Study software
Encyclopedia
Studying in an educational context refers to the process of gaining mastery of a certain area of information.
Study software then is any program which allows students to improve the time they spend thinking about, learning and studying that information.
More specifically study software's objective is to increase the effective application of efficacious study skills
to that information, such that thinking and learning about that information is more productive per unit time.
Different subjects being studied may benefit from a different spread of study skills being applied. Mathematics
requires a somewhat different set of study skills to the skill required to learn a language
.
Some types of study software are subject specific teachers of material and may or may not contain the information/content that requires mastery.
Study software therefore is a blanket for a variety of overlapping software types.
has of course been a road to a better life and so the drive for improvement has been universal from students.
Students in most US institutions are not taught how to study/learn specifically. Yet there is now hard evidence for some methods for study/learning being superior to others, and that there is benefit in teaching 'study skills' themselves.
Study software to a degree, seeks to circumvent this problem, by causing the student to follow good practices, through the use of the software, without necessarily having to know about the background science of memory
and learning
.
Historically the most successful types of study software include Mindmapping and Flashcard
software programs. Both independently have been proven to improve learning. Mapping software's claimed strengths are more at the thinking end of the spectrum of study and are criticized for their lack of efficacy once the benefits of organizing information are finished. Flashcard software's strengths are more at the learning end of the spectrum of study and are criticized as being for rote learning only.
A more recently arrived group is typified by the offering by software giant Microsoft
, of MS One-Note and are best summarized as being predominantly for information gathering.
There are also hybrids of the above broad types available, including ones that can actually test students on their notes.
Supply of the enabling technologies will improve.
Trends include: Improvements in battery technology, head worn sound and visual displays, input devices, speech recognition, handwriting recognition will allow mobile computing to become the norm. There are no more 'basic breakthroughs' needed in any of these areas before wearable computers become a given in the near future.
Broadband access, especially wireless will mean that the normal state of affairs for a student will be to be online at a moment's notice.
Ultimately the computer will be a constantly worn companion for a typical student.
Demand for the service will increase.
With physical goods becoming cheaper, and less labour intensive, increasing emphasis on 'services' as a valuable labor commodity throughout the world will mean that higher and higher levels of education, with increased competition for places, will require improvements in learning efficiency that can only be brought about through the application of specialized study software to the problem.
Study software then is any program which allows students to improve the time they spend thinking about, learning and studying that information.
More specifically study software's objective is to increase the effective application of efficacious study skills
Study Skills
Study skills or study strategies are approaches applied to learning. They are generally critical to success in school, are considered essential for acquiring good grades, and are useful for learning throughout one's life....
to that information, such that thinking and learning about that information is more productive per unit time.
Different subjects being studied may benefit from a different spread of study skills being applied. Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
requires a somewhat different set of study skills to the skill required to learn a language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
.
Some types of study software are subject specific teachers of material and may or may not contain the information/content that requires mastery.
Study software therefore is a blanket for a variety of overlapping software types.
Origins
EducationEducation
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
has of course been a road to a better life and so the drive for improvement has been universal from students.
Students in most US institutions are not taught how to study/learn specifically. Yet there is now hard evidence for some methods for study/learning being superior to others, and that there is benefit in teaching 'study skills' themselves.
Study software to a degree, seeks to circumvent this problem, by causing the student to follow good practices, through the use of the software, without necessarily having to know about the background science of memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
and learning
Learning
Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...
.
Historically the most successful types of study software include Mindmapping and Flashcard
Flashcard
A flashcard or flash card is a set of cards bearing information, as words or numbers, on either or both sides, used in classroom drills or in private study. One writes a question on a card and an answer overleaf. Flashcards can bear vocabulary, historical dates, formulas or any subject matter that...
software programs. Both independently have been proven to improve learning. Mapping software's claimed strengths are more at the thinking end of the spectrum of study and are criticized for their lack of efficacy once the benefits of organizing information are finished. Flashcard software's strengths are more at the learning end of the spectrum of study and are criticized as being for rote learning only.
A more recently arrived group is typified by the offering by software giant Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, of MS One-Note and are best summarized as being predominantly for information gathering.
There are also hybrids of the above broad types available, including ones that can actually test students on their notes.
Benefits
Benefits that the various types of study software might confer include various mixtures of:- Offers variety of different information together (picture, sound, music, diagram, ...)
