The focus of this category is on software that has been developed for educational purposes.
This might include software designed to teach a subject, like mathematics or language, and it may also include classroom management applications and reference software, or anything designed to improve or enhance any area of education.
Among the earliest uses of computers was for education, dating back as far as the early 1940s, when flight simulators were installed in analog computers to simulate onboard instrument data. Up until the 1970s, educational software was directly tied to the hardware on which it ran, and these early terminals cost more than $10,000, placing them out of the reach of most schools.
Of course, the arrival of personal computers in the mid-1970s changed things. Before those times, computer use was restricted to the mainframe computers found in government agencies and large universities. Once computers could be purchased for a couple of thousand dollars, the market opened up and educational software was written for Altair, the Apple II, and the Commodore. Broderbund and The Learning Company were among the first software developers who focused on educational software, and others joined them. Most of the educational software developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s was for the Apple II.
Categories of educational software include courseware, classroom aids, assessment tools, reference software, corporate training, custom platforms, and software developed for specific educational purposes.
Courseware is a term that can be used to describe software distributed as kits for teachers or as tutorials for students, often packaged for use with a computer. It can also be used to describe the entire course and any additional material within an online classroom or computer lab. Courseware may be in the form of a computer program or integrated set of programs that may be available on a disc or downloaded to a computer, or it might be entirely online.
Classroom aids might come in a form that is intended to be projected onto a whiteboard at the front of the class or run simultaneously on a network of computers in a classroom. While a category of educational software is marketed specifically as classroom management software, teachers often choose individual pieces of software to illustrate various points in the curriculum.
Assessment software includes online testing which, more and more, is replacing paper tests. Computerized testing is often networked, and it allows for immediate feedback, outputting results for each student. In some testing environments, such as licensure or certification testing, the programs are often set to stop once a student has missed enough questions to fail the exam. Both proprietary and open-source assessment applications are available.
Reference software has largely replaced the libraries of dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, and other volumes in schools, and allow each student to have access to these informational sources from their home computer, tablet, or mobile device.
Most industries now use various forms of corporate training software, either installed on company computers, on networked servers, or in the cloud.
Some manufacturers combine hardware and educational software in a single product, such as a child laptop device or hand-held consoles.
While many companies produce software for educational and general usage, there are specific niches in educational software, as well. These include, but are not limited to, driving test software, language learning software, mind mapping software, spelling or typing tutors, reading instruction, and software developed for various medical industries.
Particularly in software intended for children and teenagers, a lot of the software that is developed is in the form of a game, allowing students to learn as they play the game. This is referred to as the gamification of educational software.
Software developed for classroom or school management can also be considered educational. These would include applications to facilitate the writing of tests, grading, and the recording of grades, as well as that designed specifically for school administration.
Topics related to educational software is the focus of this category.
Categories
Flash CardsHistoryLanguages | MathematicsMind MappingTyping & Keyboarding |
Recommended Resources
Online since 1998, and headquartered in Austin, Texas, the Academic Superstore is a nationwide US education-focused online retailer, offering thousands of software titles and other educational technology. Customers may shop by category or by brand, and quotes may be obtained for school services. Top brands include Adobe, Autodesk, Avid Technology, Corel, FileMaker, Microsoft, Quark, Sony, Symantec, and Toon Boom, although there are several others.
http://www.academicsuperstore.com/
Although not actively developed, AKFQuiz allows users to create their own quiz games, learning exercises, or psycho-tests, which can be used with GRQuiz in a graphical environment, with DIAQuiz as a simple GUI program, or with SCRQuiz on the text console, and LineQuiz can be used as a backend. Other options are also available for extending the program. AFKQuiz is free software, although not in the public domain. It may be downloaded from the site.
http://akfquiz.nongnu.org/
ALEKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces) is an online tutoring and assessment system that includes lessons in mathematics, business, science, and behavioral science, at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. ALEKS students can receive college credit for American Council on Education (ACE) courses, the details of which are featured here, along with its other courses, and a course library for homeschoolers, tutors, parents, and students.
https://www.aleks.com/
Apereo is a network of institutions engaged in supporting the development of software for educational institutions, including higher education projects, and Apereo Commercial Affiliates are commercial entities providing support for Apereo and its constituent software communities, typically offering services based on Apereo software. Apereo member organizations are listed, along with its membership policies, governance, incubation programs, and a calendar of events.
