http://www.informationweek.com/education/instructional-it/problem-of-math-educational-software-nee/240154753
The problem, claims John Barnes, is that while software is good at providing practice with particular procedures, most of it is not good at developing learners' executive function, the metacognitive function that evaluates and chooses solution strategies. There apparently isn't a real good reason that most software doesn't do this, except it's harder than just scripting a repetitive problem set with cute graphics (which describes a lot of math software).
The problem, claims John Barnes, is that while software is good at providing practice with particular procedures, most of it is not good at developing learners' executive function, the metacognitive function that evaluates and chooses solution strategies. There apparently isn't a real good reason that most software doesn't do this, except it's harder than just scripting a repetitive problem set with cute graphics (which describes a lot of math software).