By: Harjit Bansal, Melissa Boodhan,

Angela Pysher and Faizah

DORA’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL SOFTWARE EVALUATION

1. CLASS WILL PLAY THE GAME FOR 3 MINUTES

2. FORM AND FUNCTION SECTION. 6 MINUTES. (ANGELA + FAIZAH)

3. DEVELOPMENTAL APPROPRIATENESS.2 MINUTES. (HARJIT)

4. PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION OF SOFTWARE. 2 MINUTES. (MELISSA)

AGENDA

FORM AND FUNCTION: HOW DOES IT WORK?

• IT IS INTENDED TO HELP CHILDREN ENHANCE THE CHILD’S COGNITIVE SKILLS, SOME PHYSICAL SKILLS AND SOCIAL SKILLS BY ENGAGING THE CHILD IN THIS SOTFWARE THAT ALLOWS THEM TO USE THEIR NUMERACEY AND PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS TO COMPLETE THE VARIOUS OBSTACLES.

• IT TEACHES THE CHILDREN NUMBERING, CLASSIFYING AND ADDING.

• HELPS CHILDREN TO TUNE THEIR FINE MOTOR SKILLS BY USING THE MOUSE AND THE CLICKER. AS WELL AS MASTERING HAND AND EYE CORDINATIONG

• IT HELPS TO ENHANCES THE CHILD’S LANGUAGE BY EXPOSING THEM TO A SECOND LANGUAGE (SPANISH)

• IT HELPS TO PREPARE THE CHILD FOR WHEN THEY ARE GETTING READY TO GO TO SCHOOL BY SHOWING THEM WHAT MATERIALS THEY WILL BE MANIPULATING WITH AND WHAT OTHER OBJECTS THEY MAY NEED.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS SOFTWARE?

http://www.nickjr.com/kids-ad-entry.html?url=/kids-games/doras-first-day-school.html

TIME TO PLAY!!!

• The game begins and Dora explains “push pay to start,” If you do not click play, Dora repeats herself after about ten seconds. When you hover over the Play button it says “play”

• It explains the story behind the game, and explains the problem in the first activity. They need more turtles to cross the lake.

• There is no button if you want to go back and re-hear the story.• Dora Explains “We have (3) turtles, but we need (6) ; then

tells you to click on the missing number of turtles. Three buttons then show up. When you hover about the buttons it reads you the number of turtles that are on the button.

• If you do not click on anything Dora repeats “click on the number of missing turtles” to remind the player what they need to do. There is no help button.

POSITIVE, FORMATIVE FEEDBACK AND

ACHIEVEMENT MEASURES?

• The first time you click on the wrong number it does nothing (still a form of feedback, telling them nothing happens when I click this)

• The second time you click on the wrong answer it says “we have (3) turtles, but we need (6) all together”, It shows the number that you need (6) on the screen, “click on the button with the number of missing turtles” it also shows you the shadows where the missing turtles are (3 shadows for 3 missing turtles).

• The third time you get it wrong Dora says “We have (3) turtles , we need (1,2,3) more, as she counts the shadows they light up “click on the button with the group of (4) turtles

• When you get it right Dora praises the child usually using a Spanish word.

• The first time you get it right dora counts the number of turtles as they light up in English. The numbers appear above the turtles.

• The 2nd time you get it right Dora counts the turtles in Spanish as the numbers pop up

• The map appears and reminds the player where they are going next

POSITIVE, FORMATIVE FEEDBACK AND

ACHIEVEMENT MEASURES?

• Dora explains the problem in the next activity and asks for help. Three piles of bananas pop up and Dora says “which pile has the most bananas, click on it?”

• Again if you do nothing Dora repeats herself after about ten seconds• When you click on the wrong thing the first time she says “try again, click

on the pile with the most bananas.”• The second time you get it wrong Dora says again “try again, click on the

pile with the most bananas” and then the number of bananas in each pile pop up above the piles

• When you get it wrong a third time she says “which pile has the most bananas click on it” and the correct pile lights up

• When you click on the right one she says “ci that is the pile with the most bananas”

• They repeat this three times, then another three times with nuts instead of bananas, this is good repetition

• Map reminds players where they are going

POSITIVE, FORMATIVE FEEDBACK AND

ACHIEVEMENT MEASURES?