https://www.apereo.org/
Maintained by the Learning Federation, the Basic E-Learning Tool Set (BELTS) is designed to demonstrate the distribution, management, and use of online curriculum content, as well as to aid investigation of the requirements for learning e-learning environments by Australian and New Zealand school jurisdictions. The limitations and licensure of its use are defined, a download page is included, and installation instructions, development notes, and documentation are included.
http://belts.sourceforge.net/
Founded in 1980, Broderbund was acquired by The Learning Company in 1998, and still publishes many of its software titles under the Broderbund label, which is now the brand name for Riverdeep’s graphic design, productivity, and education titles, including Printshop, PrintMaster, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing and a variety of graphics and font products. Featured is an online product catalog, and education catalog, and an informational blog.
https://www.broderbund.com/
Offering cloud-based software solutions for institutions of higher learning, Campus Cruiser took over where Timecruiser Computing Corporation left off when it ceased operations. The company offers its Strata Suite, which consists of StrataGo, Strata360, StrataPro, and StrataPass, all powered by Campus Cruiser. The key features of each are identified and illustrated through screenshots. Its support options are featured, along with its integration.
https://www.campuscruiser.com/
Produced by Learners Circle, Centre/ISIS is an integrated student information system for schools that includes several modules. Students can be searched by gender, ethnicity, and grade level, as well as by their schedules, activities, absences, eligibility, grades, GPA, and class rank. Employee screens offer quick access to demographics, and a grade book allows teachers to establish grade ranges, weight and track assignments, and issue quarterly and semester grades.
http://centresis.org/
Created in 1999, Dokeos is a learning management system used in training centers, manufacturing, life sciences, healthcare, banking, and insurance industries. Its features include hundreds of formats and interactive content, integration capabilities with several online services, reporting features and analytics, and the ability to create multiple, fully segregated and custom training portals, social and collaborative features, e-commerce, and the ability to issue certificates and evaluations.
https://www.dokeos.com/
Based in Sweden, the site offers downloadable, installable software, as well as online educational software programs, the majority of the downloadable titles being for the Microsoft Windows platform. The available titles are sorted by grade or subject, as well as by the platform. Reference software is also available. As many of the titles are multilingual, customers can also list freeware by language. Links to other educational software sites are also featured.
http://www.educational-freeware.com/
The eXe project was designed to create a freely available, open-source authoring application that can be used by teachers and academics in publishing web content without the need for proficiency in HTML or XML markup languages. Documents written in eXe can be exported in IMS Content Package, SCORM 1.2, or IMS Common Cartridge format, or as self-contained web pages. Available in several platforms, it has inspired several projects around the world. Documentation is available.
https://exelearning.org/
Affiliated with Nelnet, FACTS acquired RenWeb in 2014, merging its suite of student administration tools into the FACTS suite of services, including tuition management, a student information system, payment administration and processing, financial needs assessment, and online admissions and enrollment solutions. Parent and school logins are provided, along with its support options, webinars, blogs, case studies, white papers, and a calendar of events.
https://factsmgt.com/
A Zope Project, Fle3 is a free and open-source web-based learning environment available under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Designed to support learner and group-centered work that focuses on developing expressions of knowledge and design, Fle3 is server software for computer-supported collaborative learning. An overview of the software is put forth, along with screenshots, help files, documentation, and development notes, as well as a download page.
http://fle3.uiah.fi/
Established in 1998, FlexTraining is developed and supported by National Training Systems, based in Florida. Designed to be a simplified course delivery platform that anyone can use, including built-in templates, navigation, course wizards, flexible testing, activity tracking, and learner-printable certificates. Course development and management services are available. A demo and trial version is available, and flexible fees can be quoted for self-hosting or cloud-based plans.
https://www.flextraining.com/
Available for free, FullRecall is used to help the user memorize knowledge with the minimum investment in time, using an underlying artificial neural network that schedules the optimal days for reviews, such as days when the user is getting close to forgetting the information. An overview of the software is presented, including how it works and what it looks like. Screenshots, a guide to the art of asking good questions, and improving memory, are included.
http://fullrecall.com/
Available for GNU/Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and the iOS platforms, GCompris is an educational software suite that includes several activities for children, aged two to ten, some of which are game-oriented. Hosted and developed by the KDE Community, the software’s features are highlighted, with screenshots, and a full manual for its use. Demo and full versions are available, and links to download sites are provided, while purchases may be made online.
