Rating: (1-5)
Relevance to objectives: 4 (The game does
what it says it will do; it reads the story and lets the students "play.")
Provides practice of relevant skills: 2
(The only skills that are really "practiced" are auditory.)
Likely to arouse/maintain interest: 5
(It is fun to see the illustrations move and speak, and the program is
colorful.)
Likely to be comprehended clearly: 5 (sound
quality is very good)
Technical quality (durable, attractive):
5 (good illustrations)
Game: Winning dependent on player actions (rather
than chance): NA (no real "game" situations)
Simulation: Validity of game model (realistic,
accurate depiction): 5 (characters look like they are really talking)
Evidence of effectiveness (e.g. field-test results):
5 (My mother is a first grade teacher. She used this program in her
room and said that the children were fascinated with the "living book"
concept.)
Clear directions for play: 5 (Arthur takes
the player step by step though the directions and activities.)
Effectiveness of debriefing: 3 (The program
doesn't really wrap up the storybook very well.)
Strong Points: The game is colorful and
interesting. It would be very likely to maintain the interest of
young students, especially since they would be able to play in the story
and make things happen. The text is clearly read, and the words are
highlighted as they are read by the speaker. Elementary students
would benefit from this program because it seems that playing with this
interactive program would give them a fun way to become more interested
in literature. Students of Spanish as a foreign language would benefit
from this program by being able to hear proper pronunciation, while simultaneously
seeing the proper spellings and grammatical structures.
Weak Points: It
seems that this game would be much more effective as an educational tool
if it provided more opportunities for the player to check his or her comprehension.
For example, the game could have offered post reading exercises that tested
comprehension (i.e. fill in the blanks, matching, crossword puzzles etc.).
It appears that this particular program sets its players up to be passive
learners; they simply listen and watch. It is questionable whether
or not students would have actually learned a great deal of new knowledge
after playing with this program.
Reviewer: Cindy L. Stacy
Position: Student
Date: September 16, 1998
Computer System Reviewed on: Macintosh
PowerPC 6500/250, 32mb ram.