What we found

Mathematics

Finding the right mix between educational content and keeping students interested was difficult. Programs popular with students were frequently low on educational content, while those popular with teachers were found boring by students.

The favourite among teachers, parents and students was Numbers Up! 2 Baggin' the Dragon. It costs $60 if ordered online, or just $38 through the schools' Community Software Plan.

Parents said Numbers Up! 2 was the program they would most likely recommend to others or purchase themselves.

The students selected Numbers Up! 2 alongside Kid's Maths Quest as their favourites. Not surprisingly, students seemed more interested in entertainment, ease of use, and rewards - rather than educational value. They enjoyed encountering the programs' bad guys, along with moving up to new levels as their skills improved.

Parents noticed their children quickly lost interest with the information-heavy Mathletics and Let's Learn Fractions and Decimals.

Teachers preferred strong educational value and a variety of teaching methods to keep students stimulated. While they rated Let's Learn Fractions and Decimals as the best maths program, they also highly rated Numbers Up! 2 and Mathletics.

Although they're appropriate for the New Zealand curriculum, these programs are predominantly made by Australian companies - so that, for example, Mathletics includes activities that use Australian currency.

English

Most of these were purely spelling programs.

There was a firm favourite among teachers, parents and students: Kiwi Spelling Force was rated the best by all groups. It costs the same as the top-ranking maths program ($60 if ordered online or $38 through the schools' Community Software Plan).

Some parents wouldn't recommend or purchase any of the English titles in our assessment. But Kiwi Spelling Force was clearly the favourite of most parents - they said they didn't need to encourage their children to use it (miracles do happen), whereas other information-heavy programs like Braintastic Word Skills were a struggle.

Parents also highly rated the program's ease of use and installation.

Overall, students didn't enjoy the English programs as much as the maths programs. Some students said they found Kiwi Spelling Force boring but they felt they'd learned something. 3D Junior Word Builder was considered interesting but light on education.

The teacher liked the educational value of Kiwi Spelling Force and its large database of relevant New Zealand words (including Maori words - although a strong Australian accent is used).

Parents and the teacher also liked the competitive elements and the different levels of difficulty that kept students on their toes.