https://gcompris.net/
Released under the GNU General Public License, GradeL is a free grade-book application for teachers, supporting the Linux operating system. Featuring a customizable grading calendar, options for straight points or weighted categories, numerical values and alpha/numeric codes, attendance tracking, seating charts, comments and progress reports, student drops, and exporting to Online Grades. Screenshots, documentation, a support wiki, and a forum are available.
http://gradel.sourceforge.net/
Web-based and created in PHP, IntraSchool CMS is a school Intranet system that includes features for announcements, attendance, assignments, and computer issue tracking throughout the school, with other features planned, such as scheduling, an events calendar, forums, and a resource database. The application is free for use under the GNU General Public License. Users may rate and review the program, make feature requests, report bugs, and download files.
https://intraschool.sourceforge.io/
JabRef is an open-source bibliography reference manager, operating as a desktop application that runs on the Java virtual machine, and is supported by GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. Its native file format is BibTeX, the standard LaTeX bibliography format. Its features are listed and explained, and documentation, a support forum, development information, and version updates are put forth, along with a list of text editors compatible with the application.
http://www.jabref.org/
The authorized education reseller specializes in the secondary and post-secondary market, offering software at educational discounts to qualified students, faculty, and schools in the United States and Canada, although individual customers can purchase only one copy of any software title per year. Available titles are sorted by category, and its institutional sales of software, hardware, and IT networking solutions are put forth. Quotes may be requested.
http://www.journeyed.com/
Created as a tool for rapid serial visual presentation, which is based on the idea of displaying a text one word at a time, very quickly after one another, discouraging the tendency to backtrack the line while reading, jRSVP is designed to increase the user’s reading speed. It can be freely downloaded under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License. The requirements for using the program, its capabilities, development notes, and installation instructions are put forth.
http://jrsvp.sourceforge.net/
Written in Java, jVLT can run on several platforms, including Linux, Mac, and Windows, and is available as a free download under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Development notes, version data, screenshots, and documentation in English, Czech, and French are put forth. The open-source program is a vocabulary learning tool that supports several languages, which are listed here. Information for developers interested in contributing to the project is included.
http://jvlt.sourceforge.net/
Sometimes known as Chronophobia, the open-source school calendaring system is event-based, and includes holiday management, no-school days and break management, event recurrences, an opponent school database for meets, games, and so on, as well as external event contacts, an organizational system for campuses, departments, activities, and event assignments, transportation integration, facility management, and several other features.
http://kronophobia.sourceforge.net/
Based on the Leitner Learning System, KSalomon is an open-source vocabulary trainer, in which the vocabulary is stored in a virtual card index box which can contain several vocabulary files. Words that are answered correctly on the first try are moved to a higher folder, where they are asked less often each time. The number of folders and other variables is configurable. Its features are highlighted, with screenshots, development notes, and acknowledgments of contributors.
http://ksalomon.sourceforge.net/
Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach (CAPA) began in 1992, piloted by a physics class, providing students with personalized problem sets, quizzes, and exams, and feedback provided through the Internet. The LectureOnline (LON) project began in 1997, serving physics course material over the web. They joined together in 1999, to form LON-CAPA, providing a subset of the functionalities of both. Freely available under a GNU General Public License, a download link is provided.
http://www.lon-capa.org/
Established as Lumen Software in 2000, and once known as Lumenation, it was acquired by Dr. John Vandewalle, who changed the name to Lumen Touch in 2012, and aims for it to be an all-in-one system for education, establishing partnerships with Global Grid for Learning, CompuClaim, Greenbush, MyMajors, BloomBoard, Clever Integration, and IdentiMetrics. Its solutions and features for all aspects of the educational system are highlighted and described in detail, as well as in video.
https://www.lumentouch.com/
Written entirely in C, Manhattan is an online course management system that runs on Linux and Unix-like systems. Based at Western New England College, the software system is licensed under the GNU General Public License. Manhattan is a web-based application, which may be downloaded and installed on a Linux or Unix-based server. Once installed, teachers and students may access it through any modern web browser using assigned usernames and passwords.
