Educational Software

External factorsexert an enormous influence on the exigencies of changing the technological course of individualsectors. Digitalizationrepresents not a new milestone in the evolution of education, but its technological and methodological development. Due to a period of constraints, caused by COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions at all levels in most countries have been forced to resort to digitalization of the learning process. Intelligent learning software provide their users with a variety of options to design and individualize the learning process, as well as independence from time and space. Teachers benefit from flexible content generation and just-in-time assessment of learners' progress, evaluation of large task sets, knowledge sharing with other teachers and knowledge institutions. Learners benefit from anytime availability of learning tools and just-in-time feedback. In our investigation, we consider the current state-of-the-art of educational software. Considering the results of quantitative empirical study and analysis of educational issues solvable by artificial intelligence, we present a developed and tested framework for selected educational problem.

This study aimed to examine the effect of educational software on 3rd-grade elementary-school students’ mathematical problem-solving skill. This was a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, controlled study. The statistical population comprised all 3rd-grade elementary-school male students in District 4 of Karaj (Iran) in the academic year 2018-2019. A sample was selected via convenience sampling, and the participants were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups (20 each). On pretest, two tests of “numerical analysis” and “attention and concentration” (Wechsler test) and a researcher-made problem-solving skill test were administered. Then, the experimental group received eight 40-minute sessions of software training, while the control group received the class’s routine education. Finally, both groups took the posttest. The data were analyzed via univariate analysis of covariance and independent samples t-test. After the experimental intervention, the two groups demonstrated a significant difference (p < 0.001) at three levels of “problem-solving speed”, “attention and concentration”, and “numerical analysis”. The two groups also showed a significant difference at the level of “problem-solving strategy identification” (p < 0.05). Accordingly, the role of educational media, and especially educational software, can be highlighted in promoting students’ learning and mathematical problem-solving skill.