According to the general procedure of software development, that is, the process of market research, planning, demand analysis, system design, programming and debugging, testing and acceptance, the key stage of developing educational software lies in system design, because it reflects the ability and level of computer technology to realize educational ideas, the degree to which educational ideas and teaching ideas are realized, and the function of educational software is often determined by its system design. On the other hand, educational thought is the core feature of educational software, which is included in script design. High-quality scripts have become another key stage in developing educational software.
The main characteristics of educational software are different from general software: it needs to be oriented to users or learners with different foundations, abilities and learning requirements; It is necessary to thoroughly understand, analyze and reasonably organize the knowledge system of the subjects taught; Need to understand and analyze human learning process and cognitive activities; It needs to involve a lot of human-computer interaction activities, and has high requirements for human-computer interface, human-computer dialogue and media performance; It is necessary to track learners' learning activities in time and conduct accurate tests and evaluations; Require high maintainability (because subject knowledge, teaching methods and teaching objectives may be constantly changing); There are special evaluation standards (based on national language, cultural and moral traditions and educational standards); R&D needs the close cooperation of many experts such as education, cognition, animation, audio-visual, computer and management. The development, operation and maintenance of educational software need a theory that can better reflect its own laws and characteristics, which is educational software engineering.
Educational software engineering is a new systematic science related to the development, operation and maintenance of educational software. Because of the particularity of its industry, it is also an interdisciplinary subject, which mainly involves the knowledge and technology of computer science, pedagogy, psychology, system science and management science. At present, an important task in the field of educational software in China is to strengthen the research and application of educational software engineering in order to improve the internal quality of educational software.
Educational software engineering is a new discipline formed by interdisciplinary subjects, and it is still in the stage of growth and continuous development. The research objects of educational software engineering mainly include: (1) knowledge in educational software and related disciplines, available media and available new technologies; ⑵ Teaching theory of educational software; (3) The methods and technologies of educational software development and maintenance; (4) Development organization and user demand of educational software; 5. Standards, evaluation and commercialization of educational software.
At present, China's computer infrastructure has formed a scale, and one of the important factors restricting the development of the computer market is the lack of a large number of standardized high-quality educational software. Facing the huge market demand of educational software and the popularity of non-standardized educational software, it is necessary to strengthen the research and application of educational software engineering. In addition, in order to promote the engineering and popularization of educational software and improve the maintainability, portability and commercialization level of educational software, we must also study and absorb the benefits of international educational software standards, and study and learn from the standards and norms of software definition, design, development, testing and maintenance in software engineering.