http://manhattan.sourceforge.net/
Created in 2002, Moodle is a free and open-source (GPLv3) learning management system that is used for blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom, and other e-learning projects in schools, universities, workplaces, and individual educational projects. Utilizing customizable management features, Moodle is used to create websites with online courses for educators and trainers to learn specific goals. Several support options are available and featured here.
https://moodle.org/
Developed by Early Learning Labs, MyIGDIs is part of the Renaissance educational suite, offering assessment tools for early childhood educators, helping them to identify children at risk of poor learning outcomes early, and to monitor development goals often. Its history, goals, research, and technical reports are presented, and its assessment programs are described in detail. Also offered are educator-friendly training, including trainer-led modules and trainer certification courses.
https://www.myigdis.com/
Established in 2002, Naviance is a US-based college and career readiness software provider that partners with middle schools, high schools, and school districts to provide college planning and career assessment tools. Its college and career readiness curriculum, college preparation tools, data, and analytics, career exploration learning plans, and assessment tools to help colleges and universities identify students will be the best fit for their curriculum are featured.
https://www.naviance.com/
An acronym for Online Learning And Training, OLAT Systems is a web application, serving as a learning management system for online learning, teaching, and tutoring. Established at the University of Zurich in 1999, OLAT supports several established e-learning standards and can be extended through add-ons. The open-source program is available under the terms of the Apache License. Its features, usage and support options are set forth, and contributors are acknowledged.
https://www.olat.org/
OnCourse Systems for Education
OnCourse’s cloud-based, integrated school system includes school management tools that includes student information, analytics, grade book, discipline tracker, and special education modules, as well as teacher evaluation tools, and curriculum and classroom modules, such as lesson planner, classroom, assessment, student stats, and curriculum builder, each of which are highlighted here. and available through its software-as-a-service (SaaS). A demo is available.
https://www.oncoursesystems.com/
P42 offers several small web games, as well as other programs for desktop computers and laptops that teach a variety of educational topics, including archeology, arts, astronomy, biology, chemistry, computers, cooking, economics, games, geography, history, holidays, languages, logic, mathematics, movies, nature, physics, psychology, and sports. Mobile versions may also be available. Informational texts for each subject are also available.
http://planeta42.com/
PowerSchool began as a web-based student information system, and now includes an integrated system that helps schools and school districts to efficiently manage instruction, learning, grading, attendance, assessment, analytics, state reporting, special education, student registration, talent, finance, and human resources. The system is highlighted, along with its usage in K-12 schools, product demos, case studies, webinars, infographics, and training.
https://www.powerschool.com/
Pre-Engineering Software Corporation
Based in Louisiana, the PES Corporation develops and publishes teaching tools that introduce students to solving real engineering problems while reinforcing their math and science skills, producing software that combines science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Among its products is ModelSmart, ModelSmart3D, and Bridge Builder. Client testimonials are published to the site, and brochures and several teacher resources are included.
http://www.pre-engineering.com/
Quia is an educational website that offers software tools to create and share learning activities on a variety of academic subjects. It includes products for corporations, educators, academic institutions and government agencies to create online courses and e-learning activities. Other topics include information on the company's offered technology solutions for individual learners and educators, colleges, K-12 schools, businesses, and academic publishers.
http://www.quia.com
Based in Toronto, Canada, Quillsoft develops and distributes reading and writing literacy software tools for K-12, post-secondary students, and people in the workplace. Operating in Windows or Mac environments, its products include WordQ 5, WordQ 5 Pro, iWordQ, iWordQ Pro, WordQ for Chrome, ThoughtQ for Chrome, and ReaderQ, each of which is highlighted here, and made available for online purchase, with options for permanent or one-year licensure. Upgrades may also be purchased.
https://www.quillsoft.ca/
Renaissance creates assessment and practice solutions that put learning analytics to work for educators, saving hours of preparation time. Its assessment products include Star Assessments, a K-12 assessment suite, and myIGDIs, used for early childhood assessments. Additionally, the Renaissance Growth Platform connects assessment, instruction, and practice across products, while Growth Alliance partners with other ed-tech software solutions. Support options are defined.
https://www.renaissance.com/
Acquired by Think3 in 2018, School Loop provides learning management systems (LMS) and content management systems (CMS) to K-12 school districts across the United States for the creation of websites for ADA/508-compliant district and school sites. Featured sites are displayed as examples, and their design and implementation services are featured. Pre-formed templates are available for viewing, and a schedule of upcoming webinars are featured.
