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Does it address the purpose you wish to accomplish, realistically considering the students’ age. Avoid giving a youngster overly advanced selections.
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Does the program support the instructional and curricular goals?
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Did you preview the program? Don’t always believe package claims. (If you enlist students help in the review process, keep in mind that youngsters tend to respond enthusiastically to any novel program – even brain-numbing ones.)
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Are there varying levels of difficulty with a clear and understandable graphical user interface, i.e., the ease with which the student can navigate through the program’s educational features?
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Are the graphics and sounds influencing your students’ aesthetic sensibilities and tastes?
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Is the content directly related to the learning rather than simply a thin veneer of information pasted over a ‘shoot-‘em-up’ or icon-clicking game.
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Does the software encourage original thinking? Is anything left to the students’ imagination?
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Does it simply transfer paper lessons to the screen? If the student needs skill-building (e.g., multiplication, tables, fractions, angles, irregular spelling words), look for programs that intersperse quick drills with more conceptual learning.
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Does it teach (i.e., coach the student on why an answer was incorrect or clearly present new information) as well as drill?
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Does it make the student feel stupid if they do not know the answer?
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Does the program give the student the pleasure of gaining mastery over a difficult problem or succeeding in a task, rather than rewarding with extra games or silliness?
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Does it expose the student to hard-to-characterize concepts such as symmetry, time, and motion as well as plenty of time to experiment with these concepts?
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Are both male and female characters portrayed as active problem solvers? Be alert for gender biases in characters or activities.
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Does the software allow children to explore, communicate, and to solve problems?
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Do they relate to the program and have some inherent learning value? Seek suggestions of activities that go beyond the computer.
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Are there support materials and non-computerized activities to provide meaning and follow-up?
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Does playing this program mean that your student will be ‘sold’ anything – from products to ideas – of which you might not approve?
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Is cuteness the primary attraction to the program? - Cute is not a valid criterion for choosing a learning activity.
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