1. DORA’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
SOFTWARE EVALUATION
By: Harjit Bansal, Melissa Boodhan,
Angela Pysher and Faizah
2. AGENDA
1. CLASS WILL PLAY THE GAME FOR 3 MINUTES
2. FORM AND FUNCTION SECTION. 6 MINUTES. (ANGELA +
FAIZAH)
3. DEVELOPMENTAL APPROPRIATENESS.2 MINUTES. (HARJIT)
4. PROFESSIONAL APPLICATION OF SOFTWARE. 2 MINUTES.
(MELISSA)
4. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS
SOFTWARE?
• IT IS INTENDED TO HELP CHILDREN ENHANCE THE CHILD‟S
COGNITIVE SKILLS, SOME PHYSICAL SKILLS AND SOCIAL SKILLS BY
ENGAGING THE CHILD IN THIS SOTFWARE THAT ALLOWS THEM TO USE
THEIR NUMERACEY AND PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS TO COMPLETE THE
VARIOUS OBSTACLES.
• IT TEACHES THE CHILDREN NUMBERING, CLASSIFYING AND ADDING.
• HELPS CHILDREN TO TUNE THEIR FINE MOTOR SKILLS BY USING THE
MOUSE AND THE CLICKER. AS WELL AS MASTERING HAND AND EYE
CORDINATIONG
• IT HELPS TO ENHANCES THE CHILD‟S LANGUAGE BY EXPOSING THEM
TO A SECOND LANGUAGE (SPANISH)
• IT HELPS TO PREPARE THE CHILD FOR WHEN THEY ARE GETTING
READY TO GO TO SCHOOL BY SHOWING THEM WHAT MATERIALS THEY
WILL BE MANIPULATING WITH AND WHAT OTHER OBJECTS THEY MAY
NEED.
6. POSITIVE, FORMATIVE FEEDBACK
AND ACHIEVEMENT MEASURES?
• The game begins and Dora explains “push pay to start,” If you do not
click play, Dora repeats herself after about ten seconds. When you hover
over the Play button it says “play”
• It explains the story behind the game, and explains the problem in the first
activity. They need more turtles to cross the lake.
• There is no button if you want to go back and re-hear the story.
• Dora Explains “We have (3) turtles, but we need (6) ; then tells you to
click on the missing number of turtles. Three buttons then show up. When
you hover about the buttons it reads you the number of turtles that are on
the button.
• If you do not click on anything Dora repeats “click on the number of
missing turtles” to remind the player what they need to do. There is no
help button.
7. POSITIVE, FORMATIVE FEEDBACK
AND ACHIEVEMENT MEASURES?
• The first time you click on the wrong number it does nothing (still a form of
feedback, telling them nothing happens when I click this)
• The second time you click on the wrong answer it says “we have (3)
turtles, but we need (6) all together”, It shows the number that you need (6)
on the screen, “click on the button with the number of missing turtles” it also
shows you the shadows where the missing turtles are (3 shadows for 3 missing
turtles).
• The third time you get it wrong Dora says “We have (3) turtles , we need
(1,2,3) more, as she counts the shadows they light up “click on the button with
the group of (4) turtles
• When you get it right Dora praises the child usually using a Spanish word.
• The first time you get it right dora counts the number of turtles as they light
up in English. The numbers appear above the turtles.
• The 2nd time you get it right Dora counts the turtles in Spanish as the numbers
pop up
• The map appears and reminds the player where they are going next
8. POSITIVE, FORMATIVE FEEDBACK
AND ACHIEVEMENT MEASURES?
• Dora explains the problem in the next activity and asks for help. Three piles of
bananas pop up and Dora says “which pile has the most bananas, click on it?”
• Again if you do nothing Dora repeats herself after about ten seconds
• When you click on the wrong thing the first time she says “try again, click on the pile
with the most bananas.”
• The second time you get it wrong Dora says again “try again, click on the pile with the
most bananas” and then the number of bananas in each pile pop up above the piles
• When you get it wrong a third time she says “which pile has the most bananas click on
it” and the correct pile lights up
• When you click on the right one she says “ci that is the pile with the most bananas”
• They repeat this three times, then another three times with nuts instead of
bananas, this is good repetition
• Map reminds players where they are going
9. POSITIVE, FORMATIVE FEEDBACK
AND ACHIEVEMENT MEASURES?
