The UK government is using software to teach children in schools, but is this software helping them learn?
The answer is yes.
A team from the University of Warwick has been analysing how students are learning software to assess their ability to learn, and they say it is.
The aim of the study was to understand how students were using the software and to find out what they were using and why.
What they found, the researchers say, is that students are using the program, called GEDRAD, in a variety of ways.
The software is designed to help teachers, students and the wider public learn through the use of videos, animations, games, quizzes, and other interactive activities.
The researchers have identified a wide range of use cases in which GEDRD is being used.
The first example is a video game which lets a child play with a virtual keyboard, which the student uses to type letters.
Another example is an interactive learning game that lets students learn to read and write in different languages.
Another way of using GEDRLAD is as an assessment tool.
This type of tool uses the software to determine the skill level of a student using the same materials and to compare it to other students.
This can then help teachers and other educators determine which classes the student will be able to access in the future.GEDRADS use is also being used in a number of other ways, the team say.
This includes, but isn’t limited to, a game in which students are asked to identify and correct mistakes in a series of quizzes.GIDP and other online tutors are also being utilised to help students with the learning process.
This is especially important in the current learning environment, as many schools and universities are struggling to find students willing to undertake the learning in a classroom setting.
The team say they are looking at using GIDP to help the government and education system to better support the learning processes of students.
In the meantime, the GEDRAL team have already begun using GIDs (learned identification systems) and other learning tools to help assess students’ ability to use GEDRTD software.
“The UK government and other stakeholders have been very supportive of our work,” said Dr Stephen O’Brien, from Warwick’s School of Computer Science and Engineering.
“Our research highlights the value of a broad understanding of the use cases of this technology and we hope that this will help improve the quality of our educational assessments in the UK.”
The study, published in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour, is published in a special issue of Computers and Education.
Source: Warwick University