Guidelines for Educational Software Design That Consider the Interests and Needs of Teachers and Students

Abstract

Numerous investigations have identified obstacles in the use and appropriation of technology by educational stakeholders. This paper addresses obstacles to technology integration in the classroom that refer to the social relationships between teachers and students in addition to their interests and needs. In particular they refer to aspects that occur within the classroom which explain resistance, especially on the part of teachers, to the use of educational software. This work presents a set of guidelines which include the particular needs of both teachers and students in the classroom and apply these to particular software to show its application. The paper concludes that it is not only the adopted teaching model (e.g., problem based learning, etc.) when designing software that necessarily produces learning, but also the simplicity and functionality of the technological tools that facilitate teaching, that have to consider the teacher's needs and assists in delivering human relationships that allow for class implementation.