Evaluation of Educational Software For The African Context

"If the fast growing educational software market is to be reflected in improvements in the quality of teaching and learning in African classrooms, capacity in evaluating and selecting the material will be crucial. It is important therefore that African educators feel empowered to make informed judgements as to the appropriateness of specific software for their own environments."

This evaluation report is the result of work jointly commissioned by SchoolNet Africa (SNA) and Imfundo. It focuses on educational software, which the authors define as either "content-free" tools which are developed to support learners and teachers in their respective roles, or "content-rich" learning materials or resources which present information in engaging ways to guide learners and teachers through a pre-defined curriculum. In this context, the evaluation seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What educational software is currently available in the Sub-Saharan African region?
2. Which tools, criteria and questions can be used to guide and support educators in reviewing software?
3. What are the trends or findings in the reviews of selected products?
4. How do the teacher reviews reflect the diversity of software purpose and type?
5. What activities should educators complete to develop their ability to review and select software for their African classrooms?

Evaluators obtained a list of 112 educational software products developed in, or adapted for, Sub-Saharan Africa. This process involved visiting educational software vendors and retailers, conducting web searches and extending invitations to submit software for evaluation via a series of education-focused distribution lists. They found that:

• Most of the software originated in, or adapted for, the region is in English.
• Some products could be used for education and structured learning although not primarily intended for this purpose.
• Some of the products submitted to the researchers were designed to support school or library administration.
• All the titles found were originated in South Africa.

From the sample of reviews conducted, the authors cull out a number of trends. To cite only a few: The teachers found that images and animations needed to be relevant to the African context. Where the software was not originated in the region, they found that software was more relevant when it attempted to have a global appeal and to vary the examples and contexts. The teachers found that several of the products were particularly useful for developing English skills amongst second language learners due to the multimedia nature of the software.

Evaluators also hoped to model a process of reviewing educational software to develop the capacity of African educators to conduct such reviews on an ongoing basis. To that end, the data collected during this process was adapted to develop an educator development module called "Choosing and Reviewing Educational Software" that will be used to guide educators in Sub-Saharan Africa. The idea to develop these guidelines emerges from the observation that, "Although many textbooks advocate a more open approach to learning by identifying opportunities for collaborative work and discussion, teachers may lack the confidence to move away from a transitional delivery of the curriculum." The authors feel that, when provided with guidance, teachers can choose and use information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as educational software, to foster new ways of teaching and learning in the African classroom. "This in turn is likely to impact positively on the quality of production of local educational software." The full series of activities for teachers to complete as part of the module are detailed beginning on page 35 (chapter 3) of this report.