Educational Software Design: Education, Engagement, and Productivity Concerns

Abstract

Educational software is somewhat unique in that the goal of the software is not to facilitate use of the software itself, but to produce an impact on the user - learning - that will affect the user's behavior outside of the software. Although there are many areas where educational software designers can learn from practices in productivity and game design, there are reasons to be cautious in applying such principles to educational software. This chapter considers several design elements in educational software and discusses ways that software principles taken from other areas do or do not apply to educational software design.