The area of software publishing for schools and libraries is remarkably small given the huge market. Over the past several years, some of the smaller companies have been purchased by larger groups making the pool even smaller.
Thousands of local distributors are available, but the pricing of software doesn't vary much. Do a quick check on Amazon, Academic Superstore, or Educational Resources to compare prices before purchasing.
Many of the publisher websites provide free trial versions or demonstrations that can be downloaded for free. Sometimes these have been noted in the descriptions.
Explore each of the following areas on this page. You don't need to look at each link, but you should have a feel for the major publishers: Large Educational Software Publishers, Other Educational Publishers, General Software Publishers, and Starting Points for Locating Software.
Large Educational Software Publishers
Although thousands of different groups publish software for children and young adults, a few companies develop the most popular software including Knowledge Adventure, Sierra, Scholastic, Broderbund (The Learning Company), and Riverdeep (Edmark).
Inspiration Software, Inc.
http://www.inspiration.com/
Home for Inspiration and Kidspiration
- - the leading visual thinking tools for learning. [ Free
30 Day Trials ]
Activevision
http://www.activision.com
Best known for their JumpStart
series, Knowledge Adventur was purchased by a larger gaming company called Activism.
Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited
http://www.riverdeep.com/
Riverdeep has acquired Broderbund, Learning Company, Edmark, and others.
Publishes software products like Word Munchers Deluxe
and Storybook Weaver Deluxe.
Broderbund (The Learning Company)
http://www.broderbund.com/
One of the first publishers of educational software, Broderbund now
includes a wide range of products. Their best known products include
Print Shop, Print Master, Kid Pix, Mavis Beacon Teacher Typing, and Family Tree Maker.
Edmark from
Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited
http://www.riverdeep.com/edmark/index.jhtml
Find favorite Edmark products such as
the House Series (Millie's Math
House), Sammy's Science House,
and Talking Walls. - [Edmark
Downloads ]
Scholastic Software
http://teacher.scholastic.com
Here you can locate all the Scholastic
software products like Shh! We're Writing the Constitution plus Tom
Snyder Productions' innovative, award-winning CD-ROMs to support
learning in reading, mapping and more.
This
popular book publisher has an extensive collection of software. Known
for their acquistion of popular characters, they have software related
to Magic School Bus,
Clifford, and I
Spy (shown on the left).
Tom Snyder Productions
from Scholastic
http://www.tomsnyder.com/
Tom Snyder Productions, a Scholastic
company, was founded more than 20 years ago by Tom Snyder, a former
science and music teacher, who pioneered the use of technology in
the classroom to enhance teaching and learning. Today they carry over
125 software titles covering each curriculum area. Products include
Graph Club and Timerliner. [ Free
30 Day Trials ]
Other Educational Publishers
There are many other educational publishers that produce fewer, more focused software.
A.D.A.M.
http://www.adam.com/
Leading publisher of interactive, visually engaging
health and medical information for healthcare organizations, medical
professionals, consumers, and students. Today, A.D.A.M. employs
a growing range of media, including Internet, software, CD-ROM, television
and print, to deploy its proprietary content assets and products.
Crick Software
http://www.cricksoft.com/
The makers of Clicker; an easy to use writing
and multimedia tool for children.
Discovery Channel School
http://shopping.discovery.com/
Create your own library of Discovery Channel
School's award-winning teaching tools! Includes videos, cd-roms,
and learning packs.
Disney Interactive Learning
http://disney.store.go.com/
Check out the full catalog of interactive learning
titles.
DK Publishing
http://us.dk.com/
Lots of electronic materials related to books.
FTC Publishing
http://www.ftcpublishing.com/
Producer of Sound Companion and many other resources.
[ 30
Day Trial ]
Gallopade International
http://www.gallopade.com/
Good luck on finding product descriptions on the
website, but this is the producer of the best-selling State Facts
and Factivities software.
Heartsoft Educational Software
http://www.heartsoft.com/
Has over 70 software titles for K-8 in areas of
literacy, critical thinking, math, and basic skills.
Humongous Entertainment
http://www.funkidsgames.com/
Producers of the Freddi Fish, Blues Clues,
and Putt-Putt series, these programs
are popular adventure and problem-solving environments.
