TouchWindow
Edmark
This input device can be used as a touch screen or keyboard substitute. It attaches to the computer monitor, and interacts with most popular software titles. Once installed, users use the included stylus (or a finger) to select and move objects, open applications and pull down menus. Not only does it provide a satisfactory option for those who have difficulty using a mouse, it also performs well with art programs where mouse use can be difficult . Students can remove the window and place it on a flat surface to draw or trace pictures.The TouchWindow allows developmentally delayed students, and young students who are not yet able to master the mouse, to more fully benefit from educational software programs. Students can interact in a more satisfactory manner with the computer, spending less time on task completion and experiencing less performance-related stress.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Jumpstart Phonics
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/vincent-playing-jump-start-phonics/34052875142f899b0d2e34052875142f899b0d2e-1583293923513
This early reading software features Read 'n' Respond speech recognition technology and is designed to help strengthen reading skills and at the same time, build verbal aptitude. The focus is on letter sounds, and this title does an excellent job at introducing and reinforcing these important phonemes.
The setting is Camp Readalot where familiar JumpStart characters host the activities. Kids first pick up their virtual walkie-talkie and meet up with Frankie the Dog at the Camp Headquarters. There are 3 difficulty levels, and JumpStart Adaptive Learning Technology automatically adapts these levels according to a child's performance in any given activity:
-Level One focuses on pre-reading skills such as letter recognition and letter sounds.
-Level Two reinforces letter, word, and sound relationships
-Level Three contains activities that are more advanced and involve word building, story sentence completion, and more.
A wonderful option involves playing the game either with a traditional mouse interface or by using a microphone and voice commands. Voice recognition technology can be tricky at times, and some kids can get frustrated when they are saying the correct thing, but the software is simply not recognizing it.
Children periodically earn merit badges when playing the activities. Note that each activity area includes an exploratory activity as well as a more focused one:
- Children can explore letters and sounds with Keisha Koala by clicking on letters of the alphabet on the leaves of a tree. As each letter is selected one of approximately 6 different words associated with each letter will fall down, and kids watch as 2 squirrels scramble to catch these pictures in their basket. The Totem Pole Game involves selecting 3 items (letters or pics) from 5 that contain a given sound or blend. Players may be asked to find letters that say "hhhh" (level 1); kids may need to find pictures of words that start with "sl" (level 2); kids work with blends and digraphs (level 3).
-Casey the Cat invites kids to create 3-letter words by clicking on a choice of letters on turtles, spelling a word one letter at a time. Kids are guaranteed to create a real word! The River Round-up Game involves guiding the raft to catch turtles that either match a given letter (level 1), complete a word (level 2), or that spell a given word (level 3).
-Pierre the Bear allows kids to explore the sounds that vowels make by clicking on each letter-shaped vowel flower bed. The Bees Game involves collecting honey from the beehives while learning about vowel sounds. Kids must determine which vowel makes the given sounds (level 1), work with long and short vowels (level 2), and learn about vowel teams ("ee") (level 3).
-Cecil the Mouse's activity area focuses on rhyming. Players simply select one of a group of colorful fish to hear rhymes. The Shipwreck Rhymes Game has children deciding whether 2 given words rhyme (level 1), or selecting words that rhyme with the given words in a multiple choice format (levels 2 & 3).
-Eleanor Elephant asks players to click on (or say) 2 objects (such as a turtle and a rainbow), and she will tell a story about those objects! The sentences appear on a log and words are highlighted as they are read. In the Storybook Cave Game, kids hear a short story then select the bat that correctly answers a question. Kids might be asked to find a given letter (level 1), and determine story context clues by completing sentences (levels 2 & 3).
A toolbar is available at the bottom of the screen which makes navigation very easy. Kids were never confused about how to exit an activity or how to go back to a previous screen. A whistle icon is always available when kids need more explanations, and levels can be adjusted within each activity. The book icon on the toolbar leads to a form of a tutorial — for example, clicking on this book during a letter recognition activity will prompt an interactive mini-lesson from Frankie that helps kids get more familiar with letter sounds. This icon also leads to a progress report.
The lessons are excellent and fun. Kid testers couldn't stop playing these activities and actually learned a great deal in a rather short time period. Letter sounds are emphasized throughout the program, helping to reinforce them. There is sufficient range in difficulty levels so that three testers (aged 3, 5, and 6) each found a lot to do, learned new skills, reinforced old ones, and were gently challenged.
