Instructional software is a great tool that is available to help teachers teach concepts in their content. There are many different types of instructional software in education today. The following are the five types of instructional software that are used the most in classrooms today. Some parts of the information was gathered for chapter 3 in M.D. Roblyer's and Aaron Doering's book, Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. I have also included hyperlinks of examples of each type.
The Five Types of Instructional Software used in the Classroom:
(1) Drill and Practice Software - This type of software provides exercises in which students work examples, and they receive feedback on their correctness. Drill and Practice involves "Flash Card Activity", "Chart fill-in Activities", "Branching Drills", and "Extensive Feedback Activities". A couple of positives about "Drill and Practice" software is that it provides immediate feedback. When students practice skills on paper, they are not immediately informed on how well they did. "Drill and Practice" software provides that immediate feedback. It also provides motivation. A lot of times, students by be concerned about their handwriting. A negative of "drill and practice" would be to use it to introduce new concepts of reinforcing and practicing new ones.
Quizlet provides software that is good for any learner (see link below)
Ex. http://quizlet.com/
(2) Tutorial Software - This software is an entire instructional sequence on a topic, similar to classroom instruction. Tutorials are usually geared toward learners who can read well and who are older. Some tutorials are aimed at younger learners to explain and demonstrate concepts with graphics or audio directions with screen displays. One huge benefit of using tutorial software is that it is self-contained. Students sit down in front of a computer, activate the software, and be taught the concepts needed. One negative of using tutorial software is that it delivers directed instruction, thus taking away the student's ability to create a "hands on" project.
Mathtutor offers great tutorial software for students to learn math concepts in grades 6-12. (see link below)
Ex. http://www.mathtutor.com/
(3) Simulation Software - A computerized model of a real or imagined system that is designed to teach how the system works. There are procedural simulations that teach sequences of steps to perform certain procedures A flight simulator would be an example. There are also situational simulations that give students hypothetical situations and expect them to react. An example would be participating in an stock buying/selling software. One positive example of simulation software is that it gets the students involved placing them in control of things. One negative is that simulation software should be used to supplement other "hands on" projects or experiments.
One example of simuation software would be something geared towards the stock market where students could learn to buy and sell stocks. (see link below)
Ex. http://www.smg2000.org/
(4) Instructional Game Software - Software that has game-like rules and implements competition in learning concepts. There a numerous benefits of using instructional game software in the classroom. It makes learning fun, instead of being dry and boring. It also makes learning more engaging and motivational Students love to compete and win, and this is why so many love educational games. One major negative of using gaming software in the classroom is that sometimes it creates chaos. I'm all for letting students interact with each other, but many times it does more harm than good. One must gauge the classroom environment before implementing many types of gaming software.
Schoolforge.net offers a wide variety of games in different content areas. (see link below)
Ex. https://schoolforge.net/education-software/educational-games
(5) Problem Solving Software - This software is designed practice solving various types of content problems. One key benefit in using this software is that it provides visualization in math problem solving. In teaching math concepts, a teacher could implement this software to provide the way to solving the problem. One downfall of problem solving software mentioned in the text is that a lot of companies who manufacture problem solving software often times mislabel their product. Basically this means that it was not intended has problem solving software.
An example would be EMsolution Arithmetic which helps students learn problem solving skills and grasping math concepts (see link below)
Ex. http://www.emteachline.com/eng/fc10.htm
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