1. Assessing and Selecting
Digital Educational Resources
Lic. Mariana Porta

2. Objectives:
●Provide a set of criteria to evaluate digital
resources.
●Walk one more step into teacher-empowerment
to face the digital world.

3. Digital Resources
 Applications: tools to be used with the content
we decide
 Contents we select from the web to integrate
to our class
 Software that has been developed for the
specific purpose of teaching

4. 2. Choices
available?
4. Making
a choice
5. Implmentation
stage
3. Evaluating
possible digital
resources
1. What is the
model? Course
design
A process

5. Dimensions
1.Context of
implementation
2.Technical dimension
3.Pedagogical
dimension:
 Specific pedagogical
needs
 Theory of learning
and teaching behind
 Teacher's role
 Evaluation and
scoring systems
 4. Interactivity
 5. Ideological
dimension
 6. Design

6. Context of implementation
 What is the model implemented?
 Why a digital resource, why a specific teaching
software?
 How will the teacher work?
 Who is the course directed to?

7. A process that involves different
know hows
 You need an
ACADEMIC decision
here
 You need a technical
decision here
 You need a budget
here

8. Technical dimension
 What kind of licence
does it have?
 How is it distributed
and supported?
 What kind of
equipment does it
require?
 Is the programming
good?
 How much is it?
 Institutions are
generally the ones
that have to evaluate
this.
– Availability
– Money
– Logistics

9. Pedagogical dimension (1)
 What is the theory of learning and teaching
behind this software?
 What are our pedagogical needs before
selecting the resource?

10. Pedagogical dimension (2)
The theory of learning behind
 The role of the teacher
 Teacher- student interaction
 Student-student interaction
 Degree of autonomy of the student
 Evaluation and rubrics
 Pedagogical support to the teacher, guides,
suggestions, etc.

11. Pedagogical dimension (3)
 The theory of language behind
 Text structure
 Hipertexts and multimedia

12. Interactivity (1)
 a) user-content
 Interface and navigation
 How is information accessed?
 What are the menu options?
 What are the possible paths through the material?
 What is the digree of freedom allowed to the user?
 Can it be customized by the user?

13. Interactivity (2)
b) student-student
 Is there room for student-student interaction?
 Is there room for collaborative work?

14. Interactivity (3)
student-teacher
 How do student and teacher get in touch?
 Is there a system to keep track of feedback?
 Assessment and evaluation? Gradebook, reports, etc.

15. ●Design
 Does it look good?
 Screens: are they easy to read? Consider font,
size, colors, graphics.
 Sound quality: Is it good, natural?
 Does it adapt to students?
 Can it be customized?
 How is the visual component integrated?

16. To reflect ...

17. Ideological dimension
 The hidden curriculum
 Cultural stereotypes about work, family,
authority, gender, etc.
 How the world is represented

18. What are the milestones at each of
these stages?
1.Design a course
2.Survey the market
3.Go through evaluation process
4.Make a choice and elaborate a report on the
software you have chosen. Point out drawbacks
and highlights.
5.Develop a plan for implementation
6.Train your staff in the use of this software
7.Implement.
8.Evaluate results

19. We'll focus on software developed
for teaching purposes
 FOG interactive
 http://www.focusongrammarin
teractive.com/
 My Elt
https://myelt.heinle.com/ilrn/a
uthentication/signIn.do?
inst=MYELT
 DynED
 Demo 1
http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=2A751355B2898DAC
 Demo 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Umj1kan8M

 1. Context of
implementation
 2. Technical
dimension
 3. Pedagogical
dimension
 4. Interactivity
 5. Design
 6. Ideological
dimension


20. Conclusions
In my humble opinion ...
 Beware of the market!
 We need to make informed decisions about
software for teaching.
 We have to know what we need.
 We should learn, so some day we can develop
our own digital resources.