Week 5 Question #3

What are authoring systems? What is the difference between drill-and-practice software and tutorial software? When is it appropriate to use each in teaching and learning?

An authoring system allows people who are not programmers and have no formal training to create software for tutoring systems. An authoring system allows non programmers to build educational software without being well versed in building software. The way that the authoring system works is that it has features built in that are hidden behind tools that assists the author in programming without knowing how to program.

Tutorial software is designed to teach a lesson or multiple lessons that are new to the student. The way they are designed allows the student to work at their own pace and move through a well thought out lesson in sequential order. The software is designed to use a combination of text and multimedia for the students benefit. The software gives the student multiple opportunities to review the new material through review questions and other assessment tools. It is beneficial to the educator and the student to have access to tutorial software in many different instances. Tutorial software can be the foundation for the lesson that the educator is about to embark upon. The educator can use tutorial software to introduce the new material and allow the students to work at their own pace. Once the students have completed the tutorial the teacher can then add to the tutorial by building on what the tutorial has taught. Furthermore the teacher can use tutorial software when he or she is limited for time and one on one interaction with the students. The tutorials can be used to enhance a lesson and provide frequent review.

Unfortunately there is downfall to tutorial software because it can become monotonous for the students when it is the only tool used. It also may not provide adequate feedback for each student. It can only provide feedback that it is designed to provide.

Drill-and-practice software is particularly used for practice for content that has already been taught by the teacher. It is similar to tutorial software in the sense that it is designed to use a combination of simple text and more complex multimedia tools. The student is sometimes able to control the pace of the exercise but is not able to choose what they are doing. Most of the software is designed to review the student’s weak areas. A good time to use drill-and-practice software is when the teacher is preparing the students for a large assessment. Also it is a good tool to review the lesson for the students before moving on to more complex lessons.

The downfall to drill-and-practice software is that the student can become bored. The practice does not promote higher learning only review. If the student is well skilled in that particular objective the teacher should not over-review them with this type of software.