THIS IS MY ASSIGNMENT
1. Identification of software: Title; What's For Dinner Thank- you! Explore the wonders of the Antarctic Food Chain, Publisher; Dataworks - Creative Educational Software, URL; http//www.dataworks.com.au , Animations by Hude,F. & Zaritski,G.
System requirements; 4 mb RAM, uses 16 mb HDD.
2. The cost of this software is $65.00. The educational worth of this package is extremely good value for money in consideration of the cost. The software is very user friendly and suitable for children between the ages of 5 to 12, this broad range opens the scope for an extensive amount of suitable study. The software was very easy to start up, with the prompt of 'research the dog', children will readily access the step by step function of this programme. The bold text of Click on anything that moves, made using the programme interesting and exciting to explore. When going onto a new page, you can click on anything that moves and receive additional information.
3. On the software the operating instructions are clearly stated on the outer box, explaining all functions of the program. The help system side of the software is provided by bold text stating 'click on anything that moves'. The advertising on the package box introduces the features wonderfully: Explore what eats what in the Antarctic; Find out where and how; Featuring Research the dog; Explore the creatures of the Antarctic with Research the dog; Beautifully designed and stimulating - with wonderful characters; Research hovers over the Antarctic; Research lands and discovers the main menu; Click on anyone of the creatures; Up pops the creature and today's menu; Click on anything that moves. The framework is set out clearly and is simple to follow, this software is not suitable to change the content. The structure of the program is brilliant for children to learn from and to gain knowledge by being immersed in the actual simulated environment.
4.Description of operation of software: after inserting the CD and starting the program, the full view of Antarctica is on the screen with Research the dog arriving ready to land, by clicking on the moving dog, will show him leaving his plane and landing on Antarctica; the next full screen image is the display of the entire menu on offer; click on any of the moving creatures and you will move to the next screen shot of that particular creature and see what they eat; click on a creature on the menu and you will see roleplay of nature at work; click on the original creature from the main menu and you will be shown the natural habitat of the creature; while still on this screen click on Research the dog and you will receive additional information of the creature, this information would be of great value for children's essay writing; on the screen you click on 'go back' this will take the user to the main menu ready to go through the whole food chain cycle again.
5.Observing children in level three and focussing on the mode of KITO in operations, I found that they could easily follow the step by step functions of the program. The children had a worksheet to guide them through the package and to keep them on track and focussed. The worksheet had a list of questions for the children to complete, these questions were easily answered. From this worksheet children continued onto further learning such as additional reading, an art activity and essay writing. I felt the students responded very positively to this highly stimulating piece of software. They found learning about the creatures of the Antarctic and the food chain exciting and interesting to follow through the program. Children followed all the operation functions quite easily, provided by the prompt of "click on anything that moves"