USING CD-ROMS

There are many adventure programs, and CD-ROM talking story books written for young children which enable them to participate in decision making to determine the outcome of the story. By responding to a series of situations presented in the form of text and pictures, the children have puzzles to solve and decisions to make at various key points in the story.

The class adventure. Just as the children gather to hear a class story, they group together to hear a class story, they group together to explore the next stage in the adventure story. The puzzles are either solved there and then or form the basis for maths investigation work away from the computer. A classroom display of the children’s progress through the program often accompanies this approach.

Group adventure. When there is a wide spread of ability within a class, not all children will be participants in a class adventure. A group of children of similar ability could work together on an adventure periodically.

Pairs or small groups working independently. Some teachers like the competitive edge this can provoke - others prefer to encourage co-operation and the sharing of ideas.

When using an interactive story it is important that the teacher determines what he wished the outcome for the child to be. Children will naturally choose to “play” with the screen, which has value - but sometimes it is necessary to structure the activity to allow the child to maximise the learning.

Multimedia presentations combine text, pictures, sound, music, and even moving images. Most CD ROM packages make extensive use of multimedia. Children by this stage should have had plenty of experience of using interactive stories on CD ROM. Programs which allow the children to interact with the story, usually by clicking on parts of the screen to make something happen. These events develop the story, adding a different dimension, and they are usually great fun.

Cause and effect. Prepare a simple worksheet for the children to use on a specific page from the interactive CD-ROM story. Draw some of the characters or objects on the page.
The children draw or write what happens when they click on that object.

Extend this by asking the children to choose and draw a scene from a favourite story. Tell them to include as much detail in the picture as possible. When they have completed their picture, ask them to imagine that it is a screen from a CD-ROM. Talk to the child about what could happen if you clicked on certain details in their pictures. The children write down their ideas and these are displayed around the picture.

Use the interactive stories as a stimulus for creative writing.