Educational Software

Code:

MM0048

Acronym:

SE

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Education

Instance: 2023/2024 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	https://moodle2324.up.pt/course/view.php?id=5788
Responsible unit:	Department of Informatics Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Multimedia

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MM	11	Syllabus	1	-	6	45	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

Considering the guiding objectives of the Master in Multimedia, Educational Software aims to enable students:

• To know and adopt, in a sustainable and progressive way, selection, analysis, and evaluation practices for educational software.
• To understand the main stages of the educational software development process.
• To plan and to develop prototypes, and to implement educational software use.

Learning outcomes and competences

Critical analysis and evaluation of educational software:

• To identify the vast range of educational software.
• To examine implementation contexts and audiences for educational software.
• To analyse educational software examples: characteristics, nuances, and usage typologies.
• To explain the relevance of developing instruments for pedagogical leveraging of digital educational resources.
• To plan and build exploration guides, webquests, and parental involvement activities.
• To critically evaluate examples of existing educational software, attending to quality standards.

Educational software planning:

• To select contexts for the implementation and the destination audiences for educational software.
• To write detailed scripts for educational software applications, according to its importance in the development process.

Educational software development:

• To select a software production model.
• To manage the stages of an educational software development process.
• To design interaction for education software, according to pedagogical principles.
• To identify possible technological approaches to the development of a software application.
• To integrate gamification techniques to regulate students' activity.
• To create the concept and develop the design for a Serious Game.
• To use new technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Pervasive Games in an educational software project.
• To develop prototypes for educational software applications.
• To maintain and review the produced software.

Colaboration and oral communication:

• To present the developed materials in a concise, organized, and clear manner.
• To be part of multidisciplinary teams in developing and implementing multimedia projects in education.
• To practice colaborative work.

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. Demonstration, critical analysis, and evaluation of educational software

• 1.1. Some examples of educational software: nuances and and types of usage
• 1.2. Tools for the pedagogical potentiation of digital resources: exploration guides and WebQuests.
• 1.3. Models and practices of educational software evaluation.
• 1.4. Quality dimensions of an educational software piece.
• 1.5. Tools and evaluation techniques of educational software.

2. Educational software production process

• 2.1. Educational software production stages.
• 2.2. Script writing for educational software.
• 2.3. Multimedia Learning and interface design heuristics.
• 2.4. Software development methodologies.
• 2.5. Revision, correction, and approval of educational software.
• 2.6. Educational software production within the publishing industry.

3. Game-based learning

• 3.1. From Game to Play: the ludification space of learning.
• 3.2. Serious Games: concept, methodology of development and types of application.
• 3.3. Gamification: concept, methodology of development and types of application.

Mandatory literature

Mayer, Richard, E. ; The Cambrigde Handbook of Multimedia Learning, 2005

Teaching methods and learning activities

• Classes with theoretical component.


• Practical testing of educational software.


• Development of individual and group work.


• Oral presentation of assignments.

Student participation and dialogue is encouraged, even during theoretical exposition. We will use presentations as a guideline, but we will frequently showcase simulations, digital games, dynamic pictures, and other virtual tools.

All texts, simulations and associated materials to the discipline are available to students in the associated Moodle platform. This virtual area will extend the classroom in space and time: apart from hosting the texts to be read in anticipation of classes, it will also host the continuation of discussions (in forums) and the materials brought by either professors or students to the sessions.

Sessions will also focus the supervision of practical projects, that students may develop either individually or in small groups. These works will be submitted via the unit’s digital platform and will be subject to a subsequent oral presentation before the class.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	5,00
Teste	20,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	75,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Elaboração de projeto	80,00
Estudo autónomo	40,00
Frequência das aulas	42,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Minimum 2/3 attendance rate. Some absences may be compensated with virtual participations.

Calculation formula of final grade

Evaluation will comprehend formative and continuous components, mixing flexible parameters with more “conventional” ones, such as a test. The professors will arbitrate, moderate, and guarantee good judgement and transparency. In every case, the students’ activities are typically marked by four criteria:

1. Scientific accuracy.
2. Creativity/originality.
3. Clarity.
4. Commitment/presentation.

In addition to the tasks, a relatively short theoretical test will take place with a group of open questions (the student chooses two in three). On a 0 to 20 scale, the final grade will be as according:

1. (5%) Formative, continuous evaluation.
2. (25%) Practical task 1: webquest or exploration guide.
3. (50%) Practical task 2: script and prototype of an educational software application.
4. (20%) Final written test.

Each students' final grade will be: 0,05 x A + 0,25 x B + 0,5 x C + 0,20 x D

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

As per the ones described in FEUP. Exceptions may be considered in each case.

Classification improvement

No final exam. The final grade can only be improved during the special exam period, through the actual improvement of the assignments.