EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE AND PEDAGOGICAL DEVELOPMENT : SUCCESS FACTORS IN TEACHERS TRAINING

This article presents a staff development project, intended to increase the use of educational software in higher education. The data was collected in four Latin American countries where university teachers attended a course about Learning Management Systems (LMS) built on the LUME method. LUME is an acronym for LiveUSB Mediated Education, a method based on a complete course package executable from a portable memory device. The process of planning appropriate changes in a course is outlined by reflecting on previous results. Some critical aspects of teachers’ education are identified and the authors argue that pedagogical motivation and collaboration rather than technical skill decide the long-term results. The authors assert that educational software have the biggest impact on the students when it is used to facilitate social constructivist methods. In order to reap the pedagogical benefits of educational software teachers must understand how sharing the information and the collaborative learning can improve learning and teaching in high education.