SpellORama

1
Spell-O-Rama

• By William Dooley
• Zainab Abdel
• Glenn Bolton
• Singkham Khamnouane

2
Popular Packages In Industry

• DVD
• Leap Frog
• Baby Bumble Bee
• Web Page
• Harcourt School
• Saxon Publishing
• FunBrain.com
• CD-ROMs
• Ray Spelling Words and Games
• Personal Best

3
DVDs

• Leap Frog
• The primary audience is children ages 3 to 6
• The learning theory relies on sound and
  repetition to make learning fun while watching a
  movie. Afterwards the learning is reinforced
  through a game included on DVD.
• Baby Bumble Bee
• The primary audience is children ages 1 to 4
• This learning theory relies on repetition of
  letters and objects to teach the child in a movie
  format.
  

4
EFFECTIVE WEB SITES

• Harcourt School
• The audience for this program range from 1st
  grader to 6th grader.
  
• The user can pick what level of spelling they
  would like to work on.
  
• I think the user is able to learn how to spell
  these words is by going through it a couple of
  time spelling it. This program doesnt really
  teach a person how to spell, but it gives them a
  chance to practice their spelling. The program
  contains very simple colors and character. They
  use the same technique for teaching / showing how
  to spell words for each grade level. There isnt
  any type of test or quiz to measure what was
  learned.
• This program is made through shockwave and is
  free to use online, but they provide some
  audiocassette (26.91) and workbook (48.06 ) for
  the schools and consumers to purchase. I think
  the online program is use to lure the consumer to
  purchase the audiocassette and workbook.
• This is a sub-par package in my opinion. At first
  it looks like it has potential, but after using
  for a couple of minutes it becomes boring. The
  environment and the character are the same for
  all the units. I think they should have spice it
  up by using different type of ways to teach
  spelling instead of one.

5

• Saxon Publishing
• The audience for this site range from
  Kindergarten to 3rd grade. Each game matches the
  spelling level of the grade pretty well.
  
• To me most of this site doesnt contain any
  teaching software but just spelling games. It
  assumes that the user somewhat knows what a vowel
  is or what are prefixes and suffixes. The package
  has a very simple and plain design. This might
  turn off all the young kids from using it. There
  isnt any attractive sound or characters.
• All the games are made through Macromedia
  Shockwave, and is free to use online.
  
• They also sell similar software to school. You
  can purchase a classroom kit that supports up to
  32 students, and in each kit there are student
  work books.
• The cost is around 775 for a classroom kit and
  for a homeschool kit the price is 129. They fall
  short as being a teaching tool because to me it
  doesnt really teach you how to spell.

6
Not As Effective WebSites

• FunBrain.Com
• The audience for this site ranges from 4 to 7
  years old.
  
• It provides a variety of games and stories for
  the children.
  
• This is a good example of a poorly designed site
  for young children. It lacks bright colors,
  cartoon characters, and is too complicated for
  young kids.

7
CD-ROM

• Ray Spelling Words and Games
• The audience for this site is probably is for
  younger kids.
  
• It is filled with simple cartoon character and a
  couple of sound bites. The look of the software
  looks very unprofessional. What is good about
  this software is that it teachings children
  through visuals and audio. It says out the word
  and gives the user some time to memorize before
  it asks them to spell it.
• Although the design is not as effective the
  strategy is very strong and effective. A user
  can upload any list of words that is provided by
  the company. The option ranges from easy to hard.
  The games in this program might look ugly and
  dull, but it forces the user to think fast by
  giving them time limit. They also add a high
  score option and many childrens like to play
  games with goals. It motivates children to try to
  learn spelling so they can be the one with the
  high score.
• They sell this package in a cd-rom for a very
  inexpensive price of 18. I think they are aiming
  for home usages by the way it looks.

8

• Personal Best Spelling
• This isnt a computer game dressed up as
  educational software at all. From the look of it,
  I think the audience for this site is aim for
  older kids because the interface is more
  complicated to use, but it has a lot of good
  thing we can use for our project.
• It teaches the user by repetition. The user will
  see and hear the word over and over. Then they
  will type it over and over again. It becomes
  repetitive awhile, but hey how else can you learn
  spelling.
• The overall design is very structure and boring.
  In my opinion there isnt anything attracting
  about it. It lacks any encouragement and
  motivation. There arent sound bites that praise
  you when you get it right.
• What I like about it is that after you learn
  these words, you can take a test. In the test,
  the program will record which words the user is
  having problems with. It uses this technique
  called Old Way New Way to help you spell the
  words you miss correctly. Old Way New Way is
  endorsed by the South Australian Department of
  Education.
• I tried it out, but I am not sure if it works or
  not. I think this is actually a teaching tool for
  spelling unlike the other ones because Firstly,
  it incorporates an adaptation of Look Say Cover
  Write Check, a proven method of learning new
  words that is recommended by Education
  Departments in many English speaking countries.
  Secondly, it uses Old Way New Way, endorsed by
  Education Departments in two Australian States,
  to correct (unlearn the old incorrect spelling
  and relearn the new, correct , spelling) problem
  words.
• The cost for a cd is 60 dollars for household
  use or 595 for 20 licensed installation for a
  school.