School, university, or community libraries may have software available to try. Companies that sell software to educational users often offer a trial period. Children can be good judges of what entertains them and which programs are easy to use, but are not always the best judges of educational value. The teacher has responsibility for selecting software that matches the curriculum and the learning goals. Evaluations Database, containing over 3000 recommendations, is a guide to high-quality instructional technology resources for educators.
Software is evaluated for overall quality and for specific use in special education programs.
Northwest Educational Technology Consortium NETC provides information about software selection and links to online software review sites.