ESSCOTS Efficiency
ESSCOTS are more than just an interesting educational twist to pre-existing software packages - they are extremely cost-effective as well. While most educational programs take months, if not years to develop, the ARC/INFO ESSCOTS required only 60 hours of design and programming time. Because development time drives the cost of the program, ESSCOTS systems are drastically cheaper than "from-scratch" educational programs. The research at RAND therefore would suggest that partnerships between educational and commercial software developers would offer schools the chance to purchase intelligent, yet affordable instructional tools.