Minimum requirements are Windows 95/98, a Pentium 100, 16 Mb RAM (32Mb recommended), and 4X CD ROM. Mac users require a Power Mac with 32 Mb RAM, System 7.5.3 or higher, and at least 4X CD ROM. A microphone is recommended to take advantage of the program's use of voice recognition technology, but optional.
The game features gorgeous cartoon-style graphics.
Skills Covered
letter recognition, letter sounds, rhyming words, blends and digraphs, vowel sounds -long and short, vowel teams, spelling, story context clues, beginning consonants, ending consonants, word recognition, word building, sentence building
Educational Value
Children will actually learn quite a few skills from playing this program. The activities are not monotonous as many learn-to-read exercises can be, and letter sounds are reinforced at every twist and turn in the game, helping to make learning automatic. There is an excellent balance of exploratory and directed activities.
Entertainment Value
JumpStart titles are almost always entertaining, and this program is no exception. The songs (that can be played in an audio CD player as well) and characters are lively, and the activities are original.
Design
Children should have no problem navigating this program — it features clear and explicit instructions as well as obvious navigational icons and arrows. Adaptive Learning Technology minimizes frustration by automatically adjusting the difficulty levels according to a child's performance. Because voice recognition technology is imperfect, some children might get frustrated when the program does not accept a correct answer. However, this actually helps to motivate children to speak more clearly. As well, the program can be played quite successfully with a traditional mouse interface.
Replayability
The appeal of using a microphone and interacting with JumpStart characters will bring kids back again and again. Even when played without the voice recognition feature, there is enough content and motivating activities to keep children interested.
Dollar Value
The suggested retail price is only $20 US. This represents excellent value. Note that JumpStart Phonics Learning System (review coming shortly) contains this program as well as 3 JumpStart Learning Games software programs, 2 adorable early learning videos, a microphone, and 3 workbooks, and retails for $60-70 US.
With voice recognition technology and outstanding educational activities, this program is a must-buy for parents of children just starting to read. There is an excellent balance of exploratory and directed activities, fun songs, lively characters, and a wide range of pre-reading and early reading skills covered.
This early reading software features Read 'n' Respond speech recognition technology and is designed to help strengthen reading skills and at the same time, build verbal aptitude. The focus is on letter sounds, and this title does an excellent job at introducing and reinforcing these important phonemes.
The setting is Camp Readalot where familiar JumpStart characters host the activities. Kids first pick up their virtual walkie-talkie and meet up with Frankie the Dog at the Camp Headquarters. There are 3 difficulty levels, and JumpStart Adaptive Learning Technology automatically adapts these levels according to a child's performance in any given activity:
-Level One focuses on pre-reading skills such as letter recognition and letter sounds.
-Level Two reinforces letter, word, and sound relationships
-Level Three contains activities that are more advanced and involve word building, story sentence completion, and more.
A wonderful option involves playing the game either with a traditional mouse interface or by using a microphone and voice commands. Voice recognition technology can be tricky at times, and some kids can get frustrated when they are saying the correct thing, but the software is simply not recognizing it.
Children periodically earn merit badges when playing the activities. Note that each activity area includes an exploratory activity as well as a more focused one:
- Children can explore letters and sounds with Keisha Koala by clicking on letters of the alphabet on the leaves of a tree. As each letter is selected one of approximately 6 different words associated with each letter will fall down, and kids watch as 2 squirrels scramble to catch these pictures in their basket. The Totem Pole Game involves selecting 3 items (letters or pics) from 5 that contain a given sound or blend. Players may be asked to find letters that say "hhhh" (level 1); kids may need to find pictures of words that start with "sl" (level 2); kids work with blends and digraphs (level 3).
-Casey the Cat invites kids to create 3-letter words by clicking on a choice of letters on turtles, spelling a word one letter at a time. Kids are guaranteed to create a real word! The River Round-up Game involves guiding the raft to catch turtles that either match a given letter (level 1), complete a word (level 2), or that spell a given word (level 3).
-Pierre the Bear allows kids to explore the sounds that vowels make by clicking on each letter-shaped vowel flower bed. The Bees Game involves collecting honey from the beehives while learning about vowel sounds. Kids must determine which vowel makes the given sounds (level 1), work with long and short vowels (level 2), and learn about vowel teams ("ee") (level 3).
-Cecil the Mouse's activity area focuses on rhyming. Players simply select one of a group of colorful fish to hear rhymes. The Shipwreck Rhymes Game has children deciding whether 2 given words rhyme (level 1), or selecting words that rhyme with the given words in a multiple choice format (levels 2 & 3).
