Considering Pedagogy in the Design, Development and Evaluation of Educational Software

Abstract

This paper explores the consequences for the design, development and evaluation of educational software of a model of understanding information technology based upon teachers' concepts and beliefs about this technology. The model was the result of a case study and considers two dimensions. The first dimension is the role of the computer, conceptualizing it as a teaching resource that helps teachers to develop their teaching strategy, replacing them in the role of managing students' rehearsal of materials and serving as a classroom management tool. The second dimension is the pedagogy that teachers embedded into the characteristics of the software, such as classroom atmosphere in the human-computer interface scenarios and elements, the teaching routines in the design of the navigation structure of the software, and the learning strategy in the human-computer interaction...