The answers to these questions cannot come from any one educator. Consideration of instructional software and online resources requires input from educators in different roles such as classroom teachers, special education teachers, technology coordinators, technical support staff, and purchasing representatives. MAR*TEC recommends convening a review team of experienced educators with a range of teaching and technical experience. Before independently evaluating software or online products, the team must participate in a norming session to collectively consider one or two pieces of software. The team can then individually consider instructional pieces but should correlate their data into a collective analysis.
Integration of instructional software and online resources is vital to the academic achievement of all students. However, teachers should not make purchasing decisions in isolation. Successful technology integration requires systemic purchasing policies and ongoing collaboration among all of the major “players” in the educational community.
References
Rose, D. & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for
learning . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Soloway, E. (1998). No one is making money in educational software. Communication of the
ACM, 41 (2), 11–15.
U.S. Department of Education (2002). The facts about. . .investing in what works Retrieved
August 2003, from http://www.ed.gov/nclb/methods/whatworks/whatworks.html
U.S. Department of Education (2002). Scientifically based research. Retrieved August 2003,
from http://www.ed.gov/nclb/methods/whatworks/research/index.html
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