Publisher: DK Multimedia

Grade Level(s): 7-12

Subject Area(s): Social Studies

Reviewed by Sarah Ellsworth

Eyewitness-History of the World covers history from the prehistoric era to the present. People, places, culture, inventions and politics are addressed for each time period. There are many sections to this program such as: the Who’s Who Machine, the Country Histories Machine, and the Documents Drawer. The program opens with an eye-catching screen that contains a console with different buttons, books, machines, artifacts, and a globe. All of these items can be clicked on to begin the adventure. All objects move and make a sound when they are selected. The program teaches students about selected topics and provides many hot links to other related topics. There are two games that the students can use to test their knowledge or to review.

The historical content of this program is very accurate. There is a lot of information available with endless links to related topics. The content is appropriate for the target population of grades 7-12. There is enough flexibility with the program for a teacher to adapt lesson plans that maximize the skills of the age group in the class. The content is easy to access, and the aesthetic quality of the program invites the students to begin investigating.

The graphics and sound to this program are amazing. The student should not be bored while using this program. The pictures and colors are crisp, and the sound very audible. A student with basic computer skills would easily be able to access information because all items are labeled with obvious clues (e.g., Who’s Who Machine).

To begin, students select a time period "drawer." When this is done, all of the "artifacts" on the console change to represent that time period. Each item can be clicked on to learn more about it. Jumping to the explanation is simple and done quickly.

The capability to hear what is being read is often available. Students can also choose to hear an instrument from a particular time in history or view a news clip about a particular topic.

One negative feature is that it is at first difficult to determine how to return to the main screen. Since virtually no navigation buttons are available, it took a couple of tries before realizing that to return to the main page the outermost frame needs to be clicked. In addition, another deficiency is that when a time period is chosen, the chapters in the various books available for viewing do not automatically change to the same time period. The student has to scroll to the section of the book that pertains to the time period. This could be difficult for a student not familiar with the historical time period.

The greatest benefit of this program is that it provides students with a non-textbook view of history. Because of the graphics and sound, using the program is almost like playing a game. Many students learn well if they are personally enjoying the lesson.

When reading about a topic, students are often given the chance to experience the topic in a different media (e.g., view and hear a clip of a Civil Rights protest while reading about Martin Luther King, Jr.). This feature addresses different learning styles (linguistic and audio). Several non-linear links are often provided for a chosen topic. For example, when reading about Joan of Arc, the student can link to a page that speaks either of Medieval Europe or of witches and witchcraft. This exposes the student to the overall concept(s) related to the topic at hand.

Several words that could be difficult for any level reader appear as hot links. When clicked, the definition of the word appears. This feature is a definite benefit for a student who is having difficulty learning the definition of an unfamiliar word; not knowing the meaning of a word can severely interrupt the fluidity of the reading process.

A negative aspect of the program is that it does not encourage critical thinking skills. The program is solely for obtaining information. The games do test the students’ knowledge, but most of the questions are concrete and do not require any further analysis or synthesis. It would have to be the teacher’s responsibility to design lesson plans to go along with the software that tap into the students’ critical thinking capabilities.

After becoming familiar with the functionality of the program, students should be able to work on their own. Students should be able to complete a teacher-designed assignment and be able to navigate the software independent of the teacher’s direction. The presentation of the content is clear enough so students could easily extract the information needed. The program does not seek to create an end product. Again, this lies in the teacher’s hands. Student interaction with the program is limited. The only opportunity for interaction is when playing one of the two games, which only requires the students to answer questions.

Because of the wide span of information available, the teacher needs to narrow the focus down for the students. This could be accomplished by creating guiding questions for each activity to insure that students stay on track with the objectives of the lesson. The teacher would also need to communicate to the students what the end result should be since the program does not guide the students toward finishing a product.

The teacher would at first need to spend time demonstrating the program, being sure to demonstrate the many different features. Afterwards, the teacher could provide a "cheat-sheet" of the different components for the students to reference. A teacher’s manual is available for use along with the software and could be an excellent source for lesson plan ideas. The teacher should definitely utilize the lesson plans geared toward familiarizing the students with navigating through the program.

Eyewitness-History of the World can be used as a supplement to the textbook or as an introductory activity to a new unit. Students could easily work with the software independently or with a partner. The possible uses of this program range from sending the students on a treasure hunt to collecting information about a given subject, to presenting the findings to the class, to answering teacher-generated questions.

Overall, Eyewitness-History of the World is aesthetically pleasing with excellent graphics. Many options are available to the student, from silently reading a passage to hearing the narrator’s voice read the passage, to viewing an actual news clip about the subject. There are a handful of annoying technical deficiencies, but once acclimated to the software these deficiencies are less distracting. This program should keep the students interested and motivated.

The content of the program is presented well, but the software could use more student interaction and some improvement in the technical quality. Overall a piece of software that can definitely find a place in a social studies unit.