• A school room comes up on the screen and Dora tells you if you see the
object she is describing to click on it. She describes the pbject then says the
Spanish word for it
• The first time you make a mistake she says “that‟s not it listen again” and she
gives the explanation and Spanish word again
• The second time Dora says opps were looking for , and repeats the description
and Spanish word again
• The third time Dora says click on the (English word for the object for
example, backpack) and then the item flashes.
• When you get it right it plays a sound and she says “Ci, then says the work in
English then Spanish”
• “You found them all thanks for helping Boots and Tiqo get to school, we
couldn‟t have done it without you”
• “Click print to print a picture” – the printer button flashes in the corner
10. DOES IT PROVIDE OPPURTUNITIES
FOR PRACTICE AND REVIEW?
• IT ALLOWS THE CHILD TO PRACTICE AND REVIEW BY GIVING
THEM FEEDBACK BASED UPON THE CHOICES THAT THEY
MAKE; THEY ARE FORCED TO REPEAT THE PREVIOUS
ACTIVITY IN ORDER TO ADVANCE TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
- The player must help all three characters cross the lake, therefore the player is
forced to repeat the activity three times before moving on
- In the second activity they are forced to repeat the activity six times, They
must help Boots with his bananas three times, and then Tiquo with his nuts 3
times.
11. OFFER THE LEARNER CHOICE
AND CONTROL?
• THIS SOFTWARE DOES NOT ALLOW THE CHILD CHOICES AND
CONTROL OVER ON HOW TO COMPLETE EACH LEVEL BUT
SHOWS THEM THREE OPTIONS TO CHOOSE FOR EACH
QUESTION.
• THEY ARE MAKIGN THE CHILD FOLLOW THE PATHS GIVEN
AND NOT ABLE TO PICK AND CHOSE WHICH PATH THEY
WANT TO COMPLETE. THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SKIP ANY
PATHS IF DIFFICULTIES ARE FOUND.
12. SOCIAL INTERACTION?
• DOES NOT ALLOW FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION BETWEEN TWO
CHILDREN. IT IS MORE OF A ONE ON ONE GAME WITH THE
COMPUTER TO BETTER ENHANCE THE CHILD‟S LEARNING.
• TO ENCOURAGE SOCIAL INTERACTION BETWEEN MORE
THAN ONE CHILD; THE TEACHER COULD ALLOW THE
CHILDREN TO PLAY IN PAIRS TO WORK TOGETHER ON THE
OBSTACLES IN THE GAME.
14. WHO IS THE SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE
FOR? WHY?
Four years
• “STACKS AT LEAST FIVE GRADUATED CUBES FROM THE LARGEST TO
SMALLEST; BUILDS A PYRAMID OF SIX BLOCKS” (ALLEN &
MAROTZ, 2010, P.148).
• “DELIGHTS IN WORD PLAY, CREATING SILLY LANGUAGE” (ALLEN &
MAROTZ, 2010, P.148).
• “UNDERSTANDS THE CONCEPTS OF „TALLEST‟, „BIGGEST‟, „SAME‟
AND „MORE‟; SELECTS THE PICTURE THAT HAS THE „MOST HOUSES‟
OR THE „BIGGEST DOGS‟” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.148).
• “ROTE COUNTS TO 20 OR MORE” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.148).
• “UNDERSTANDS THE SEQUENCE OF DAILY EVENTS: “WHEN WE GET
UP IN THE MORNING, WE GET DRESSED, HAVE BREAKFAST, BRUSH
OUR TEETH, AND GO TO SCHOOL”” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.148).
• “SHOWS PRIDE IN ACCOMPLISHMENTS, SEEKS FREQUENT
APPROVAL” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.150).
15. WHO IS THE SOFTWARE
DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE
FOR? WHY?
• FIVE YEARS
• UNDERSTANDS THE CONCEPTS OF SMALLEST AND SHORTEST; PLACES
OBJECTS IN ORDER FROM SHORTEST TO TALLEST, SMALLEST TO LARGEST
(ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).
• ROTE COUNTS TO 20 AND ABOVE; MANY CHILDREN CAN COUNT TO
100(ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).
• RECOGNIZES NUMERALS FROM 1 TO 10(ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).
• UNDERSTANDS THE CONCEPTS OF MORE/LESS THAN: “WHICH BOWL HAS
LESS WATER” (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).
• EAGER TO LEARN NEW THINGS(ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).
• USES FUNCTIONAL DEFINITIONS (A BALL IS TO BOUNCE; A BED IS TO SLEEP
IN; A BOOK IS TO READ) (ALLEN & MAROTZ, 2010, P.156).
