• Road test

• Scientific

Software pilots

• General

• Cost to institution varies-- $0 to ?

• No obligation to purchase

• Pilot agreement between institution & publisher (Aztec)

Pilot agreement

• Publisher agrees to

• Furnish software for 1-12 months

• Train instructors & administrators

• Provide support

• Institution agrees to

• Make software a regular part of the curriculum for a group of students

• Identify measures of success

• Send instructors to training

• Consider purchasing the software if the pilot is successful

Software pilots

• Road test

• Take it out for a spin

• Feedback from instructors

• Feedback from students

Software pilots

• Scientific

• Pilot group & control group

• Equal numbers

• Similar demographics

• Similar beginning Educational Functioning Levels

• Pre & posttests (standard assessments)

• GEDs

• Feedback from instructors & students

Pilots- examples

• Maximum Security Prison

• Job Corps Center

• Community College

Pilots- examples

• Maximum Security Prison

• Road test– no control group

• TABE every 4-5 weeks

• Little direction to students or tutors- “open lab”

• What we learned:

• Importance of following PRETEST>LEARNING>POSTEST path in Aztec- students who took posttests made twice the gains of those who did not

• For some students, outside factors significantly affected TABE scores (e.g., prison policies, parole hearings, lockdowns)

Pilots- examples

• Job Corps Center

• Started as scientific- pilot group & control group

• Planned for 90 days with TABE pre & posttests

• Customer pulled the plug after 30 days & bought software for 5 Job Corps

• What we learned:

• Educators can be impatient!

• Getting good data is extra work & not the primary mission

• Customer’s ethical dilemma-- if a tool is perceived as effective, shouldn’t we make it available to all?

Pilots- examples

• Community College

• Scientific

• Pilot group & control group of equal number

• Similar demographics- age, gender, socioeconomic

• Similar Educational Functioning Levels (Range: ABE II-ASE II, Majority in ABE III & ABE IV)

• What we learned:

• 90-120 days is a realistic time frame for a single cohort of students

• Importance of up front administration support

• Instructors don’t have to be experienced with software

• Instructors do need to want to try something new & be willing to follow through

• Student contract- setting expectations- was a good idea

COMPARISON OF AZTEC SOFTWARE VS. CONTROL GROUPSTUDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL RESULTS FALL 2011 (11 AUG-11 DEC)PILOT AT LANIER TECH JACKSON COUNTY (GA) LEARNING CENTER

 

Aztec Control

Number of Students1 19 19

Number of Students Completing EFLs

10 4

Students with Multiple EFL Completions (no GED)

2 1

GED 7 2

GED in Process 7 5

Dropped Out 3 4

1.Comparable numbers at each beginning EFL, comparable demographics

Educational software-making a choice• Need/gaps

• Expected results

• Reporting

• Ease of use

• Management

• Dependability

• Cost

• Single vs. multiple user groups

Educational software- starting out to be successful• Train

• Hands-on instructors in labs

• Instructors who refer students

• Distance instructors & coordinators

• Administrators

• Set expectations for how software will be used

• By instructors

• By students (contract?)

Educational software- getting results• Pretest>Learning>(Practice)>Posttest

• Follow up- visibly

• Be a guide

What’s new?

• New from Aztec:

• Distance Learning Reporting

• College Transition Series

Chart A1.1. Percentage of population that has attained tertiary education , by age group (2009)

1. Year of reference 2002.Countries are ranked in descending order of the percentage of the 25-34 year-olds who have attained tertiary education.Source: OECD. Table A1.3a. See Annex 3 for notes (www.oecd.org/edu/eag2011).Statlink

%

North Carolina

• 37.65% of the population have at least a 2 year degree

• National average: 38.3%

• NC rank: 27th

• Percentage of jobs requiring a college credential by 2018: 59%

Lumina Foundation, from 2010 census data, www.luminafoundation.org

What’s coming?

• GED 2014 – advance info published February 2012

• A for-profit GED Testing Service is stirring up the adult education publishing world

• Aztec’s GED 2014 Series (work has begun; name to be determined)

• Changes in communication>>changes in education

• Student Intervention Platform

What’s wrong with this paragraph?• “…Even with all of this evidence against the usefulness of a

GED, it continues to grow. As shown in the chart below, nearly 500,000 high school dropouts passed the GED test in 2008. Those individuals accounted for 12 percent of all high school credentials issued that year. At the same time, the exam’s difficulty continues to decrease. When the GED exam was introduced in 1942, it was estimated that 80 percent of graduation-bound high school seniors could pass the test on their first try. Currently, however, it is estimated that only 60 percent of graduation-bound high school seniors are able to pass the test on their first try.”

•  

• Alliance for Excellent Education

• http://www.all4ed.org/publication_material/straight_as/06282010

GED 2014

• What will be the same & what will be different?

• Same: nouns & verbs will still agree, & the denominator will still be on the bottom.

• Different: cost

DATE: May 11, 2012

RE: Pricing for the New GED Test (2014)

GED Testing Service is pleased to announce that the cost to the jurisdictions* for the new

2014 GED® test on computer will remain at US$120. This pricing will remain in effect

through the end of 2014.

• Different: computer, keyboard essay, new question/answer interactions (drag & drop, short answer, fill in the blank, cloze items, etc)

Aztec’s GED 2014 Series

• Aztec’s content will mirror testing—

• 4 practice tests, balance of informational texts & literature, balance of quantitative & algebraic problem solving

• Range of complexity, abstractions, critical thinking, recall

• Instruction focusing on Common Core State Standards & similar state career & college readiness standards

• Calculator & formula pages will be available

Aztec’s GED 2014 Series

• Aztec’s content will mirror testing (cont.)

• Practice essays will be required in Literacy & Social Studies

• Reading & writing will be measured in Social Studies

• Reading will be measured in Science

• Texts at the college & career readiness level will be included

• Special attention to standards that include the most often missed questions on the 2002 GED

Aztec’s GED 2014 Series

• Aztec’s presentation of test items will use the same interactions required in the GED to ensure mastery of the technology—

• Drag & drop, hot spot, cloze items, short answer, fill in the blank, multiple choice, multiple selection

• Essay prompts with word processor, extended responses

• Computer literacy module

• New content

• New practice tests & question banks

• New graphics, animation, video

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d-Ze7y7FG4&feature=youtu.be

Changes in communication >> changes in education• Portable – Digital – Immediate

• Apps – Podcasts – Blogs – Social media – Text messages – Wikis – You Tube

Video- Social Media

Student Intervention Platform

• Teens are sending 3,417 text messages per month. (Neilson)

• There are more text messages per phone (357/month) than phone calls (204/month.)

• Student Intervention Platform= instant notification to students, faculty, and support services via text.

• What kinds of information?

• Student information

• Time based

• Event based

Student Intervention Platform

John Coplin: If you would like help with algebra…

Press1) For a tutor2) For math lab hours & location

Early intervention>Retention

Links & emails

• www.aztecsoftware.com

• Jennifer’s blog: http://jenniferslearningtech.com

• johncoplin@aztecsoftware.com jennifercoplin@aztecsoftware.com

• Michael Kheyfets, atext, inc., mk@atext.com

• GED 2014: http://www.gedtestingservice.com/uploads/files/d2dcf7999b40b1ff1e593c43beabe77d.pdf