1. Software Snapshots: Where Are You in the Picture? An Invitation to Community College Faculty.
- Author
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Interuniversity Communications Council (EDUCOM), Princeton, NJ. and Miami-Dade Community Coll. District, FL.
- Abstract
Designed to encourage community college faculty to examine the opportunities and responsibilities for educational software development and use, this booklet offers an overview of the steps involved in developing quality software. After reviewing some of the innovative uses of software in education, the booklet focuses on the readers' goals for their own teaching and for their students' learning to help them assess their readiness to integrate teaching and technology. In the next section, guidelines are provided for searching for, selecting, using, and adapting existing educational software. After urging instructors to start with a simple module, the booklet outlines the six stages in software development: (1) analysis of the objectives of the project, the approach, and the hardware/software requirements; (2) program design; (3) programming; (4) preparation of documentation, including a student guide and instructor's manual; (5) evaluation and debugging; and (6) maintenance. Alternatives to working alone on development projects are discussed next, including serial, collaborative, and parallel teams. After comparing the use of general purpose languages, authoring languages, and authoring systems, the booklet warns of the time commitment needed for serious software development. Issues to be considered before embarking on a software development project are also addressed, including institutional priorities, hardware/software choices, and the software marketplace. Finally, the intrinsic and extrinsic benefits of software development are reviewed. A list of associations, non-commercial software distributors, journals, and bulletin boards is attached. (AYC)
- Published
- 1989