gap analysis report - pools - producing open online learning systems

5. CHARACTERISTICS OF SOFTWARE USED IN THE LABORATORIES
INVOLVED IN TEACHING & LEARNING PROCESSES
There is an equal proportion of the questioned teachers (39%), who either use or
do not use computer assisted language learning technologies or web resources during
their lessons of Romanian. There are a significant number of vocational high school
teachers (22%) who expressed their intention to do it.
Foreign languages are the main beneficiaries of computer assisted language
learning. The large number of vocational software dedicated mainly to the teaching of
English, combined with the well-known interest and initiative of the foreign language
teachers explains the comparatively high percentage of those who integrate ICT in the
teaching and learning process. As a result, 47% of the respondents gave affirmative
answers and 18% expressed their interest in the new methodologies. There are,
nevertheless, a significantly large number of vocational high school teachers (35%),
who seem to be more interested in using the traditional methods or multimedia labs.
The percentage of teachers who use computer assisted and on line learning
activities looks impressive: 91%! Teachers of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry,
Economics, Computer Science, History, Geography, and Technological Subjects started
using educational software. There are a small number of teachers, 4%, who are not
familiar with such techniques, and 5% intend to use them. Vocational high school
teachers are familiar with ICT because they were encouraged and helped to integrate
computers within their lessons. With more and more teachers being not only interested,
but also able to use computer assisted and on line techniques for educational purposes,
the demand for the appropriate software increases.
The software used by 96% of the respondents is open source licensed. Own
developed software products are used by 3% of the teachers. Very significantly, only
1% of the vocational high school teachers use commercially licensed software! The
term “licensed” must be seen as a vague one and better understood. We don’t know for
sure if all vocational high schools legally purchased the software and we didn’t ask a
specific question to find out whether some of it is pirated or not.
There is some variety in the software used by the Romanian vocational high
school teachers for educational purposes. Significantly enough, AEL is the favourite,
52% of the teachers declaring their preference for it. Being promoted by the Romanian
Ministry of Education and Research, the software provided by AEL is somehow
perceived as both official and compulsory. The fact that it was distributed to all
vocational high schools also explains the fact than half of the teachers use it. Computer
literacy of these teachers is shown by the use of other well-known software mentioned
in the answers.
Siveco Romania, with a percentage of 46%, is the main software supplier of the
educational market. The quality of its products, as well as their variety and flexibility
greatly contributed to the success of the firm. The Ministry of Education and Research
(41%) seems to be the second producer of the educational software used in vocational
high schools, but we have to take into consideration that the software distributed by the
ministry to vocational high schools is in fact produced by Siveco! Schools’
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