This Digest will outline a seven step process for responsible software selection. There is always the possibility that a careful needs analysis will result in a decision to use some other teaching-learning strategy. Objectives must include conditions under which the desired behavior will be demonstrated and the criteria for measuring that behavior. Enabling objectives identify specifically what behavior we would like the student to demonstrate. There are many ways to identify promising software, and the responsible selector should use as many of them as possible.
Catalogs still remain an important source for descriptions of software.
Software is advertised, described, and often reviewed in magazines and journals found in school, university, and public libraries. Teachers who have access to the Internet can find out about software from other teachers by joining a listserv. The above are but a few sources for identifying promising software. The more precisely the requirements are specified in Step 2, the easier it will be to screen out those products that are least likely to meet the user's specifications and the easier it will be to focus on more promising products. It is very important to realize, however, that reading reviews should not take the place of previewing, described in Step 5.