Educational Software

The educational software that I chose for my future classroom is CompassLearning Odyssey.  Teachers in our school district use this program to provide students with interactive learning both in and outside of the classroom.  This software is designed to motivate students and improve their performance in various subjects.  Subject areas such as Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics contain assignments that are marked by the teacher for completion by the student, who has his or her own username and password to access the site from school or at home.  Differentiated learning is made easy with this program, as the teacher can assign each student their own lessons. 

Learning can be differentiated by individual skill level, intelligence type, and learning style.  Students take a beginning adaptive test, and the results are used to determine individualized activities based on the student’s dominant learning style as well as any areas of strength or weakness demonstrated.  As the student progresses through the assignments, this information is refined to provide the teacher with an update on how well the learner is performing so as to change the types or levels of activities accordingly.  The objective is to determine each student’s grade level and abilities, and to track and store their progress.  Teachers are provided real-time information on a child’s activities and, ultimately, can choose which activities to mark for each child to complete.  In addition to the individualized assignments and feedback, teachers can also monitor group or class progress through unit-based quizzes and tests.

With exceptional database management and reporting functions, as well as web-based teacher support through professional development courses and technical support, this software adds assessment tools and curriculum-based lessons to the teacher’s arsenal.  The ultimate instructional objective of any teacher is that the students will comprehend the lesson and be able to demonstrate the skills taught.  This application helps do just that, in an efficient manner that saves time for both the teacher and the student.  This software can also save valuable classroom time in that it reduces the amount thatthe teacher has to focus on individualized instruction. 

The benefit for the student is multifold:  they can practice classroom lessons in an individualized setting, obtain additional instruction in areas in which they may be lacking, while learning technological skills at the same time.   Students who have families that stress high educational expectations are more likely to do well in school, therefore the education of the child is first and foremost the responsibility of the parents.   With the teacher’s role as a facilitator of knowledge, sharing in the responsibility of student education, this software allows the parents to see which lessons the child is working on so they can monitor and reinforce them at home.

Challenges with incorporating this into my classroom are like those with any computer application: lack of student access to a computer at home and limited computer access time at school.  To combat this problem, I would use this software primarily so that the in-school activities are mandatory and part of the child’s grade, while the activities assigned for outside of school are merely for additional practice or extra credit points.  When the class is divided into groups, a portion of the students would be given computer time to complete their lessons.  I would also use laminated ID cards with early elementary students, with bar codes related to their in-school account, so that login would be less tedious and prone to error.  Our local school uses this technology for computer access, and I think incorporating it with CompassLearning, where the sign-in information was saved under the child’s school account would greatly benefit the student and teacher.