On the Road to Cultural Bias a Critique of "The Oregon Trail" CD-ROM by Bill Bigelow
On the Road to Cultural Bias A critique of "The Oregon Trail" CD-ROM By Bill Bigelow he critics all agree : The Oregon Newsletter. Susan Schilling, a key choices, they may appear education- Trail is one of the greatest edu- developer of Oregon Trail II who was ally progressive . CD-ROMs seem tai- cational computer games ever later hired by Star Wars filmmaker lor-made for the classrooms of producedT . In 1992, Prides' Guide to George Lucas to head Lucas tomorrow. They are hands-on and Educational Software awarded it five Learning Ltd., promised new interac- "student-centered." They are general- stars for being "a wholesome, tive CD-ROMs targeted at children ly interdisciplinary - for example, absorbing historical simulation," and and concentrated in math and lan- Oregon Trail II blends reading, writ- "multi-ethnic," to boot . The newer guage arts. ing, history, geography, math, sci- version, Oregon Trail II, is the "best Because interactive CD-ROMs ence, and health. And they are useful history simulation we've seen to like The Oregon Trail are encyclope- in multi-age classrooms because they date," according to a 1994 review by dic in the amount of information they allow students of various knowledge Warren Buckleitner, editor of offer, and because they allow stu- levels to "play" and learn. Children's Software Review dents a seemingly endless number of But like the walls of a maze, the Women played a different kind of role on the cross-country journey than the Oregon Trail CDs portray. A RETHINKING SCHOOLS PUBLICATION Beginning of the Oregon Trail : Independence, Missouri .
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