-Eleanor Elephant asks players to click on (or say) 2 objects (such as a turtle and a rainbow), and she will tell a story about those objects! The sentences appear on a log and words are highlighted as they are read. In the Storybook Cave Game, kids hear a short story then select the bat that correctly answers a question. Kids might be asked to find a given letter (level 1), and determine story context clues by completing sentences (levels 2 & 3).
A toolbar is available at the bottom of the screen which makes navigation very easy. Kids were never confused about how to exit an activity or how to go back to a previous screen. A whistle icon is always available when kids need more explanations, and levels can be adjusted within each activity. The book icon on the toolbar leads to a form of a tutorial — for example, clicking on this book during a letter recognition activity will prompt an interactive mini-lesson from Frankie that helps kids get more familiar with letter sounds. This icon also leads to a progress report.
The lessons are excellent and fun. Kid testers couldn't stop playing these activities and actually learned a great deal in a rather short time period. Letter sounds are emphasized throughout the program, helping to reinforce them. There is sufficient range in difficulty levels so that three testers (aged 3, 5, and 6) each found a lot to do, learned new skills, reinforced old ones, and were gently challenged.
Minimum requirements are Windows 95/98, a Pentium 100, 16 Mb RAM (32Mb recommended), and 4X CD ROM. Mac users require a Power Mac with 32 Mb RAM, System 7.5.3 or higher, and at least 4X CD ROM. A microphone is recommended to take advantage of the program's use of voice recognition technology, but optional.
The game features gorgeous cartoon-style graphics.
Skills Covered
letter recognition, letter sounds, rhyming words, blends and digraphs, vowel sounds -long and short, vowel teams, spelling, story context clues, beginning consonants, ending consonants, word recognition, word building, sentence building
Educational Value
Children will actually learn quite a few skills from playing this program. The activities are not monotonous as many learn-to-read exercises can be, and letter sounds are reinforced at every twist and turn in the game, helping to make learning automatic. There is an excellent balance of exploratory and directed activities.
Entertainment Value
JumpStart titles are almost always entertaining, and this program is no exception. The songs (that can be played in an audio CD player as well) and characters are lively, and the activities are original.
Design
Children should have no problem navigating this program — it features clear and explicit instructions as well as obvious navigational icons and arrows. Adaptive Learning Technology minimizes frustration by automatically adjusting the difficulty levels according to a child's performance. Because voice recognition technology is imperfect, some children might get frustrated when the program does not accept a correct answer. However, this actually helps to motivate children to speak more clearly. As well, the program can be played quite successfully with a traditional mouse interface.
Replayability
The appeal of using a microphone and interacting with JumpStart characters will bring kids back again and again. Even when played without the voice recognition feature, there is enough content and motivating activities to keep children interested.
Dollar Value
The suggested retail price is only $20 US. This represents excellent value. Note that JumpStart Phonics Learning System (review coming shortly) contains this program as well as 3 JumpStart Learning Games software programs, 2 adorable early learning videos, a microphone, and 3 workbooks, and retails for $60-70 US.
With voice recognition technology and outstanding educational activities, this program is a must-buy for parents of children just starting to read. There is an excellent balance of exploratory and directed activities, fun songs, lively characters, and a wide range of pre-reading and early reading skills covered.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Baby WOW
BabyWow! is a unique computer program for babies 3 months to 3 years, because it uses real photography instead of cartoon-style or drawn images.Recent studies of the brain have shown just how important the first few years of a person's life really are. BabyWow! is a product with the latest brain research in mind and helps to expose babies and toddlers to lots of images, vocabulary words, foreign languages, and concepts. All of these things have been touted as very important in the development of intelligence in children.
Babies and toddlers only need to tap any key on the keyboard or click the mouse randomly to get a reaction from the computer. A simple, but very powerful, theme of this software program is that any input from a child produces a reaction and never will something happen without that input! In other baby/toddler software, animations or music can start up on their own.
BabyWow! employs 8 different languages, each with its own distinct option. Parents can easily choose a language from the menu. Included are English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese, Italian and Portuguese. This is great not only for bilingual families, but also for parents who recognize the benefits of exposing young children to a variety of sounds and phonemes from foreign languages.
Skills covered are cause and effect, vocabulary, foreign language exposure, visual memory, language, object permanency, colours, numerals, numerals attached to their quantities, counting, shape recognition, far/near concept, in/out concept, up/down, left/right, front/behind concepts. The program is strongest in vocabulary and foreign language exposure, two factors that have been shown to increase IQ.
http://www.love2success.co.cc/
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Practicum
Cannot wait to see what the rest of this semester holds.
Love my teacher she is very straight forward and to the point
Love my teacher she is very straight forward and to the point
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
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