Denetria Middleton

Module 14 Annotated Bibliography

#1: Jones, A., Scanlona, E., Tosunoglu, C., Morris, E., Ross, S., Butcher, P., & Greenberg, J.
(1999). Contexts for evaluating educational software. Interacting with Computers, 11, 499-
516.

In todays society there are so many different curriculums and educational software that is
being pushed. The district and teachers evaluate software that is best for our students. This article
discusses the evaluation of educational software. There are two academic communities which are
HCI (Human computer interaction) and educational technology. In the article there are different
case studies that evaluate software using both methods. A model that was created to increase
teachers integration of learning and usability issues is the Jigsaw evaluation (p. 500). Teachers
used this method to select software in two case studies. According to the Jigsaw Model, it
showed that teachers were more aware of integration. Out of all the evaluations, the area that
was most difficult to prove was observations and learning outcomes (p. 513).

#2: Winslow, J., Dickerson, J., & Lee, C. (2013). Evaluating multimedia. Applied
Technologies for Teachers (pp. 251-264). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.

Multimedia learning has taken the educational world by storm. Teachers are expected to
teach using multimedia and have students use it as well. In this day and age students are being
taught how to use multimedia. As an educator it is more important for us to evaluate multimedia
resource then it is for us to create multimedia (p 252). There is a guide to help teachers select
multimedia resources, Learning Object Review Instrument (LORI). There are eight dimensions
include.
1. Content quality- is probably the most important. If the content is not good, then it fails
instructionally. There are three features that are looked at for content quality: content
validity, potential effectiveness, and ease of use.
2. Learning goal alignment- learning goals should be clearly outlined. Next, learning
activities should be aligned with the learning goals. Those learning activities should help
students obtain the knowledge and skills to pass an assessment.
3. Feedback and adaptation- feedback helps learners and can help adapt the level of
difficulty.
4. Motivation-this effects how much effort a learner will put into learning.
5. Presentation design- how a presentation looks and sound to actively engage a learner.
6. Interaction usability-presentation is easy to navigate and not interfere with learning.
7. Reusability- being able to reuse objectives in other subjects and context.
8. Standards compliance- knowledge past teacher programs.

#3: Lee, C. & Cherner, T. S. (2015). A comprehensive evaluation rubric for assessing
instructional apps. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 14, 21-53.
Retrieved January 22, 2015 from
http://www.jite.org/documents/Vol14/JITEV14ResearchP021-053Yuan0700.pdf.

With all the educational curriculum and software there are tons of evaluation rubrics to
 Denetria Middleton

determine how good it is. These rubrics have been evaluated and are legit. However there are not
many rubrics to evaluate educational apps. Rubrics that have been created are not designed very
well. This article shows a rubric that is specifically designed for educational apps. The new app
evaluation rubric has 24 dimensions and were aligned with the 5 point Likert scale (p. 24). The
rubric was validated by two groups of experts who have taught or have a doctoral degree in
Education Technology. The 24 dimensions were placed into three categories to assist teachers in
the rubric: instruction, design, and engagement (p 25). There are some consideration to have
when using the rubric. Teachers should know what category the app belongs in. Another
consideration is become familiar with the app before you use it with students.

#4: Walker, H. (2012). Ways to Evaluate Educational Apps.

http://learninginhand.com/blog/ways-to-evaluate-educational-apps.html

I was interested in finding out other ways to evaluate educational apps. After reading the
previous article found that there are not many rubrics that measures how great an educational app
is. As technology grows daily, more and more teachers are using these apps to integrate into their
learning. This article is actually a blog. This teacher, Harry Walker was asked to develop a rubric
to help teachers evaluate educational apps at a workshop. His rubric included components such
as: relevance, customization, feedback, thinking skills, engagement, and sharing. In his opinion,
everyone who may score a app it may differ from person to person. Someone may score the app
highly and others may score it lowly. Walker then uses a checklist he uses from Palm Beach
County Schools. The checklist serves as another way to evaluate the apps between educators.
The blog also offers different rubrics that can be used. After reading this, I do see the
inconsistencies in evaluating educational apps. There is not a clear cut standard that all educators
are using.