Technical evaluation: "Français et Maths avec Jonathan" (CM1):

Antonella Krige

Technical evaluation: "Français et Maths avec Jonathan" (CM1):



1. The software and its goals
2. The pupil's activities
3. Help to knowledge gaining
4. The teacher's role
5. Interesting aspects and limitations
6. Enhancements

1. The software and its goals:

This software belongs to the category of general "computer assisted learning" materials. It is a commercial software distributed on CD ROM which makes it suitable for the home or the classroom. It is not meant to be a self-contained educational package but rather to be used as a complementary support for the acquisition of basic knowledge in two specific topics: French and Mathematics. The intended outcome is a reinforcement of the knowledge content taught in the French schooling system to pupils of age 9 -10 (CM1). The software makes use of multimedia technology (graphic, sound and animation) which makes it particularly attractive to children of that age group.
The courseware uses several instructional models. It is built around an Hypertext metaphore, Jonathan's laboratory, where the student can explore the learning environment and differentiate the activities. The core of the courseware is made of a "Didacticiel" where the student is presented with a declarative knowledge and is asked to verify the knowledge gained through exercises. For each topic, the material is divided into learning units, each build on the same educational strategy: theoretical presentation,student interaction and feedback. The student's progression within the same unit is static and follows the same pattern involving ten levels of exercises, regardless of the learner's evolving knowledge.
Although, while in the laboratory the student can click on several amusing animations, the character of the French and Mathematical teaching is quite formal. The activities proposed by the courseware are restricted and the possibility to vary the interactions are limited.The objects inside the laboratory have an ancient look symbolizing the formal character of the educational model. Beside the French and Mathematics learning material, the only other activity proposed is an educational game through which the student can learn some notions of Geography.

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2. The pupil's activities:

An initial animation introduces the pupil to Jonathan, a researcher who is looking for a perfect formula. Jonathan requests the pupil's help with his search. The goal is simple: the student just has to do all the proposed exercises in French and Mathematics and his new knowledge will allow the researcher to build the perfect formula.
Jonathan introduces two other characters that are going to assist the student all along the courseware: the monkey Elomir and the "lutin" Fiselle. He also describes the objects that can be found in the laboratory:
Besides these objects, there are many short animations hidden in the laboratory which the child is left to discover.
Access to the learning material is done via the books. Inside the book, the "loutin" Ficelle invites the student to choose a chapter amongst the ones proposed and then a theme within the chapter (learning unit).
First, the pupil is presented with a declarative knowledge both orally and in the form of text.The child can then test his procedural knowledge by going through ten subsequent exercises. The mouse and the keyboard are used to enter answer. He then clicks on a dash-board and the monkey Elomir provides a feedback in the form of a written text as well as orally and the correct solution is presented, if needed. The software then automatically switches to the next level of exercise.
The pupil can interrupt the automatic flow of tests by using one of the three navigation tools which are always available:

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3. Helps to knowledge gaining:

At any moment the student has several tools available to seek for help, both visual and oral:

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4. The teacher's role:

The teacher's role is quite indirect. Jonathan only intervenes to set the finality of the courseware and to push the pupil to pursue that goal. Elomir provides the feedback and the necessary encouragement.The software itself pushes the student to follow a pre-determined test path within each learning unit, therefore providing a certain logical guidance through the course material. The presence of many oral and visual helpers guide and assist the child to correctly use the courseware.

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5. Interesting aspects and limitations:

The laboratory is very amusing and represents the ludic part of the software. The tutorial is very sober, neat and presented with a certain degree of imagination. The navigation and help tools are presented in the form of very explicit graphical symbols which help the child find his way through the course material. The student is therefore always assisted in his interactions with the software which results, in the negative side, to a limitation of the child's natural vocation for exploration.

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6. Enhancements:

I have watched two children aged 8 and 10 using this courseware. They have both found the tutorial part quite difficult to understand and sometimes too heavy to sustain for a length of time. They have both been amused by the laboratory and very intrigued by the possibility to discover the animations. In my impression the courseware suffers from a certain degree of adult rationality which is imposed on the child and it lacks more ludic and explorative capabilities.

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Antonella Krige, 9.1.98