Analysis of the Scope and Quality of the Current Supply of Educational Software, and of the Available Sources of Information on Educational Software

摘要

In the report, the authors present an analysis of the scope and quality of the current supply of educational software, as well as an analysis of the information sources available to educational software acquisition decisionmakers. The report is divided into three chapters. In Chapter 1, the authors examine the distribution of the available supply of educational software with respect to school subject, areas within subjects, grade range, type, computer family and cost. These data are then compared to an assessment of 'school need' based on information from a sample of State Departments of Education, national-level reports on education, and firms that consult with the educational software industry. In Chapter 2, they assess the quality of the existing supply of software, based on evaluations from eight of the more thorough software evaluation agencies.