STEP BY STEP IN DESIGN OF EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

The paper focus is on the design and development of educational software for children with special educational needs (SEN). It is based on the author's experience in teaching courses "Information Technologies in education of children with special educational needs" ("IT in education of children with SEN") and "Design, development and evaluation of educational software" in Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". The main focus in courses is design and development of educational software - in the first one particularly for children with SEN. The paper presents the main steps in the process of design of educational software for children with SEN and the most important criteria which ensure software quality. It presents the main stages in development of educational software for children with SEN paying particular attention to the first two stages - context and tasks analysis - which are essential in the design of educational software. Paper discusses also general and specific requirements for development of this kind of software.