- Improved access to variety of information - see databases
- Makes making notes efficient (tablet friendly 'Microsoft ink functionality', speech recognition)
- Notes are (made to be) easy to remember - colors, pictures, diagrams or mindmapping
- Use of hypertextHypertextHypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click or keypress sequence. Apart from running text, hypertext may contain tables, images and other presentational devices. Hypertext is the...
to connect related information - Testing, reviews and tracking of knowledge - 'spacing effectSpacing effectIn psychology, the spacing effect refers to the fact that humans and animals more easily remember or learn items in a list when they are studied a few times over a long period of time , rather than studied repeatedly in a short period time .The phenomenon was first identified by Hermann Ebbinghaus;...
'
Barriers
Barriers to the use of study software include:- Requires a computer and / or Internet access, which might not be available.
- Some level of skill in typingTypingTyping is the process of inputting text into a device, such as a typewriter, cell phone, computer, or a calculator, by pressing keys on a keyboard. It can be distinguished from other means of input, such as the use of pointing devices like the computer mouse, and text input via speech...
on keyboard might be needed. This might slow down learning. There are typing tutors; speech and gesture recognition - Learning and knowledge is undermined by schools, which use lot of cramming. This results in students not eager to learn how to learn efficiently.
- Programs don't communicate together as they could (see Unix philosophyUnix philosophyThe Unix philosophy is a set of cultural norms and philosophical approaches to developing software based on the experience of leading developers of the Unix operating system.-McIlroy: A Quarter Century of Unix:...
). Selfcontained programs either don't offer enough features (e.g. calculation of the spacing effectSpacing effectIn psychology, the spacing effect refers to the fact that humans and animals more easily remember or learn items in a list when they are studied a few times over a long period of time , rather than studied repeatedly in a short period time .The phenomenon was first identified by Hermann Ebbinghaus;...
to learn faster) or offer more than they should (Software bloatSoftware bloatSoftware bloat is a process whereby successive versions of a computer program include an increasing proportion of unnecessary features that are not used by end users, or generally use more system resources than necessary, while offering little or no benefit to its users.-Causes:Software developers...
). - Content might differ significantly in different countries.
Future
A number of converging trends make it extremely likely that study software will become ubiquitous within 10 years.Supply of the enabling technologies will improve.
Trends include: Improvements in battery technology, head worn sound and visual displays, input devices, speech recognition, handwriting recognition will allow mobile computing to become the norm. There are no more 'basic breakthroughs' needed in any of these areas before wearable computers become a given in the near future.
Broadband access, especially wireless will mean that the normal state of affairs for a student will be to be online at a moment's notice.
Ultimately the computer will be a constantly worn companion for a typical student.
Demand for the service will increase.
With physical goods becoming cheaper, and less labour intensive, increasing emphasis on 'services' as a valuable labor commodity throughout the world will mean that higher and higher levels of education, with increased competition for places, will require improvements in learning efficiency that can only be brought about through the application of specialized study software to the problem.
See also
- MemoryMemoryIn psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
- Mind mapMind mapA mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Especially in British English, the terms spidergram and spidergraph are more common, but they can cause confusion with the term spider diagram used in mathematics...
- FlashcardFlashcardA flashcard or flash card is a set of cards bearing information, as words or numbers, on either or both sides, used in classroom drills or in private study. One writes a question on a card and an answer overleaf. Flashcards can bear vocabulary, historical dates, formulas or any subject matter that...
- Forgetting curveForgetting curveThe forgetting curve hypothesizes the decline of memory retention in time. A related concept is the strength of memory that refers to the durability that memory traces in the brain. The stronger the memory, the longer period of time that a person is able to recall it...
- Spaced repetitionSpaced repetitionSpaced repetition is a learning technique that incorporates increasing intervals of time between subsequent review of previously learned material; this exploits the psychological spacing effect...
- List of mind mapping software
- List of concept mapping software
- List of Flashcard Software
- NotetakingNotetakingNotetaking is the practice of recording information captured from a transient source, such as an oral discussion at a meeting, or a lecture. Notes of a meeting are usually called minutes. The format of the initial record may often be informal and/or unstructured. One common format for such notes is...
- spacing effectSpacing effectIn psychology, the spacing effect refers to the fact that humans and animals more easily remember or learn items in a list when they are studied a few times over a long period of time , rather than studied repeatedly in a short period time .The phenomenon was first identified by Hermann Ebbinghaus;...
- free recallFree recallFree recall is a basic paradigm in the psychological study of memory. In this paradigm, participants study a list of items on each trial, and then are prompted to recall the items in any order...