A Practical Process for Reviewing and Selecting Educational Software. Technical Paper

Abstract

This paper provides a balanced set of guidelines for reviewing educational software, and offers a simple and practical procedure that can be used to select software for instructional purposes. The procedure applies equally well to individual "titles" or to large-scale curriculum-based systems. It applies to software delivered on a CD-ROM, through a Local Area Network, or via the Internet (PLATO[R] provides all of these kinds of software and delivers via all these means). Using the procedure, the software's four subsystems--software, content, instructional, and instructional management and assessment--must first be examined. Then, additional quality criteria can be applied which are specific to each major type of software: drill-and-practice (and most tests); tutorial; simulation (and some assessments); reference/informational; and tool. A checklist is included which outlines a process involving five global judgments that should be made about any educational software product. (Contains 21 references.) (AEF)