Software Tools
Chapter 5 introduces several types of software tools available to make teaching more effective, from material generators to content area tools. All are designed to make things easier for teachers and to provide access to additional materials and experiences for students. One of the most popular software tool suites is desktop publishing. Desktop publishing provides a wide array of possibilities from brochures and newsletters for the teacher to allowing students to produce projects. Other software that has enhanced teaching is test generators, rubric generators, worksheet and puzzle generators, graphic document makers, and PDF and form makers. Another type of software that is very useful to the teacher is data collection and analysis software. These allow teachers to organize information from student progress to actual gradebooks. Graphic tools allow the manipulation and creation of images to illustrate documents and create web pages. These include draw/paint programs, image editing tools, charting/graphing tools, clip art, photo, sound, animation, and font collections. Research and reference tools provide students and teachers easy access to volumes of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses. In addition to all of these packages, content area software is also available. They include CAD, music tools such as editors, reading tools, graphing calculators and calculator based labs, Geographic Information Systems, and Global Positioning Systems. These are all designed to enhance the teaching and learning experience.
Chapter 6 introduces hypermedia and multimedia products. Hypermedia refers to linked media or interactive media. Multimedia means multiple media or a combination of media. Both these systems have revolutionized the world of teaching. Hypermedia systems offer powerful capabilities to enhance classroom learning. They increase student motivation, provide flexible learning modes, develop creative and critical thinking skills, and improve writing and process skills. Hypermedia also provides for sophisticated evaluations of learning through databases to monitor and archive student use and progress. Powerpoint is a very popular package available in many school districts both for teachers and students use. Additionally, there are tutorial packages, instructional software, interactive books, e-books, reference materials and collections of development materials. In order to accomplish the production of these multimedia productions, students and teachers need a variety of digital resources including, computers, scanners, digital cameras, camcorders, microphones, audio speakers and more. Students and teachers can develop a wide variety of products with time and effort. There are endless possibilities: presentation software, video production and editing systems, hypermedia development software, virtual reality and other immersion resources, and Web 2.0 design tools. The latest creations include blogs, glogs, and interactive learning presentations using an electronic interactive white board. The possibilities are becoming endless as more and more technology is being discovered and made available to the education world.
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