Emphasising use over attributes in selection of educational software

Abstract

Rejecting traditional checklist approaches to software selection, this paper discusses an approach emphasising classroom use of software over technical attributes. It proposes a way of thinking about software (the perspectives interactions paradigm) that takes the perspectives of the student, the teacher and the designer and uses interactions between pairs of these perspectives to generate broad questions and more specific issues to be considered when software is being assessed for purchase or classroom use. Some example packages are assessed using the paradigm for several different educational contexts, illustrating that this approach raises issues of classroom interactions and learning processes. These issues go beyond, and are more important for selection decisions than those generally considered with a checklist of software attributes.