Professional Development
General Technology

Activity Two
Finding Reviews of Educational Products

  • Brief Description
  • Objectives
  • Materials & Resources
  • Activity Description
  • Internet Resources

  • Brief Description

        While there are excellent educational software and hardware products available, it is often difficult to identify which products might be best for your situation. Companies are spending millions of dollars in advertising and marketing their educational products. Determining whether a product is worth the money you will spend for it is difficult and can be time-consuming. Luckily, there are organizations and people who are making available to you their own research on educational software and products. This activity helps you find these Websites and learn how to judge the value of an educational product before you purchase it.

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    Objectives

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    Materials & Resources

        In developing our lessons and activities, we made some assumptions about the hardware and software that would be available in the classroom for teachers who visit the LETSNet Website. We assume that teachers using our Internet-based lessons or activities have a computer (PC or Macintosh) with the necessary hardware components (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) as well as software (operating system, TCP/IP software, networking or dial-up software, e-mail and a World Wide Web client program, preferably Netscape, but perhaps Mosaic or Lynx). In the section below, we specify any "special" hardware or software requirements for a lesson or activity (in addition to those described above) and the level of Internet access required to do the activity.

    1. Special hardware requirements: none.
    2. Special software requirements: none.
    3. Internet access: medium-speed (28,800 BPS via phone) or high-speed (greater than 1 MBPS via network).
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    Activity Description

        Finding worthwhile and helpful educational products can be difficult and time-consuming. You could spend hours (or even days) identifying hardware and software products available, creating evaluation criteria, comparing prices and features, and even then still feel unsure about whether any specific product is worth the cost based on your own needs.

        Luckily, there are people and organizations who do this kind of research and make their results available on the Internet. They are similar to Consumers Reports, a well-know consumer review organization, but with a focus on educational products, and you can review their findings before making any software or hardware purchase for your school or classroom.

        You might also want to visit some of the shareware Internet sites once you've identified specific software to see if it is available for free. (See Activity One, "Finding and Downloading Free Educational Software" for more on how to access these sites.)

        Follow these steps to find reviews of educational products on the Internet.

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    Internet Resources Up to Contents

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