16. APPROPRIATELY CHALLENGING?
• IT IS APPROPRIATELY CHALLENGING BECAUSE A 4 YEAR OLD
IS LEARNING THE CONCEPTS OF TALLEST, BIGGEST., SAME
AND MORE BY SELECTING WHICH SET OF BANANAS HAVE
THE LEAST OR MOST IN THE PILES.
• ALLOWS FOR CHILDREN TO HAV FUN WHILE LEARNING NEW
PHRASES IN SPANISH.
• CHILDREN ARE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE NUMERSALS FROM 1-10
WHILE PLAYING THE FIRST PART OF THE GAME WHICH
INVOLVES CROSSING A STREAM BY STEPPING ON TURTLES.
17. APPROPRIATE MEDIA AND
ACTIVITIES?
• IT HAS APPROPRIATE MEDIA BECAUSE IT HAS CHILD
RELATED GRAPHICS AND WORDS. IT IS COLORFUL AND EYE
CATCHING FOR THE CHILDREN.
• IT HAS ALL THE DORA CHARACTERS THAT CHILDREN ARE
FAMILARIZED WITH.
• ACTIVITIES RELATE TO THE SHOW WHICH THE CHILDREN
HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF.
• DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE TO THEIR AGE GROUP BY
PROVIDING ACTIVITIES THAT HELP WITH THEIR
COUNTING, PROBLEM SOLVING, SORTING AND CLASSIFYING.
19. CONSISTENT WITH CURRICULUM
AND LEARNING OUTCOMES?
• THE SOFTWARE IS CONSISTENT WITH THE CURRICULUM. IT
INCLUDED
MATH, SCIENCE, CLASSIFICATION, LITERACY/LANGUAGE.
• IN THE GAME BOOTS AND DORA NEED TO REACH THE
OTHER SIDE OF THE LAKE. THEY DO THIS USING A MATH
GAME. IT BASSICALLY ASKS THE CHILD HOW MANY MORE
YOU NEED TO CROSS THE OTHER SIDE.
• IT IS A MATH EQUATION WITHOUT ACTUALLY GIVING AN
EQUATION. IT USES LANGUAGE AND LITERACY BECAUSE
THEY TEACH CHILDREN NUMBERS AND WORDS IN SPANISH.
• THE LEARNING OUTCOMES ARE CHILDREN LEARN TO
ADD, CLASSIFY/SORT AND THEY LEARN THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN LESS THAN AND MORE THAN, AND SOME SPANISH.
20. HIGH QUALITY TECHNICIAL
COMPONENTS?
• IT HAS SMOOTH GRAPHICS
• INCORPORATES AUDIO
• THE GRAPHICS DO NOT BECOME POOR OVER THE COURSE
OF THE GAME.
• IT DOES NOT LAGUE ( NO STALLING OR FREEZING)
21. IS IT ENJOYABLE AND
INTERESTING?
• IT IS ENJOYABLE AND INTERESTING FOR THE FOLLOWING
REASONS:
CHILDREN KNOW AND LOVE DORA
THIS GAME IS COLORFUL, HAS MUSIC, POSITIVE FEED BACK
CHILD WILL BE EASILY ENGAGED IN THIS GAME
EASY TO UNDERSTAND
FAVORITE CHARACTERS
RELATES TO THE SHOW
ALL THE MATHEMATICALS SKILLS AND AN INTRODUCTION TO
ANOTHER LANGUAGE IS PRESENTED IN A FUN AND
INTERESTING WAY FOR THE CHILD TO LEARN.
22. ACCESSIBLE? ANY BARRIERS?
• THIS GAME IS AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WITH ACCESS TO THE
INTERNET.
• HERE IS THE PROCESS:
• TYPE IN WWW.NICKJR.COM
• CLICK ON DORA‟S PICTURE
• IT SHOULD TAKE YOU TO A NUMBER OF GAMES
• FIND DORA‟S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
• CLICK AND PLAY
• ENJOY
• THERE ARE NO BARRIERS UNLESS NO ACCESS TO INTERNET
23. CONCLUSION
Over all the software has proven to be a developmentally appropriate game
for children the ages of 4 to 5. This software will teach or help enhance the
child's mathematical skills, some physical and social skills. As well as introduce
another language to the child in this case Spanish.
24. REFRENCES
Allen, K.E & Marotz, L.R, (2010). Developmental Profiles: Pre-Birth through twelve
(6thed.). Belmont, CA, USA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
