Assessing Educational Software...Make it Right! But How?
Our current assignment is to create a rubric for the use of assessing educational software. Rubrics are ‘a scoring tool for subjective assessments… (that) allow for standardised evaluation according to specified criteria, making grading simpler and more transparent.’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubric_(academic) The rubric is designed to make assessment, though still subjective, more consistent. It seems to be an evaluation method unique to education, but I am not sure if that is entirely true.
Students are often given a copy of the assessment rubric when a task is assigned so that they are aware what the instructor is looking for, and placing value on, for evaluation. (Although rumour has it that EQAO rubrics are not developed until after a group of tests have been graded…hmmm? If this is true…do they go back and re-assess that group after the rubric is created? Of course this is only rumour, conjecture and personal thought.)
Rubrics are useful tools in assessment. They are beneficial to both the ‘assessor’ and ‘assessee’ because they outline standards and criteria for evaluation. So why do I still have such a difficult time creating them?
We have been given a criteria checklist to help us create our rubrics and assess a selection of educational software. Before looking at what other people feel is important criteria I decided I needed to decide what is important to me and my students. I started to think of the negatives I have experienced and what would make a program more useful.
The first issue I thought about, probably because I teach a lot of math, is the need for Canadian content. I have come across some interesting resources, only to be confronted with American money and inches and miles. For obvious reasons, such software or programs have limited appeal in the Ontario classroom.
My second concern is the languages the software is available in and any extra cost involved. I am currently placed at a ‘dual track’ school with a growing French Immersion population. My teaching partner and I are the only English Grade Three class this year and have tried to team up with our French counterparts with some success. It is very important to us as an entire school that we foster integration and the philosophy that we are in fact ONE school. This can be a difficult reality to attain if the resources are not consistent. I feel it is important that software be available in both French and English, and preferable without extra expense to the school.
To ‘piggy back’ on the idea of bilingual software, I would like to comment on the growing diversity in our schools today and the number of different languages spoken in our families’ homes and in the classrooms. Technology is a great way to build bridges between cultures, but only if the software is available in a variety of languages.
The ease of use is also important when assessing software…for both the student and the educator. If it takes too much work to figure out how to use a program and how to make it useful, it will not get used.
Availability is another concern for me when introducing software into my teaching. It is wonderful to have a selection of programs available to our students, especially assistive technology, but what real value is it to the individual if it is only available to them at school and on their school laptop that must remain at school. It severely limits a student’s ability to work at home and many of the licences are far too expensive for parents to purchase. Accessibility and ease of use are definitely two important features for educational software.
So those are the ideas where I started…but definitely not a rubric. Those thoughts now belong in a table as justifiable criteria....an assessment rubric for educational software.
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