Special Education Teachers' Preferences for Sources of Software Evaluation Information

This article describes a survey of special education teachers' ratings of usefulness for specific items of software evaluation information and their preferences regarding the sources from which to obtain these items of information. The survey found that the highest usefulness ratings were given to items of information related to hardware compatibility, appropriateness for students, and software operation and use Software tryout without students was the most preferred source of information, followed by software documentation/manuals, and written ratings/descriptions from evaluations or reviews. Two other sources—talking with other educators and tryout with students—were preferred for relatively few items of information, and three sources—pictures of sample screens, school system lists of recommended software, and software catalogs/advertisements—were not highly preferred for any information. The results of the survey are discussed in relation to software evaluation procedures for use in the schools.