Instructional Software Evaluation Checklist

Program ____________________ Publisher ____________________

Content _____________________ Hardware ____________________
Function of Program
_____ Drill/Practice _____ Simulation _____ Problem Solving
_____ Tutorial _____ Instructional Game _____ Other ( __________ )
Package
_____ Educational objectives and user age level clearly listed
_____ Learning skills are described
_____ Screen shots illustrate content
Pedagogy/Educational Value
_____ Appropriate teaching strategy, experiences and readability for age level
_____ Graphics serve educational purpose and are not distracting
_____ Strategies to extend learning
_____ Screen content contains nothing that would confuse the learner
_____ Program will grow with student, many levels and enough content
_____ Feedback reinforces content and is not abusive or insulting
_____ Program is an accurate depiction of the real world
_____ Learner's ideas, values and creativity can be incorporated
_____ User has high degree of control of program: speed, rate, experience
_____ Software seems new and exciting with each use
_____ Speech and sound used to enhance learning, but can be turned off
Content
_____ Accurate and up-to-date
_____ Spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct
_____ Content is bias-free, or illustrates a sense of moral and ethical issues
Ease of Use/Flexibility
_____ Students can use program independently on the first try
_____ Keys, menus and icons are accessible and intuitive
_____ Printing is simple
_____ Learner has some control over settings and experiences of program
_____ Additional materials (textbook, teacher guide, etc.) are available
_____ Instructions can be viewed onscreen
_____ Easy to manipulate through the program
_____ Easy to install
_____ Learner knows if an error has been made
Student Proof
_____ Quick response to the student's actions
_____ Opening sequence can be bypassed
_____ Student can only access courseware functions, not programming
_____ If a key is pounded or held down only one input occurs
Fun
_____ Makes learning fun, meaningful and interesting with every use
_____ Captivates a range of learning styles and broad age groups
_____ Events are randomly generated and not repeated with each use