The use of educational software in the teaching-learning relationship (whether offline, online or mobile oriented software applications) can be of significant advantage to all involved if used and managed carefully. There are many software packages dedicated to different fields of learning that are available to students, teachers and institutions. I fondly remember the Microsoft Encarta digital multimedia encyclopedia of the 1990s which was filled with photographs, sound clips, videos, atlases and more. It provided an exciting way to learn. Today we have software packages like Rosetta Stone for learning languages, software to aid in mathematics and reading and so on. Some of these are inexpensive while others, often geared towards educational institutions, are quite expensive. Most of these packages were/are aimed at being limited to one computer system or a specific number of systems.
With the increasingly important role of the internet in all spheres of our lives, there is an ever increasing pool of online software that can be used by students and educators alike. Internet oriented software platforms like Flash brought new leverage to software designers to produce storage-light software that can be easily run over the internet. Added to this, the internet speeds available in many places today also support greater data transmission than was possible a decade ago.
Many foundations, universities and even regular teachers and students now create online applications and mobile applications that can be used to aid learners and teachers both in and out of the classroom. Some software puts learning entirely in the hands of the students and the software takes on the role of the teacher - it explains the concepts, provides examples and even tests knowledge with quizzes. Of course, it means that the software engineers needed to have knowledgeable individuals provide the content used.
This brings me to perhaps what is one of the major challenges or more so major concerns about the wealth of educational software available both off and online today, credibility. Just how credible is much of the software available? The answer is often left up to the individual using it. Therefore, it is imperative that educators adequately examine educational software that they will use with their students. Not all applications are created equally, some are excellent, some are horrendous, and some fall in between. Even bad software can have some useful aspects, therefore, a teacher may still use certain features of a poor software package to specific purposes while dismissing the remaining features.
All in all, much reinforcement can be had from software packages to support learning. In the classroom, its for support, not to replace the teacher, manage it well.
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