Educational software is a type of software whose main purpose is to train or develop certain skills. The principles of learning applied in such programs can be quite different. It can be: a game, a test, a programming environment, etc. The age audience of users of such software occupies the widest range (from 3 years and up).
Content
Creation History
1940-1970
The history of the creation of educational software (software) dates back to the 40s of the XX century , when the American developers of flight simulators used an analog computer to create an emulation of the readings of the onboard aircraft systems . Until the mid-1970s, educational software was directly related to the mainframe on which it was executed. During these years, the founders of educational computer systems were: the PLATO system ( 1960 ), developed at the University of Illinois , and the TICCIT system ( 1969 ). The cost of these early terminals exceeded $ 10,000, and institutions could not afford to purchase them due to the high price. Programming languages of that time, such as BASIC and Logo, can also be viewed as educational systems designed for students and novice computer users. The PLATO IV system, created in 1972, had a number of functions that later became a kind of standard in educational software for personal computers: raster images, sound, non-keyboard input devices, including a touch screen.
1970-1980
The creation of the first personal computers , such as the Altair 8800 , created in 1975 , had a huge impact on software, and educational in particular. If before 1975, users could access the computer only in computer centers or universities, then after the appearance of the Altair 8800 computers appeared in homes and schools. The market value of the Altair 8800 at that time did not exceed $ 2,000.
By the early 80s, the availability of personal computers, including Commodore PET and Apple II , led to the creation of companies and non-profit structures specializing in educational software. The key companies at that time were Brøderbund and The Learning Company . From non-profit organizations - MECC . These and other companies have developed a whole range of educational software, originally written for Apple II computers.
The main types of educational software
Educational programs for children and home use
Since the mid-1990s, the number of programs developed in this direction amounts to thousands. Usually such software has elements of entertainment, games.
An example of such programs is GCompris .
School software
This type of educational software is designed for use in classrooms. Usually such software is created taking into account the convenience of its display by the projector on the screen and the use of computers on the network.
An example of such programs is the Virtuoso Schoolboy .
Interactive educational environments
This type of educational software allows you to put virtual experiments, and on their own experience to discover patterns and test hypotheses.
These programs include:
- dynamic geometry programs
- programs for plotting and studying graphs of functions
- physical constructors
- emulators work in Windows, Word, Photoshop, etc. on the example of the program TeachPro
Knowledge control systems
Verification of knowledge gained is an integral part of learning. Means of knowledge testing are available in most tutorials. There is also a software specialized in testing knowledge. One of the packages of such software is the server system . The WeBWorK system is intended for delivery via the Internet and online testing of homework in mathematics and related disciplines. It has a developed TeX (MathJax) programmable interface for displaying tasks (formulas, matrices, programmatically generated graphics, audio clips, simple video and interactive Flash applets). Accepts various input from students, both traditional in the form of choosing from lists and establishing correspondence between the lists, as well as various input fields (single and multiple, including in the form of matrices). Allows input of real and complex numbers, functions, intervals, mark points on the graph, and interaction with Flash-applets through the mouse and keyboard.
The WeBWorK system provides programmable input validation from students, which allows for the implementation of arbitrarily complex and extensive multi-step verification algorithms.
WeBWorK has open source software supported by a group of non-dependent developers from several US universities. Used in many universities in North America. In Russia, the WeBWorK system is little known, although it has built-in tools for internationalizing the interface.
See also
- List of school software
- KDE Education Project
- Electronic diary and journal
Literature
- Pierre Tchounikine. Resource for Multidisciplinary Enhanced Learning . - Springer Science & Business Media, 2011. - 190 p. - ISBN 9783642200038 .
- Kostromin V.A. Educational programs and educational software . Linux in Russian (2006–2007). The appeal date is January 5, 2016.