Below you will find three software programs and three web sites that I
have analyzed for my project (The Millennium Museum). I used the
following evaluation checklists to help me consider the usefulness of the
tools for my students.
Time Travelers CD
Publisher: New Media Schoolhouse
Mac platform used
Objectives: This CD covers a time period from 4,000 BC to the present. It includes text, photos, maps, speeches, and video clips from the different time periods. It is an excellent resource for schools and libraries.
Reading Level: Grades 5 and up
Ease of Use: Extremely easy to follow and obtain information from any time period.
Instructional Use: Valuable research tool, especially for my project of looking back 1,000 years in time.
Strengths: The program is divided into five regions each with three significant events in history, culture, and innovation. The help feature is very useful and it has a search option if you are looking for a particular topic.
Overall Rating on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 the lowest) - 5
Encarta '97 Deluxe
Publisher: Microsoft
Mac platform used
Objectives: This CD provides access to detailed information in a comprehensive multimedia format. It is an excellent resource for students researching any topic.
Reading Level: Grades 5 and up
Ease of Use: It was very easy to load, but navigating around the different features became confusing at times. I will need to show the students where to look for the information they will need in their project.
Instructional Use: Valuable research tool, which is filled with an abundance of information.
Strengths: The program is great for my project because you can specify a time period you need information on. It also has a help feature that allows the user to enter in the type of information that you need.
Weaknesses: There are so many options to look at, it may be confusing to a student who is being introduced to it for the first time.
Overall Rating on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 the lowest) - 4
Time Magazine Almanac
Publisher: SoftKey
Mac platform used
Objectives: This CD covers a time period from the 1900's to the present. It includes text, photos, maps, speeches, and video clips from the different decades. It is an excellent resource for schools and libraries.
Reading Level: Grades 5 and up
Ease of Use: Extremely easy to install and navigate around the program.
Instructional Use: Great research tool for students looking for information on the 20th century
Strengths: The program is filled with great information, pictures, and videos from each decade of the last century. The menu is easy to understand and follow for students who are researching the last 100 years.
Weaknesses: It only covers the 20th century and my project involves the last 1,000 years.
Overall Rating on a scale from 1
to 5 (1 the lowest) - 4
I analyzed the following web sites for my Millennium Museum Project. The intended audience is gifted students in grades three through eight. I wanted the students to be able to locate information about a specific time period of the last millennium. The following three web sites all received high ratings from me. I rated the web sites on speed, general appearance, ease of navigation, content, and information. Below each web site is a brief description of its contents.
This web site allows students to type in a time frame and locate information. After typing in the time period in the search option, a list of related articles appear. The students need to filter through the results to find the relevant information. It has some interactive videos, however the site is mostly text based.
This web site is set up as a virtual tour of the last 1,000 years. The site is cosponsored by The History Channel. Each time period contains three pages of information. The students will need to look through all of the pages to see if the information presented is relevant to them.
This site offers a large timeline (over 1,600 files covering 3,000 years) to the students where they can click on different areas and learn more information about that topic. It is all text based, which may not stimulate some children. The web site is recommended by The Discovery Channel School and The History Channel.