Re: suggestion for needed work.

["Ian Bicking" <bickiia@earlham.edu>]

> > I have found a resonable amount of software that is apropriate for 3,4,5,
> > but have found almost nothing for K,1,2.
> 
> One of the problems I'm finding myself in is that I'm not really aware of
> what software is currently in use for lower grade levels (K,1,2). When I
> was in those grade levels, I don't think we had a lab of computers yet or
> if we did it was mostly being used by higher grade levels.
> 
> What sort of software is currently being used in K,1,2 regularly?

Roman had a bunch of ideas of programs that he listed in an email 
a while back:

http://www.seul.org/archives/seul/edu/Jul-1999/msg00065.html

A number of them would be good with younger kids, I think.

I haven't had much experience with younger grades, but there 
doesn't seem to be much expectation for particular results or 
productivity -- those are relaxed years in a lot of ways.  They play 
games, do some drawing, and that sort of thing.  Probably just 
getting used to computers is the biggest thing.  Which is exactly 
why most of the stuff they use is *really* dumb, because they have 
these cutesy interfaces that aren't similar to what computers 
normally look like.  The interface needs to be aware of their lack of 
coordination, but a lot of the stuff actually makes things *harder* for 
kids to use.  But, enough ranting.  A lot of the accessibility options 
are exactly what kids need too... sticky modifier keys, extra-long 
double-click times, etc.

One game I remember, which seemed fairly popular, was a finding 
game.  There were a number of pictures where the child had to find 
an object in the picture.  Like a green beetle in a picture full of 
insects, that sort of thing.  Very visually attractive, though I can't 
remember the name of it.  Another part of the game was sorting, 
kind of a Venne <sp?> diagram sort of thing -- like toys and 
vehicles (and a trike is a toy and a vehicle).

There was no reading necessary, and it was all pretty self-evident 
how it worked.  For instance, the sorting didn't say "toys" in one 
circle -- some of the objects started out sorted, and the child had 
to notice they were all toys.



--
Ian Bicking <bickiia@earlham.edu>