Online marking and feedback systems are critical for providing timely and accurate feedback to students and maintaining the integrity of results in large class teaching. Previous investigations have involved much in-house development and more consideration is needed for deploying or customising off the shelf solutions. Furthermore, keeping up to…

Written from the viewpoint of an observer of the computer industry and a CD-ROM user, this report looks at CD-ROM evaluation guidelines; notes the performance of publishers; and comments on successful product design. It is contended that some software publishers are jumping on the CD-ROM bandwagon, and are guilty of: (1) putting "any old stuff"…

"Only the Best" is an Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) annual reference containing information on software programs and multimedia applications that have met stringent criteria for excellence. The purpose of this reference is to provide a quick and easy way for curriculum directors, technology coordinators, librarians,…

Proposes the formation of a six-member school software selection committee comprised of parents, teachers, a curriculum director or administrative representative, and a technology coordinator. Describes a three-stage review process for choosing software packages, noting that other schools are an often overlooked resource for software information.…

This article considers the importance of using age-appropriate software for adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities and the difficulty in finding such software. It outlines suggested sources, ideas for screening and evaluating software, and seven steps in selecting software. (DB)

This edition of "Only the Best" identifies 183 of the most recent education software programs that have met the high standards of 37 software evaluator services since the 1990 edition was published. The purpose of this document is to provide a quick, easy way for computer coordinators, librarians, curriculum directors, teachers, school…

Classifies types of electronic books: archival, informational, instructional, and interrogational; evaluates five commercially, available examples and two in-house examples; and describes software tools for creating and delivering electronic books. Identifies crucial design considerations: interactive end-user interfaces; use of hypermedia;…

Evaluates CorrecText, Houghton-Mifflin's computer-based grammar checker that fully parses sentences and finds errors in grammar, style, and usage. Argues that, while CorrecText is an improvement over similar programs, it still cannot accommodate the syntactically ambiguous nature of English. Limits current design's usefulness to unedited prose.…

Offers advice on the selection of child care administrative software. Directors should consider needs, computer experience, budget, time, and temperament, and should also ask lots of questions and test demo versions. Choices range from custom programs and existing business products to child care administrative software packages. Includes directory…

Discusses a three-year research project in which a virtual environment to teach radioactivity in secondary schools in the United Kingdom was developed and tested. Emphasizes the importance of involving teachers through the development process and confirms the importance of school-based evaluation studies in the development and evaluation of…

This article offers a discussion of the past, present, and future of children's interactive media. Here, lead author Warren Buckleitner, the editor of "Children's Software Revue" shares some of his book's findings, and answers a few questions pertaining to the current state of children's software. These include the following: (1) What is the…

The purpose of this study was to develop a tool to evaluate the quality of a clinical information system (CIS) conceived by nurses and conduct a pilot test with the developed tool as an initial assessment. CIS quality is required for successful implementation in information technology (IT) environments. The study started with the realization that…

Since a large variety of digital games have been used in many fields for educational purposes, their real functions in learning have caught much attention as well. This study first defines learning characteristics of problem-solving digital games and their corresponding cognitive levels, then designs and develops a problem-solving game in…

Modern information technology and computer science curricula employ a variety of graphical tools and development environments to facilitate student learning of introductory programming concepts and techniques. While the provision of interactive features and the use of visualization can enhance students' understanding and assist them in grasping…

In late 1988, a compact disc cataloging product was introduced to the library market. In order to learn more about the needs of current users, a survey was developed to include questions concerning software features and operations, software enhancements, bibliographic and authority subsets, and hardware issues. This study was conducted among all…