Application Of SMART ClASS Education Software In Biology Teaching Of High School

As the continuous innovation of information technology promotes the educational informatization,the coming of this Internet+ Age is creating new opportunities within the Chinese education field,which meanwhile gives rise to an increasing demand for educational software.Specifically in the field of biology,which is considered one significant discipline in science education,a huge stage has been provided for the introduction of biological educational software due to this comprehensive,microscopic and abstract subject that embodies diverse concepts and principles.This growing trend is believed to benefit the biology pedagogy and improve the teaching efficiency by means of specifying abstract principles and simplifying complicated illustrations of life phenomena.This thesis investigates the application of educational software--SMART CLASS in high school biology teaching by adopting literature research method,experimentation and classroom observation combined with questionnaires and interviews.It mainly explores how SMART CLASS can be integrated with high school biology teaching,identifies what contents of high school biology can be taught with this software,and seeks for its potential functions.Based on these investigations,this study also provides designs of biological teaching and optimal pedagogical strategies in utilizing this software supported by a comparison of experimental class and control class.At the end of this study,it puts forward some suggestions to solve the problems that occur in related teaching process.The results show that:SMART CLASS is educationally feasible in high school biology for this software facilitates the following three teaching possibilities:creation of online courses which helps illustrations of difficult and key points for students,pre-design of teaching contents to meet the needs of students and management of teaching materials to enrich classroom resources.SMART CLASS functions effectively in the introduction of three following contents:essential concepts of biology,special structures of life and life activities.SMART CLASS is capable of performing extended functions to coach students' assignments,systematize their misconceptions and rearrange high school biology tests for teachers.Teaching strategies with SMART CLASS includes flexible lead-ins for interest-arousing,enlightened questioning for interaction,guided active learning,experiment demonstration aimed at critical thinking development as well as process-oriented evaluation.As for its advantages,this software enables a deeper interaction between teachers and students,provides tailored teaching for the needs of students and allows an easier access to resources.However,the following aspects may restrict the educational application of SMART CLASS:teachers and students' attitudes towards this software,classroom network,hardware condition,educational practices and operation techniques.In order to minimize the potential weaknesses brought by the use of SMART CLASS in high school biology teaching,this research suggests that schools should:build supportive campus WIFI networks' organize regular trainings for SMART CLASS application,innovate evaluation methods and emphasize process assessment and,establish a teaching resource library with an abundant supply of biological materials,and it is also supposed that software developers should communicate with the users directly.