• A school room comes up on the screen and Dora tells you if you see the object she is describing to click on it. She describes the pbject then says the Spanish word for it

• The first time you make a mistake she says “that’s not it listen again” and she gives the explanation and Spanish word again

• The second time Dora says opps were looking for , and repeats the description and Spanish word again

• The third time Dora says click on the (English word for the object for example, backpack) and then the item flashes.

• When you get it right it plays a sound and she says “Ci, then says the work in English then Spanish”

• “You found them all thanks for helping Boots and Tiqo get to school, we couldn’t have done it without you”

• “Click print to print a picture” – the printer button flashes in the corner

POSITIVE, FORMATIVE FEEDBACK AND

ACHIEVEMENT MEASURES?

• IT ALLOWS THE CHILD TO PRACTICE AND REVIEW BY GIVING THEM FEEDBACK BASED UPON THE CHOICES THAT THEY MAKE; THEY ARE FORCED TO REPEAT THE PREVIOUS ACTIVITY IN ORDER TO ADVANCE TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

- The player must help all three characters cross the lake, therefore the player is forced to repeat the activity three times before moving on

- In the second activity they are forced to repeat the activity six times, They must help Boots with his bananas three times, and then Tiquo with his nuts 3 times.

DOES IT PROVIDE OPPURTUNITIES FOR PRACTICE AND REVIEW?

• THIS SOFTWARE DOES NOT ALLOW THE CHILD CHOICES AND CONTROL OVER ON HOW TO COMPLETE EACH LEVEL BUT SHOWS THEM THREE OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FOR EACH QUESTION.

• THEY ARE MAKIGN THE CHILD FOLLOW THE PATHS GIVEN AND NOT ABLE TO PICK AND CHOSE WHICH PATH THEY WANT TO COMPLETE. THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SKIP ANY PATHS IF DIFFICULTIES ARE FOUND.

OFFER THE LEARNER CHOICE AND CONTROL?

• DOES NOT ALLOW FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION BETWEEN TWO CHILDREN. IT IS MORE OF A ONE ON ONE GAME WITH THE COMPUTER TO BETTER ENHANCE THE CHILD’S LEARNING.

• TO ENCOURAGE SOCIAL INTERACTION BETWEEN MORE THAN ONE CHILD; THE TEACHER COULD ALLOW THE CHILDREN TO PLAY IN PAIRS TO WORK TOGETHER ON THE OBSTACLES IN THE GAME.

SOCIAL INTERACTION?

DEVELOPMENTAL APPROPRIATENESS

Four years• “STACKS AT LEAST FIVE GRADUATED CUBES FROM THE

LARGEST TO SMALLEST; BUILDS A PYRAMID OF SIX BLOCKS” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.148).

• “DELIGHTS IN WORD PLAY, CREATING SILLY LANGUAGE” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.148).

• “UNDERSTANDS THE CONCEPTS OF ‘TALLEST’, ‘BIGGEST’, ‘SAME’ AND ‘MORE’; SELECTS THE PICTURE THAT HAS THE ‘MOST HOUSES’ OR THE ‘BIGGEST DOGS’” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.148).

• “ROTE COUNTS TO 20 OR MORE” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.148).

• “UNDERSTANDS THE SEQUENCE OF DAILY EVENTS: “WHEN WE GET UP IN THE MORNING, WE GET DRESSED, HAVE BREAKFAST, BRUSH OUR TEETH, AND GO TO SCHOOL”” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.148).

• “SHOWS PRIDE IN ACCOMPLISHMENTS, SEEKS FREQUENT APPROVAL” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.150).

WHO IS THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE

FOR? WHY?

• FIVE YEARS• UNDERSTANDS THE CONCEPTS OF SMALLEST AND SHORTEST; PLACES

OBJECTS IN ORDER FROM SHORTEST TO TALLEST, SMALLEST TO LARGEST (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).

• ROTE COUNTS TO 20 AND ABOVE; MANY CHILDREN CAN COUNT TO 100(ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).

• RECOGNIZES NUMERALS FROM 1 TO 10(ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).

• UNDERSTANDS THE CONCEPTS OF MORE/LESS THAN: “WHICH BOWL HAS LESS WATER” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).

• EAGER TO LEARN NEW THINGS(ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).

• USES FUNCTIONAL DEFINITIONS (A BALL IS TO BOUNCE; A BED IS TO SLEEP IN; A BOOK IS TO READ) (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).

