TOPIC 9- EVALUATION OF THE CATL SOFTWARE

Before you use the CATL course software in teaching and learning, you need to ensure that it is suitable for the content in the lesson to be delivered and also to the students. More importantly, it should benefit the students in terms of achieving the lesson objectives. 


Evaluation is a principle to measure achievement systematically. (Robiah Sidin, 1992). Evaluation on the CATL software is important because it can ascertain its effectiveness in teaching and learning.

Although the evaluation of the CATL software needs time to carry out, it is vital to ensure that only the right software is used in schools to achieve the set objectives. Failure in evaluation will result in the failure in implementing the CATL course software optimumly.  (Shaifol, 2003).  

Evaluation has to cover a number of aspects so that its weaknesses can be identified and and an accurate selection is carried out. The aspect that is evaluated depends on the reasons for evaluation. Evaluation is done to: 

(a) Measure Suitability  When you measure the softwareÊs suitability for teaching and learning, it will help you to make a right selection. You have to take into consideration whether the software can help them achieve the learning objective, whether it is easy to use and if the software will interest the students.   

 As a consumer, the studentsÊ participation is important so that they can make accurate conclusions and not based on assumptions. Evaluation is also focussed on the advantages of the software over other ordinary methods, extra material that needs to be prepared by students and if the teacher can have more time to interact effectively with other students. 

(b) Giving Feedback This entails giving feedback to the designer and creator of the software. The software developer is more interested in technical matters such as: 

 SELECTING A SUITABLE SOFTWARE 

 The Need to Select a Software Presently, the development of the course software has been made easy by a few user-friendly programming software. This allows the developer to develop a course software that is attractive due to various interactive media.

This course software is developed for a specific targert group with a specific objective. Hence, as a teacher, you have to evaluate and subsequently select the suitable software that can fulfil the needs of the students. Without careful selection, you might end up selecting the following kinds of software:

 One that does not achieve the teaching and learning objectives.  One that is not in line with teh teaching and learning curriculum.  One that is insensitive to the culture and religion of students.  One that is not suitable for the studentsÊ age.


The Criteria for Selection  In making the selection of course software, you have to make sure it qualifies all the important criteria. There are a number of methods that can be used to evaluate a course software such as:

  (a) The Learning Object Review Instrument (LORT) suggested  by E-Learning Research and Assessment Network, Canada.

(b)
ESL Software Evaluation Form suggested by Robb, T. (1996).

(c)
Buyers Worksheet suggested by Planning and Evaluation Service, U.S. Department of Education (2002).

Criterias suggested are categorised into three that are:  (a) Content (b) Technical Aspect (c) Documentation

 SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT EVALUATION PROCESS

  Evaluation of software development  is a continuous process performed during the developmental stage. Evaluation is carried out at the end of the developmental process to ensure it is suitable for students and it achieves the set objectives.

The Evaluation Stage in the development of ADDIE course software model that was learnt in Topic 8 suggests two types of evaluation that is the formative evaluation and the summative evaluation.

Formative Evaluation

Formative Evaluation is a continuous process that has to be done during the developmental process. The information obtained is used to increase the efficiency of the course software.

Formative Evaluation can be done in three stages that are:
Small Group  In this stage, the evaluator works closely with two or three teachers. (Golas, 1983). The Evaluator will discuss, give opinions and subsequently observe how teachers interact with the software. Information about aspects such as clarity, effects and accomplishment will be gathered.

 Clarity Instructions and messages 
have to be clear and easily understood. This includes messages sent through text, illustrations and demonstrations. The lesson content is also clear and follows a suitable arrangement.

Effect 
The contents of the lesson have to be delivered in an interesting and relevant way suitable for the target group.

Accomplishment 
The tools needed for the course software must be easy to understand and use and students must be comfortable with the said software. Cost is another factor to consider in deciding if the software can be implemented. Hence, the developmental cost has to be reduced so that consumers and schools can afford to buy the course software

Big Group At this stage, a group of teachers will decide that the correction done is based on the information gathered at the first stage. The number of teachers at this stage is about 10 who will evaluate the course software based on the course guidelines. This differs with the small group stage whereby the evaluator and teacher evaluate together.  

 Testing  The final stage of formative evaluation is to test the software as in their real state.  Before starting this evaluation stage, all correction has to be done based on the previous stages.

Attachments A, B and C show sample instruments that can be used to carry out formative evaluation.  These instruments can be modified according to the needs.


 Summative Evaluation 
Summative Evaluation is done at the end of the development process and it is used to ascertain if the objective set has been achieved.

It is a data compilation process to ensure if what is sent through by the course software is in line with the teaching and learning objectives.  Summative evaluation is also used to measure the achievement based on the objectives of the course software as well as the studentsÊ attitudes after using the said software.

Apart from evaluating studentsÊ achievement, opinions of specialist, students and teachers are necessary for corrective purposes for the following versions:

(a) SpecialistÊs Opinion is necessary to ensure that the course software conforms to the technical requirements such as video and audio quality.

(b) StudentÊs Evaluation on the other hand, aims at obtaining information about software from the consumerÊs point of view.

 (c) TeacherÊs Evaluation aims at getting information related to the course software content. For example suitability of the media used and the quality of the test questions.