https://www.schoolloop.com/
Now part of the Renaissance suite, Schoolzilla is a K-12 data platform that brings school data into focus, integrating with several key data systems, which are listed here. Mosaic is a multiple measures dashboard, providing a curated view of the district’s results, and its dashboards are powered by the secure Schoolzilla Data Warehouse. Tiered, permission-based access allows data to be shared with the right people, and its Community module allows for connections with other schools.
https://schoolzilla.com/
Founded by Brad Sheppard Jr. and Jasmine Chapgar, Sheppard Software creates software programs and games designed to add sound and visual effects to make learning fun and more effective, with many difficulty levels so that players will continue to be challenged, and to provide games that will exercise the players’ brains. Games and other applications are sorted by grade and subject level, and the ten most popular games are highlighted on the index page.
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/
Beginning in 1992, and incorporated in 1998, Smart Kids Software is a dealer in educational software for students, parents, teachers, schools, and school districts. Its products are featured online, sorted by age level, grade level, or subject, with special offers and clearance items highlighted. School purchase orders are accepted. Apart from several software packages, the company also sells pre-loaded learning computers, available with a full one year warranty.
http://www.smartkidssoftware.com/
Providing organizations with software solutions for developing, delivering, managing, measuring, and improving their e-learning activities since 1995, SyberWorks features online training packages that include a learning management system for online course delivery as well as measuring trainee outcomes, an integrated management program for policies and procedures, and accompanying professional tools and services for implementation and customization.
http://syberworks.com/
Released under the GNU General Public License, the Tab Completion Grade Book was written in Java in 2003 by the Software Design and Development class at the University of Minnesota at Morris. Available as a free download, the program features arbitrarily nested and weighted assignments, human-readable XML file formats, multiple courses and students, support for scores as fractions, configurable grading scales per course, the printing of per-student summaries, and statistics.
http://tabgradebook.sourceforge.net/
Talis is a software development company based in England. Largely focused on software for high education, its flagship products, Talis Aspire and Talis Elevate, are highlighted here, with a list and further description of its features, uses, design, and integration. The company also offers custom (bespoke) business services service integrations, implementation system management training, and consulting services. A calendar of events, contacts, and career opportunities are included.
https://talis.com/
Online since 2003, Tech on the Net, the site focuses on providing information on various databases (SQL, Oracle/PLSQL, SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite), MS Office (Excel, Access, Word), web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Color Picker), and C programming, along with the ASCII table, Unicode, Linux, UNIX, and a section on techie humor. Prerequisites for each section are stated, along with an overview of each, instructional video, and examples.
https://www.techonthenet.com/
Developed at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Dataverse is an open-source web application used to share, preserve, cite, explore, and analyze data, making it available to others, and allowing for the replication of the work of others, granting more visibility to researchers, data authors, publishers, data distributors, and affiliated institutions. An installation guide, user guide, source code, and a list of features are put forth, and the software can be downloaded.
https://dataverse.org/
Available for Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows, Tomboy is a desktop note-taking application that is used to organize information and ideas. Its features include the ability to highlight text, inline spell checking, auto-linking web, and email addresses, undo or redo, font styling and sizing, bulleted lists, not synchronization across several computers, and backup and recovery capabilities, as well as others listed here. Development notes are posted, and the application may be downloaded.
https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Tomboy
TrainCaster LMS is a spinoff of NetCasters, a full-service web design, and web software development company. Its hosted LMS solution is built for business, and includes easy-to-use tools for course and quiz creation, as well as offering support for familiar desktop applications, promising easy course authoring, reporting, and compliance, with simple user management, it can be used for classroom training, and includes features for trainers, managers, and administrators.
https://www.traincaster.com/
Tux Paint is a free drawing program for children ages three to twelve (PK-6th grade). Used in elementary schools around the world as a computer literacy drawing activity, it combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who offers guidance to children as they use the program. Compatible with macOS, GNU Linux, and Windows, the program is available under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
http://www.tuxpaint.org/
Hosted on SourceForge, the free and open-source (GNU General Public License) software utility is used for information visualization and organization, such as in presentations and document management, courses and training purposes, mind-mapping and brainstorming, and knowledge management. Its features are listed, along with screenshots, a demo applet, and an informational wiki. The chief developers are acknowledged.
http://xebece.sourceforge.net/