WHO IS THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE

FOR? WHY?

• IT IS APPROPRIATELY CHALLENGING BECAUSE A 4 YEAR OLD IS LEARNING THE CONCEPTS OF TALLEST, BIGGEST., SAME AND MORE BY SELECTING WHICH SET OF BANANAS HAVE THE LEAST OR MOST IN THE PILES.

• ALLOWS FOR CHILDREN TO HAV FUN WHILE LEARNING NEW PHRASES IN SPANISH.

• CHILDREN ARE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE NUMERSALS FROM 1-10 WHILE PLAYING THE FIRST PART OF THE GAME WHICH INVOLVES CROSSING A STREAM BY STEPPING ON TURTLES.

APPROPRIATELY CHALLENGING?

• IT HAS APPROPRIATE MEDIA BECAUSE IT HAS CHILD RELATED GRAPHICS AND WORDS. IT IS COLORFUL AND EYE CATCHING FOR THE CHILDREN.

• IT HAS ALL THE DORA CHARACTERS THAT CHILDREN ARE FAMILARIZED WITH.

• ACTIVITIES RELATE TO THE SHOW WHICH THE CHILDREN HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF.

• DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE TO THEIR AGE GROUP BY PROVIDING ACTIVITIES THAT HELP WITH THEIR COUNTING, PROBLEM SOLVING, SORTING AND CLASSIFYING.

APPROPRIATE MEDIA AND ACTIVITIES?

PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION OF SOFTWARE

• THE SOFTWARE IS CONSISTENT WITH THE CURRICULUM. IT INCLUDED MATH, SCIENCE, CLASSIFICATION, LITERACY/LANGUAGE.

• IN THE GAME BOOTS AND DORA NEED TO REACH THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAKE. THEY DO THIS USING A MATH GAME. IT BASSICALLY ASKS THE CHILD HOW MANY MORE YOU NEED TO CROSS THE OTHER SIDE.

• IT IS A MATH EQUATION WITHOUT ACTUALLY GIVING AN EQUATION. IT USES LANGUAGE AND LITERACY BECAUSE THEY TEACH CHILDREN NUMBERS AND WORDS IN SPANISH.

• THE LEARNING OUTCOMES ARE CHILDREN LEARN TO ADD, CLASSIFY/SORT AND THEY LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LESS THAN AND MORE THAN, AND SOME SPANISH.

CONSISTENT WITH CURRICULUM AND

LEARNING OUTCOMES?

• IT HAS SMOOTH GRAPHICS • INCORPORATES AUDIO• THE GRAPHICS DO NOT BECOME POOR OVER THE

COURSE OF THE GAME.• IT DOES NOT LAGUE ( NO STALLING OR FREEZING)

HIGH QUALITY TECHNICIAL COMPONENTS?

• IT IS ENJOYABLE AND INTERESTING FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

CHILDREN KNOW AND LOVE DORA THIS GAME IS COLORFUL, HAS MUSIC, POSITIVE

FEED BACK CHILD WILL BE EASILY ENGAGED IN THIS GAME EASY TO UNDERSTAND FAVORITE CHARACTERS RELATES TO THE SHOW

ALL THE MATHEMATICALS SKILLS AND AN INTRODUCTION TO ANOTHER LANGUAGE IS PRESENTED IN A FUN AND INTERESTING WAY FOR THE CHILD TO LEARN.

IS IT ENJOYABLE AND INTERESTING?

• THIS GAME IS AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WITH ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.

• HERE IS THE PROCESS:• TYPE IN WWW.NICKJR.COM• CLICK ON DORA’S PICTURE• IT SHOULD TAKE YOU TO A NUMBER OF GAMES• FIND DORA’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL• CLICK AND PLAY• ENJOY

• THERE ARE NO BARRIERS UNLESS NO ACCESS TO INTERNET

ACCESSIBLE? ANY BARRIERS?

Over all the software has proven to be a developmentally appropriate game

for children the ages of 4 to 5. This software will teach or help enhance the child's mathematical skills, some physical and social skills. As well as introduce another language to the child in this case Spanish.

CONCLUSION

Allen, K.E & Marotz, L.R, (2010). Developmental Profiles: Pre-Birth through twelve (6thed.). Belmont, CA, USA:

Wadsworth, Cengage Learning

REFRENCES