Artifact 6

Context:
The software evaluation was created in the Curriculum and Instruction class in the fall of 2000 at Appalachian State University. The evaluation was done in a small group.

Impact:
Madeline: European Adventure is a piece of software for first to third graders that will help to teach Social Studies concepts such as geography, and about different cultures. This software also teaches math, spelling, and problem solving skills to the students. Also, Madeline talks in both English and French, so if there was a student in the class that spoke French, the software could be used not only in teaching of subjects such as math and social studies, but in reinforcing the English language by associating it with what they know.

Alignment:
In doing the software evaluation, we picked a certain grade level that we were interested in and tried to locate a piece of software for that specific grade. In looking at the software we had to decided how/if the software would be appropriate for our age group and how it would fit into the Standard Course of Study (Technology Competency 10.6). In using the software, the students would be able to get more information on topics such as math and spelling that are done in class. Also, it would help in communicating ideas that are being taught in the class to students that speak a different language, specifically French (Technology Competency 11.1 and Technology Competency 13.3). Madeline: European Adventure is specifically for Social Studies due to the traveling and concepts, such as geography and cultural differences, which are taught in the software (Technology Competency 11.3). The software also allows students of all the different levels to participate in the activities since the student can take as much time as needed to move from one place to the next (Technology Competency 13.1). Not only does the software meet the needs of the diverse group of students in the class, it gives a different approach to learning about a school subject by using technology (INTASC Standard 3).