BLOGSVILLE, Ontario

For this software review assignment I chose two educational software programs that are available on our laptops from Laurier; Poetry in a Nutshell, which explores different types of poetry and the purposes of them, and Canadian Geographic Explorer which is an interactive program delivering information about the history and geography of Canada. Both programs are aimed at the upper junior divisions, and I think could be used in intermediate classrooms as well.

For Canadian Geographic Explorer interactive journey (CGE), I began by exploring the game as if I was a grade six student. It begin with a nice slide show of pics from across Canada accompanied by instrumental music complete with loon calls. It then proceeded to a menu screen asking if you would like a tutorial/introduction. I observed this tutorial and conclude that it is sufficient as an explanation for students to follow in order to understand how the program works. Pedegogically, this program is extremely effective. It covers a lot of the grade 4-6 Geography strains, as well as a good amount of the 4-6 Canadian History curriculum. It is easily used, and organized in a logical manner which encourages exploration of the program and consequently more learning. I had fun using it and opening pages to find out interesting and relevent facts. The main page allows you to choose either history or geography to explore, and in each section there are a many options to choose from. These include; About Canada, Write Pad, Index, Dictionary, Mouse Tutorial, Menu, sound, Help, and Quit. While the graphics cannot compare with Wii or Playstation, there are some skillful illustrations and real photos incorporated into the subjects. There are narratives accompanying a variety of pages which help the program appeal to different learning styles. There are options to complete exersices in every section, which gives the student the choice between a Text exercise or Map exercise. One negative thing I noticed is that it seems a lot of guidance would be necissary if a tecaher wanted his/her students to use the program for a specific topic. There is a large amount of information available within the pages, so in order to direct one's students much modelling would be necessary.

As a tool for furthuring and expanding lessons in my classroom I would definately use this program. I will be in a grade six classroom in my next practicum so I am planning a few lessons during which I can make use of this software. There is also a helpful teacher's resource to accompany this software which is available online.

To evaluate this software I used the Kathy Schrock Evaluation Form, which was a fairly comprehensive review tool. I like the identifiers at the beginning of the form, as well as the spaces for product's specifics. This is probably the most significant addition I would add to the evaluation tool we developed in class. CGE had a pretty good review according to both assessment tools. I would definately recommend that other TECs explore this software as a potential way to integrate technolgy into their lessons while meeting curricular expectations.

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Poetry In a Nutshell had a significantly different review from myself. I was very disappointed in this software. I am a very big poetry fan and just love reading, writing, and learning about it. I found I was bored with Poetry In a Nutshell almost from the introduction. It is my opinion that we have a responsibility to change the negative connotations that poetry has had in the past with elementary aged children and demonstrate how engaging and fun it can be. If use modern examples such as hiphop lyrics, spoken word poetry, and the like we can ignite interest in different poetic forms. But this software began with a dull intrumental that sounded as if it were composed in the 1800's , and a fairly monotone voice explaining three catagories to study poetry; Image, Tone, and Mood.

The one positive feature I must comment on in this software is the variety of interesting pictures. The shots often reflect the mood of the poems being read, and are really quite nice. During one activity, however, in which the students are required to imagine what images can be seen in a picture of a cloud, the selected photo does not seem to display any of the suggested forms. Not a great example at all.

If you are interested in turning your students off of poetry, this is the software for you. But if you at all intend to instill a modern notion of the potential and excitement which poetry can entail, then please steer clear of Poetry In a Nutshell. I will not use this program in any of my classes.

I used the same evaluation tools for this software and found the Kathy Schrock form a bit less useful. This is because I wanted to explain the short comings with more detail than the checklist allowed for. Again, I liked the space for sofware particulars however.