Sure thy have their place.
My elementary school had the following games (all on early macs except where noted):
Gizmos and Gadgets
Dinosaur Tycoon
Read, Write and Type (windows 95)
Oregon Trail (apple II)
Math Blaster (I could have sworn it was on the apple II)
Jumpstart Typing
Jumpstart Third grade
One mac in my third grade classroom had Snood and ELIZA.
I hope these help if you need examples. You're probably familiar with a few, a quick google search will give you more information on any title if you need it. Some of the publishers have gone bankrupt or been bought up, so you might not be able to find the publisher's site for a citation if you need one. Good luck.