---

Section G: Software Acquisition

Situation:

With the recent advent of multimedia computer technologies, the amount of software available to consumers has multiplied rapidly, expanding into areas formerly ignored by software developers. This trend is most evident in the development of informative/educational software. However, with the proliferation of software titles has come a flurry of "edutainment" software which has minor educational value at best, making up for this lack of quality with colorful animation and commercial connections. Efficient selection of software by educators for classroom use becomes increasingly difficult as a result.

Software developers have also incorporated several acquisition options for large scale users such as schools and businesses. In addition to purchasing a single program for a single machine, software can now be site licensed (copied onto all machines at a particular site), network licensed (copied onto a network for all machines on the network only), and multiple-station licensed (copied onto a specific number of machines).

Concerns:

Growing numbers of educational titles result in growing numbers of educational titles to review for teachers in order to determine the best product. Teachers unwilling to make the time and financial commitment to review such titles are resorting to selecting a single title and determining whether it seems adequate for classroom use. As a result, many teachers remain uninformed of potential uses of software in the classroom and of less-commercial software which might better fit pedagogy standards.

Even when educators are able to review a number of software options, teachers typically will take the option to purchase an individual license for their own use, rather than examining the option of a multiple-use license. As a result, software selection for the district may become inefficient as more and more software is acquired for classroom use.

Most of the software used within the district tends to focus on skill-building activities. There is very little focus on development applications or information presentation software by the district. With the advent of the CD-ROM and other fast access, high storage capacity hardware and software, educators have the ability to use computers for more advanced, problem solving and critical thinking applications. Hardware acquisition and information regarding such programs limits the availability of such software to teachers for common use.

Finally, copyright issues regarding various licensing agreements are becoming more and more complex with the various multi-user licenses. Even if the district initiates a software acquisition process for efficient use of software materials, it becomes increasingly difficult for non-experts to understand technical considerations of licensing for multiple users. Failure to understand these considerations could result in failure to meet copyright specifications for such software.

Recommendations:

1. A special sub-committee of the technology committee for the district should be developed to examine software acquisition issues. This committee should include teachers and at least one central office administrator to address legal concerns regarding licensing agreements and copyright legislation. This committee should act to obtain and distribute information regarding various software programs, establish a software review process, and educate teachers in selection considerations regarding software. A collection of software selection considerations is contained in Appendix E of this document.
2. The district should act to examine multiple-user site and network licenses of various software. These options should be exercised for software specific to network use (for laboratories), diagnostic evaluation and operating system control, applications software for common use (word processor, spreadsheet, and database software), and skill specific software which might be used at multiple levels or in multiple classrooms. These options should be examined by the software acquisition sub-committee of the technology committee for the district.
3. An information repository or leadership position should be established for the district. (See Sections B & C) The individual(s) selected for this position should act to obtain and disseminate information regarding specific software to teachers and other staff. Where appropriate, this person(s) should obtain software for review purposes and act to support teachers in obtaining information regarding the software or its use in the curriculum.
4. The district should continue to enforce copyright policy with regard to duplication of protected software materials. It is important that education regarding such policies continue to take place for both faculty and students, and that documentation and other reference resources be made available to those in the school district with questions or concerns regarding these measures.