HyperBole Studios
http://www.hyperbole.com/
Explores interactive media as a new creative form
to develop intelligent, story-driven multimedia, games, and online
entertainment.
IntelliTools Software
http://www.intellitools.com/
Classroom Tools, IntelliTalk II, IntelliMathics,
and IntelliPics Studio are integrated and offer a complete set of
resources for both general education and special needs students, truly
meeting the needs of the diverse classroom.
Jackson Software
http://www.jacksoncorp.com/
Publishes gradebook (including bestselling GradeQuick)
and school wide class management software.
Key
Curriculum Press
http://www.keypress.com/
Math software publisher. Known for Geometric
Sketchpad series.
MicroGrams
http://www.micrograms.com/
Publish math, language, science, social studies,
and problem solving programs - - including Super Science Show.
Mindplay
http://www.mindplay.com/
Software for reading comprehension improvement.
National Geographic
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/
Number of software products including the complete
archives of 112 years of National Geographic Magazine on CD-ROM.
Software - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/cdrom/
Neufeld Learning Systems Inc.
http://www.neufeldmath.com/
Publishes math software for grades 4-10 - - including
the Understanding Math™ series.
Orbis Software
http://www.orbissoft.com/
Publishes the top-selling Easy Grade Pro software.
Renaissance Learning
http://www.renlearn.com/
Creators of reading, math, writing, and standards
software solutions for pre-K to 12 learners.
Related Division: Humanities Software http://www.humanitiessoftware.com/index.htm
Simon & Schuster Interactive
http://www.simonandschuster.com/
A variety of software for children. Includes Wimzie's
House, Bundle of Bugs, Garfield, and more.
Sunburst Technology
http://www.sunburst.com/
Site describes current software include Type
to Learn, Hot Dog Stand: The Works, Easy Book Deluxe, A to Zap!,
and the Learn About Series. They
offer 30-day online previews, videostreaming of some programs.
SVE & Churchill Media
http://www.svemedia.com/
Offers a large variety of science CD-ROMs; subjects
include zoology, botany, chemistry, ecology, and more.
Tech4Learning
http://www.tech4learning.com/
Image Blender, Media
Blender, SimplyVR, and VideoBlender.
Also, Claymation Kit. [ Freebies
] [ 30
Day Trials ]
Terrapin Software
http://www.terrapinlogo.com/
Publishes various software related to Logo.
Tivola Publishing
http://www.tivola.com/
Publishes interactive storybooks, software, and
games. Includes the Little Prince, Snow White and the Seven
Hansels, Peanuts, and more.
World Book Store
http://store.worldbook.com/
Reference software and other materials.
Zane Publishing
http://www.zane.com/
Re-purposes some of the world’s best learning
and reference material into cd-rom format.
General Software Publisher
Many of the software packages developed for adults can also be used with children and young adults. Below is a listing of the most popular software publishers for schools and libraries.
Adobe Systems Incorporated
http://www.adobe.com/
Makers of PhotoShop,
Acrobat, PageMaker, and much more. They also now own the Macromedia products.
Apple Computer
http://www.apple.com/software/
Software products include Mac operating systems,
iMovie, Quicktime, AppleWorks and
more.
http://www.filemaker.com/
Makers of the leading database software.
Microsoft Corporation
http://www.microsoft.com/
Makers of operating system and server software,
productivity tools, reference software, and much more.
Starting Points for Locating Software
Thousands of software publishers and distributors are available online. A few popular starting points have been listed below:
Academic Superstore
http://www.academicsuperstore.com/
Great place for academic pricing.
Educational Resources
http://www.edresources.com/
Nation's largest source of educational technology,
hardware, accessories, and supplemental products.
Educational Software Directory
from Google
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Educational/?tc=1
Directory of software companies.
Educational Software Directory
http://educational-software-directory.net/
Online guide to learning software resources on
the web. Includes software indexed by subject area with links to publishers,
reviews, and more. Index to educational game software.
Technical Support
at Scholastic
http://www.scholastic.com/techsupport/index.htm
Extensive listing of list of software titles,
publishers and their respective technical support numbers. If you
purchased software through the Scholastic Software clubs, book
clubs or fairs, you can contact the publisher.
Adapted with permission from Chapter 5 in Lamb, A. (2006). Building Treehouses for Learning: Technology in Today's Classroom, Fourth Edition.