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Your Educational Guide to Software, Electronic Toys, Video Games and Web Sites
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7/10/08 The July issue of CTR (pictured to the right) has shipped. BTW, this is our 100th issue. OMG. 6/21/2008 Never seen CTR? Take a free look at a recent (May '08) in PDF format. Start downloading the PDF.
6/16/2008 Don't miss So Young and So Gadgeted by CTR Editor Warren Buckleitner, in the June 12 issue of The New York Times. He applies a developmental framework (Piaget's) to things like Leapsters and cell phones. 6/14/2008 Debra Lieberman (Games for Health), Kathleen Kramer (Fisher-Price), Jim Gray (Leapfrog) and LEGO Universe manager Mark William Hansen will be speaking at Dust or Magic '08. Register online here. 6/6/2008 SKIP THE LOGIN PAGE! We are pleased to announce that you can now bypass our log in page, to offer your employees or patrons direct, one-click IP-based searching of our database, for prices as low as $150! More information. 5/11/2008 As promised, here's the demonstration of the LiveScribe -- a recording of Connie Yowell, Director of Education at the MacArthur Foundation during the Cooney Center event last friday. 5/8/2008 We just posted the May issue. Print subscribers, we start mailing tomorrow. You can watch a YouTube demo of Boom Blox. 5/6/2008 Like Taking Candy from a Baby: How Young Children Interact With Online Environments is now available from Consumer Reports WebWatch. Authored by CTR Editor Warren Buckleitner (a WebWatch advisor), the report combines ethnographic techniques with YouTube, to make the case that when it comes to young children's (ages 2-8) online content, we all need to take a close look at what's going on when a young child sits down with a browser. Download a PDF of the report here. 4/7/2008 Remembering Dith Pran
Little did we know that we should've been the ones taking pictures of him. As he left, he handed me a card with the URL www.dithpran.org. It was only then that we realized that we had just met the famous Cambodian refugee whose story was portrayed in the movie "The Killing Fields." That huge smile that had charmed us was the same that had convinced the Khmer Rouge soldiers to allow the New York Times reporters to help tell the world of the horrors that were going on in Cambodia from 1975-79, when 1.5 million people died. Dith Pran died last week of pancreatic cancer. But his joy of living, despite all that he had suffered in his life, is a reminder that we should not take our freedom for granted. In Dith Pran's words, when it comes to any form of genocide, "once is too many." 3/17/2008 Dora and her older cousin Diego are featured in a new line of games from 2Kplay. These, and 35 other new releases are covered in our March issue. 2/25/2008 We've discovered more titles that bend the definition of Educational Technology, once again. 1/2/2008 Get Children's Technology Review for less than one poorly selected Wii game -- just $30 for one year (12 issues, in PDF format, no database or back issue access). Order online or call 800-993-9499 (9-3:00 EST) 12/17/2007 The December issue has been sent to subscribers. Happy holidays, and we'll see you next year! 11/28/2007 Curious about Rock Band and some of the latest music titles? See the New York Times article by CTR Editor Warren Buckleitner: Your Rock and Roll Fantasy. 11/8/2007 Thanks to everyone who made Dust or Magic 2007 happen this year. For those of you who missed it, have a look at the wiki for notes, movies and brainsprints. 4.8.07 The study Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings from the First Student Cohort is important to read, as it is sure to become a reference point in discussions of the role computers can play in our classrooms. The key conclusion is "Test scores were not significantly higher in classrooms using selected reading and mathematics software products." Here's a few points to keep in mind: 1. They tested 15 products, but there is no listing of scores by product. So which ones are the best or the worst? That will come next year, when the part two is released. This will be more useful. 2. The scores didn't go down in the technology group. So another way to read the conclusion is that the technology solutions are equally as effective as the traditional methods. Which is easiest to implement and/or most affordable? 3. Standardized tests were used to measure the outcome. Is this the correct yardstick? Have a look at the study and make your own conclusions. We're familiar with most of the products that were used in the study. We're pleased that they are being tested (after all, we certainly test our students enough). We also feel that many of these products could use interactive techniques much better than they do. Very often, the content is less than interactive and rarely wanders from the multiple-choice format. WE CAN DO MUCH BETTER with the interactive curriculum being sold to our schools.
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Get Children's Technology Review monthly for $30/year. Subscribe online and download the current issue. Free editorial from June 2008 Editorial: So... you wanna be a game designer? In my recent travels to a variety of conferences such as ALA, NECC and IDC, I’ve met a growing number of people intent on making a “serious game.” PS. This marks the 100th issue of Children’s Technology Review! Thanks to our loyal subscribers, such as Dr. Lud Braun for making CTR possible. According to our subscriber records, Dr. Braun has been an active subscriber since our first issue, published in October of 1993. While the name has changed, our mission of “helping teachers & parents find software” has remained very much the same. CTR Editor’s Choice Selections, July 2008 ALPHABETICAL LISTING
JUNE 08 Editorial I was reminded by this incident this morning, when I crammed a Tag (page 15) in my jean’s pocket on the way to work. When I bent over to feed the cat, the thing turned on, spooking our poor kitty into the next room. All the way to work, my Tag kept going on... and off... then on.... then off (we have a standard transmission). Imagine, as Leapfrog hopes, 20 kids on a bus with Tags bumping around in their backpacks. You’d have a suicidal driver.. So here’s the suggestion for toy designers from the NASSBD (National Association of Sane School Bus Drivers). Make them easy to turn on or off, and then stay that way. Remember that children -- like standard transmissions -- are creatures of motion. They fidget, bump and they don’t put things away properly. If your product turns on accidentally, it erodes feelings of control, contributes to aspirin sales, and just may end up in a garbage bag, babbling away in yesterday’s mac and cheese. W. Buckleitner P.S. The next (July 2008) issue of CTR will be our 100th. We’re not really sure what we’ll do to mark this occasion other than to ... review some new products. But we’re open to suggestions. Enjoy this 99th issue! REVIEWS AND NEW RELEASES IN THIS ISSUE -- Babies & Toddlers Preschool & Kindergarten Early Elementary Upper Elementary Middle School High School All Ages Schools About Children's Technology Review
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Children's Technology Review (CTR) is an ad-free, subscriber-supported web and print-based publication. It is designed to keep educators, parents and librarians informed on commercial interactive media products designed for children, aged birth- to 15-years. These are the products that children use for both fun and learning, either at home and/or at school. They include software, video games, interactive toys, web sites that a child might visit, and so on. From a theoretical perspective, CTR exists in the space between child development and interactive media. The Children's Software Finder(TM), our database of more than 7,300 reviews, has become a critical step in our core subscribers' purchasing-making decisions. |
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