Hablemos Inglés

• Reviewed by Joshua Bleier: Heavy use of audio and animation. This is a lab favorite; it provides recording capability so that learners can record and play back themselves speaking words and phrases to compare it to the voice of a native English speaker.

Learn to Speak English

• Reviewed by Joshua Bleier: Same as Hablemos, but all audio and text instructions are in English rather then Spanish. This program can be used once ESL learners have mastered fundamental english concepts and wish to immerse themselves in the language while learning.

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 5.0

• Reviewed by Joshua Bleier: The de facto standard for typing instruction. The lessons are excellent, the graphics are very good, the user interface is pretty intuitive, and the instructions are clear and precise. They could have done a better job of digitizing Mavis, and the games are a bust (There is no descernable goal, and no results are posted), but overall one of the strongest typing tutorial programs.
• See Superkids Review

Type to Learn v1.0

• Reviewed by Joshua Bleier: The most recent version of this program is 2.0, but it doesn't interface well with the audio controls of our lab computers (In fact, the system often locks up when the audio controls are used during the run of version 2.0), so we have only version 1.0 loaded. The interface to access each student is a little awkward (students are organized by class teacher, which is inappropriate for a lab environment), but once the learner gets going with the program, usability is good. Each lesson has consistent organization and content. The beginning portion for each of these lessons is too rigid (Even one mistake forces the student to start over; this has frustrated a number of our learners), but overall lesson organization and coverage is good. Best of all, the qwerty game is an excellent diversion, and also acts as a good lesson in and of itself.

Slam Dunk Typing

• Reviewed by Joshua Bleier: If you're a basketball junkie, this is the typing program for you. On the downside, if you're not a hoopster, this program a tad intrusive, if not somewhat obnoxious. Some of the lesson interactions aren't obvious, but after an initial learning curve, this is a strong program that provides the user with good positive (And sometimes negative!) feedback.

Reading Programs: Children

Carmen Sandiego Word Detective

• Reviewed by Joshua Bleier: This Language Arts program by Broderbund (Recently acquired by Creative Wonders; but that's another story) turns out to be good overall, bordering on excellent in several areas. It is strongest in it's attraction to kids; the story line is engaging, and graphics, music and continuity are first-rate, and it doesn't pander or condescend to it's targeted audience. The word list is extensive (And purportedly can be augmented, although I haven't attempted to do this), and it contains 3 levels of increasing difficulty, so a wide range of children can learn from it.

  There is an interesting, though somewhat contrived, plot: Carmen Sandiego, vile fiend that she is, has built a Babble-On Machine. This machine causes humans to babble nonsense words or garbled phrases rather than understandable utterances; with this evil device, Carmen plans to rule the world. 12 previous ACME agents have attempted to thwart Carmen and failed. The student takes on the role of Agent 13, who, with the help of SuperSecret ACME Agent Chase Devineaux, are the last chance for the free world to foil Carmen and her V.I.L.E. cronies.

  To do this, the student/agent finds clues (In the form of various word puzzles) in the hideouts of Carmen's underlings, obtain keys once all clues at a hideout are found, and use those keys to free the captive ACME Agents. Once all the agents are freed, the student/agent uses data from each freed agent to solve one last word puzzle and destroy the Babble-On Machine. Hooray for our side.

  Most of the word puzzles are good overall (By far, kids at the Lab prefer the Code-Breaker and MicroFilm Solver, and dislike intensely the Audio File puzzle), but instructions are not easily accessed. In addition, moving to and from hideouts is a little cumbersome (The word 'Transport' is not obvious to many of our learners). Finally, most of our Mac 5260/100's in our lab had problems with the auido portions of the program, which added additional difficulties, primarily when attempting to solve Audio File puzzles (Often the first one or two letters of the word got lost in static). Finally, and most importantly, where, oh where, is Ms. Thigpen, our beloved Chief? She is conspicuously absent in this Carmen Thriller, and the program is the lesser for it.

  However, this application is quite strong overall, and an excellent instructional tool (Especially when the student has access to a lab volunteer or tutor who can get the student to try to do more with the words and sentences provided in the game).

• See Superkids Review
• See "The Revew Zone" Review

 

Science Programs: Children

Magic School Bus Explores: The Human Body

• Reviewed by Joshua Bleier: This is a tough program to review, as it has a wealth of both strengths and weaknesses. I'll give a general description of the software, and then outline where it works and where it doesn't.

  For those of you unfamiliar with the 'Magic School Bus' series of books and spin-off TV program, Ms. Fizzle is a somewhat eccentric schoolteacher who apparantly has a license to operate heavy machinery, including the schools' magical bus, which allows her to transport her students directly to (And , in some cases, into) the topics she plans on covering, be it the human body, the age of dinosaurs, the ocean, whatever (The next installment is rumored to take her students through the body of an intestinal parasite; look for it soon in a bookstore near you! ;-).

  The software program starts the student off in the classroom, where the student can spend time interacting with dozens of arcane objects. By clicking on the tennis shoes, the student goes to the front of the room, and then may get Ms. Fizzle to start the journey. The student navigates through the human body via the drivers seat of the bus by manipulating the steering column, viewport, and transport lever (No gas pedal on this model school bus). Help is available, and there are controls to actually go out and interact with the body part currently under investigation, and each body part has a corresponding game that also teaches a little bit about that body part.

  One strength of MSB-HB that also turns out to be a weakness is the pervasive level of interaction; virtually every object is clickable. I typically advocate such an approach to children's educational software, but here it tends to obscure the path through the body, and makes unclear whatever goal there may be. Intially, some of our students couldn't figure out how to get out of the classroom and on with the program until accessing the help facility (Help comes in the guise of a lizard-like mascot of unknown origin and anscestory). Going from one body part to another is not obvious, and once you're there, it isn't clear what you're supposed to do, or how to do it.

  That said, this program (And the MSB-Ocean program) access a ton of information about the human body, all of it presented at a reasonable educational level (Around 3rd-4th grade).

  Probably the most telling evidence that this program needs some work is that the majority of our students do not go back for any follow-up visits after their initial use. This isn't the case for the more compelling pieces of software we provide.

• See Ohio SchoolNet Review

Magic School Bus Explores: The Ocean

• See Ohio SchoolNet Review

Wide World of Animals

• See Technology & Learning Review

 

Reading, Math & Logic: Children

Madeline Thinking Games

• See Superkids Review
• See Technology & Learning Review

Madeline - First Grade

• See Superkids Review

Madeline - Second Grade

• See Superkids Review

Carmen Sandiego Math Detective

• See "The Review Zone" Review
• See "Through the Looking Glass Wall" Review

School House Rock: Math Grades 1-4

• See Technology & Learning Review

Counting on Frank

• See Technology & Learning Review
• See "Through the Looking Glass Wall" Description