I was surprised to see that Carmen Sandiego is still worthy software for students in this technological age, considering it was popular when I was in elementary school 10 years ago....wow that's a long time.
Anyway, it was another Social Studies program that caught my eye this time: something newer and more complex. It is called Real Lives: Interactive Life Simulation. It is published by a company called Education Simulations and a brief description goes as follows: " [students learn about] The life experiences of individuals from different cultures and political systems and the economic opportunities, health issues, family issues, schooling and work choices that they face in their particular culture" (LearningVillage.com). The program is $25.00 for a downloaded version and $29.00 for the home edition, per the Educational Simulations website. There are also multi-packs of c.ds to be used in the classroom: 6pack for $149.00 and 30 pack for $699.00. For the Site License
(available for schools) : $1.00 per enrolled student in the school, minimum $250.
Basically, the program is set up to let students learn about life around the world through a character they create. It is so fine-tuned as to allow students to experience life through almost any country and culture in the world. Through their character, students can learn about religion, statistics, everyday life, poverty, etc. in that particular country. Then when the student is tired of that life or completes that character's life, they can move on to a new character and learn about that way of life. The program is made to encourage diversity and learning about geography and multicultural history for the students.
This program is geared toward Social Studies teachers and I am an English Major with a History Minor, so it would seem that this doesn't really apply to me in my classroom. First of all, I think this program could be used in just about any classroom to build understanding and diversity about other cultures. It just sounds like fun to be able to experiece some parts of life in other areas of the world. Secondly, I think I would like to use it in my English classroom as a way to teach my students about characterization and what goes into creating that fictional lead character. Also, I think the software would be helpful in educating students about life for future stories. The program seems solid and has many good reviews from teachers who have used it. It is very educational even from just a general viewpoint and I think it would useful in many, especially diverse, middle and high schools.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Back in the day...
Right now I sit in front of my flat-screen monitor, typing on a "blog" remembering the days when wireless internet hadn't been invented and when Apple computers were pretty much all you could get.
Wow. that seems like forever ago. Just yesterday, my cable internet went out at my house and literally I didn't know how to function without checking my email and wondering who was writing to me or about me or what information I was missing because I wasn't connected to the internet community. We are indeed a technology-based society.
My most enduring memory about technology in my younger years has to do with the program known as Accelerated Reader. In it, students read books from home or the library that were on the list of "AR" books. For the book to be "AR" there had to be a test purchased for it on the computers in the computer lab. Each test was appropriate for the grade level of the book. That is, the harder or older the book, the more difficult the test. As the difficulty rose so did the points the book was worth. That was the fun part: accumulating points. Those points were like money in my pocket. You could buy toys, pencils, pens, books, hats, shirts, whatever if you had enough points. Since I loved to read, this point system suited me perfectly. As long as you truly read the book the computerized tests were fairly easy and that meant lots of points for me.
Since the tests were computerized, it was easy to keep track of how many points you earned and what you had saved up. I spent many an hour in the computer lab taking the tests from the books I read. Once, during mystery month in the 5th grade, I exhausted the Nancy Drew section of the library in my effort to read the most mysteries. I was putting away a book every day and a half. Those points kept accumulating and I kept reading and taking tests.
I credit that program with increasing my desire to read and also for increasing my ability to comprehend the words I read. It also helped that taking Accelerated Reader tests was also required for a grade in English. That and the reward system made reading both necessary and rewarding for me as an elementary school student. Technology has advanced far past that program, which now seems somewhat ancient. I still agree with the philosophy behind it though: why not allow reading to be rewarding in more ways than just "it will make you a better student" or "you will be smarter for reading this". Accelerated reader worked for me: I am a lifelong reader and lover of books.
Wow. that seems like forever ago. Just yesterday, my cable internet went out at my house and literally I didn't know how to function without checking my email and wondering who was writing to me or about me or what information I was missing because I wasn't connected to the internet community. We are indeed a technology-based society.
My most enduring memory about technology in my younger years has to do with the program known as Accelerated Reader. In it, students read books from home or the library that were on the list of "AR" books. For the book to be "AR" there had to be a test purchased for it on the computers in the computer lab. Each test was appropriate for the grade level of the book. That is, the harder or older the book, the more difficult the test. As the difficulty rose so did the points the book was worth. That was the fun part: accumulating points. Those points were like money in my pocket. You could buy toys, pencils, pens, books, hats, shirts, whatever if you had enough points. Since I loved to read, this point system suited me perfectly. As long as you truly read the book the computerized tests were fairly easy and that meant lots of points for me.
Since the tests were computerized, it was easy to keep track of how many points you earned and what you had saved up. I spent many an hour in the computer lab taking the tests from the books I read. Once, during mystery month in the 5th grade, I exhausted the Nancy Drew section of the library in my effort to read the most mysteries. I was putting away a book every day and a half. Those points kept accumulating and I kept reading and taking tests.
I credit that program with increasing my desire to read and also for increasing my ability to comprehend the words I read. It also helped that taking Accelerated Reader tests was also required for a grade in English. That and the reward system made reading both necessary and rewarding for me as an elementary school student. Technology has advanced far past that program, which now seems somewhat ancient. I still agree with the philosophy behind it though: why not allow reading to be rewarding in more ways than just "it will make you a better student" or "you will be smarter for reading this". Accelerated reader worked for me: I am a lifelong reader and lover of books.
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