Title:
Travel the World with Timmy
Overall Rating:
A
Source: Internet http://www.edmark.com/prod/travel/download/
Playing Time: less then 5 minutes for
demo
Date: September 15,1998
Cost: $29.95 http://www.edmark.com/prod/travel/
Number of Players: 1 player for demo game
Special Equipment/Facilities Needed: CD
ROM, 8MB RAM, Hard disk with 3MB free
Subject Area: Spanish reading, comprehension,
and speaking skills
Objectives: Create a story in Spanish
and then listen and read it aloud.
Brief Description: Make a story in a foreign
language by clicking on different choices
Entry Capabilities Required: Age 2-7
Rating: (1-5)
Relevance to objectives: 5 (The child
gets to create a story, listen to what they have made, then read it)
Provides practice of relevant skills:
5 (the practice is for them to listen to the words and be able to discriminate
the sounds and rhythms, then be able to read what they've written)
Likely to arouse/maintain interest: 5
(This maintains the child's interest by involving them to create a story.
There is also colorful and bright graphics)
Likely to be comprehended clearly: 5 (While
creating the story the child has a choice of creating the sentence in English
then switching it to Spanish)
Technical quality (durable, attractive):
5 (There is a wide use of colors and graphics that grabs one's attention)
Game: Winning dependent on player actions (rather
than chance): 5 (Although this is not really
a game, the child has the satisfaction of creating their own story. The
winning variable,then, is dependent on the player's actions)
Simulation: Validity of game model (realistic,
accurate depiction): 5 (Uses cartoon images.
Depicts the culture and setting reality of Argentina in a fun way)
Evidence of effectiveness (e.g. field-test results):
5 (I only found a couple of reviews for this educational software. However
those reviews were positive. The main comments of the reviews were that
it was installed with no difficulty, the navigation was straight forward,
the scenes and characters were bright and colorful, and it was unhurried
learning and great activities for the appropriate age groups)
Clear directions for play:
5 (The instruction for making a story was clear and understandable)
Effectiveness of debriefing:
5 ( Effectiveness for debriefing was clear. First click on a character
to fill in the blank. Second, click the red dot to hear it read out loud.
Third, click the Argentina flag if you want to hear it in Spanish and or
click the United States flag if you wanted to hear it in English. Finally
fourth, click the arrow button to move to the next page of your story)
Strong Points: The strong
points of this game is that it was easy to install and motivational for
one to create their own story.
Weak Points: I thought
the weak points of this game was that the story was too short. It was only
3 or 4 pages long, but again I have to remember that it was a demo.
Reviewer: Amy Lubanski
Position: EDUC410 Student
Date: 2/22/00
Computer System Reviewed on: Macintosh
PowerPC 6500/250, 32mb ram.