The opportunities brought by new media enticed new competitors into the reference software market. Such dramatic changes brought conventionally restricted knowledge repositories to the fingertips of an almost universal audience in a period of less than 10 years. Today the Encyclopædia Britannica retails in electronic format for around USD 50 with cheaper OEM versions sometimes bundled with new computers. A striking case study is that of the venerable Encyclopædia Britannica, which was previously only available at prices of USD 1500 and higher, restricting it to the better libraries and the wealthy. The conversion of previously print-only reference materials to electronic format marked a major change to the marketing and accessibility of such works. A second major development occurred as the internet also became widely available in homes, with reference works becoming available online as well. Many dictionaries and encyclopedias rushed into CD-ROM editions soon after the widespread introduction of the CD-ROM to home computers. Economic simulations such as Capitalism and Industry Giant, intended for older learners.Microsoft’s Zoo Tycoon series, where children can learn about animals (and business skills) while simulating the management of a zoo.
Software of this kind is not structured towards school curricula, does not normally involve educational advisors, and does not focus on core skills such as literacy and numeracy. In the narrower sense used here, the term describes educational software which is primarily about entertainment, but tends to educate as well and sells itself partly under the educational umbrella. In a broader sense, the term edutainment describes an intentional merger of computer games and educational software into a single product (and could therefore also comprise more serious titles described above under children’s learning software). (2005) - An up-to-date full-colour guide with reviews of around 500 selected and recommended products, categorised by subject area, albeit specific to the UK school system.
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Knowledge Adventure’s Jumpstart and Math Blaster series.The following are examples of children’s learning software which have a structured pedagogical approach, usually orientated towards literacy and numeracy skills. Parents need such a distinction in order to make informed purchasing choices. However as far as possible a distinction should be drawn between proper learning titles (such as these) and software where the gaming outweighs the educational value (described later). The design of educational software programmes for home use has been influenced strongly by computer gaming concepts – in other words, they are designed to be fun as well as educational. Later iterations of these titles often began to link educational content to school curricula (such as England’s National Curriculum). Major types of educational software Children's learning and home learning Īn immense number of titles, probably running into the 1000's, were developed and released from the mid-1990’s onwards, aimed primarily at the home education of younger children. 3.3 Well-known brands and suppliers of educational software.3.2 Other kinds of educational software.3.1 Examples of educational software by subject.2 Selected reports and academic articles.1.8 Software for specific educational purposes.1.7 Software in corporate training and tertiary education.1.6 Computer games with incidental learning value.1.5 Educational software on custom platforms.1.1 Children's learning and home learning.
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