Academic Software Evaluation Criteria

The five software evaluation criteria I would pick would be cost, grade level, technical support, active learning, and save features.

First of all, cost is a big issue. A teacher wants the most bang for his/her buck. The cost of the product decides how many other programs can be bought since teachers are usually on a tight budget. Grade level is also important because the wrong grade level can mean to easy or hard for the students. If the software is too hard for the students, then they won’t be able to keep up. If it is too easy , the students won’t be able to learn anything new. Technical support is also important, because if something goes wrong with the software a teacher needs to be able to know it can be fixed by themselves or a professional instead of having to buy new software. Active learning is important because if students are not involved with the program then they will not learn anything. The students need to be involved in active learning because it keeps their interest and allows them to learn more. Save features are also important because it allows the teacher and student to save work and then return to the same work at a different point in time. Without a save feature the software would not help very much. It is easier to learn when you can refer to something you have done before to help as a guide. Also with a save feature you do not have to worry about losing all of your hard work.  I chose Microsoft Word, because it allows students to write papers to get a better understanding of how to write a proper paper. I also chose Microsoft Excel because it allows students to make spreadsheets and helps them with tables and documentations. I also chose Websters dictionary/atlas, because it allows students to lookup meaning of words, synonyms and antonyms of words online.