[0-9][A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] [X] [Y] [Z]
Machine: Win/Mac reading
Publisher: Ingenuity Works
Approximate single-unit price: $70
Purchase options: $70 site license
Level: Intermediate For: K-6
Content-based reading and grammar practice designed for children. Over 20 digital books for grades 1-6 with over 300 pictures of the animals and plants on the various ecosystems on Earth that students can copy for use in projects. Books for grades 1-3 have a 'read aloud' feature. CD-ROM. Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4, 2000,XP or Vista; Mac OS 8.6, 9.x, 10.1.x or up to IntelMac.
Machine: Mac, Win reading, discussion
Publisher: Tom Snyder Productions
Approximate single-unit price: $150
Purchase options: lab, site, network
Level: Intermediate, advanced For: All but K-6
Students work in groups to use the software and text materials to make decisions. Students check the printed materials for additional background information. As a group they prioritize their goals, receive multiple perspectives on the issues from their 'advisors' in the computer, discuss their options and input their course of action to the computer. The computer presents the consequences and the 'advisors' reappear to offer the students help in dealing with them prior to another round of decisions, actions and consequences. These programs work well in a one-computer classroom. The following are ones most likely to be of interest to ESL/EFL students. Immigration: Students are community decision makers. The computer presents a number of dilemmas related to immigration policy in the U.S. Prejudice: Students take the role of a mayor up for re-election in a town with a racism problem. Their 'advisors' in the computer are an historian, a campaign manager, a lawyer and an activist. The Environment: Students are community decision makers. The computer presents a number a dilemmas related to environmental damage in a small town. Urbanization: Students are community decision makers. The computer presents a number of dilemma related to the costs and benefits of urbanization for a small town. Violence in the Media: Students take the role of an advertising executive for a company sponsoring a controversial television program about life in a gang-infested urban neighborhood. Windows 98/98 and Mac OS 9; not verified on Vista or Mac OS X.
Machine: Win reading
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Purchase options: contact publisher
Level: Literacy, beginning, intermediate For: K-8
Special use: literacy, bilingual
Comprehensive reading program with extensive record-keeping. Bilingual support in Spanish is part of Destination Lectura.
Machine: Win reading
Publisher: Merit Audio Visual
Approximate single-unit price: $80
Purchase options: lab, network, site; both sets for $180
Level: Intermediate, advanced For: 7-12,Adult,HE
Helps students sharpen their critical thinking skills and develop their ability to make inferences. Short factual readings on four levels, two levels per set. Students read selections and answer multiple choice questions based on key words and inferences. Designed for native speakers but usable by ESL students. Windows 95/98/2000/XP; not verified for Vista. A demo is available from the website, http://www.meritsoftware.com/.
Machine: Win grammar
Publisher: Educational Activities Software
Approximate single-unit price: $400
Purchase options: lab, site
Level: Intermediate For: All but K-5
Multimedia grammar program includes exercises on capitalization, punctuation, parts of speech, subject-verb agreement, compound sentences, and paragraph construction. Designed for native speakers, but usable with ESL. Includes diagnostic tests that determine the language arts skills of each student and prescribe what is needed for improvement. Thirty-six tutorial lessons, presented with voice and text, develop language arts concepts, evaluate performance at each level and redirect students to lower levels to help build skills or to higher levels to learn more advanced skills. Windows 98/NT/2000/XP: Mac OS 8 or OS 9.
Machine: Win, Mac reading
Publisher: Educational Activities Software
Approximate single-unit price: $1300
Purchase options: $400/unit; lab pack, networking
Level: Beginning, intermediate For: 4-12, Adult
An interactive reading tutorial designed for native speakers of English, both children and adults. The program is diagnostic, prescriptive and developmental. The instruction focuses on reading for details, inference, the main idea, vocabulary (synonoyms, multiple meanings, discovering meaning in context), identifying the sequential signals in a text, and distinguishing between fact and opinion. The program includes a glossary with definitions and computer pronunciation of the target words. Useful for ESL false beginners and above. Also available as an online course. Windows 98/NT/2000/XP/Vista: Mac OS 8 or OS 9.
Machine: Mac/Win reading
Publisher: Educational Activities Software
Approximate single-unit price: $335
Purchase options: lab, network
Level: Intermediate, advanced For: All but K-3
The program works like Diascriptive Reading, but with a focus on the content area of science. Five diagnostic tests and 25 reading programs are included. CD-ROM. Windows 98/NT/2000/XP: Mac OS 8 or OS 9.
Machine: Win, Mac reading, discussion
Publisher: Educational Activities Software
Approximate single-unit price: $170
Purchase options: lab, network
Level: Intermediate, advanced For: Adult
Special use: VESL
Workplace scenarios with ethical dilemmas are presented for discussion. Learners choose what the main character should do, then see the outcomes of that choice. Includes a glossary for higher-level vocabulary. Windows 98/NT/2000/XP: Mac OS 8 or OS 9.
Machine: Win, Mac listening, speaking
Publisher: DynEd International
Purchase options: contact publisher
Level: Beginning, intermediate For: All but K-6
Special use: Bilingual (Jap, Fr, Sp, Port), business
Formerly known as Interactive Business English. Presented in a similar format to Dynamic English for ESL, this listening-based business English course on 6 CD-ROMs offers the listening, speaking, reading, and critical thinking skills for the workplace/international business situation. The topics are Company History, Job History, Manufacturing and Trade, Product Comparisons, Overseas Assignment, and Future Consequences. This content-based program begins with a Presentation during which the student answers periodic listening comprehension questions. These questions reinforce the vocabulary, language concepts, and structure, while giving the students repeated opportunities to respond. The feedback includes an automated 'shuffler level' which adjusts the level of difficulty of the questions according to the learner's response. The Question Practice gives the student practice in question formation. Quantitative English, Dictations, the Verb Grid, and Grammar Fill-In test the student's knowledge. The program includes voice recording capability for student practice. Mac and Windows. Individual CDs (one topic each) can be purchased separately. Pricing options include per-student-use cost. Contact the publisher for details.
Machine: Win, Mac listening, vocabulary
Publisher: DynEd International
Purchase options: contact publisher
Level: Beginning, intermediate For: All
Special use: Bilingual (Jap)
Dramatized retellings of Round the World in 80 days, A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland, and Robin Hood on interactive CD-ROM supported by dictations, fill-ins, character matrix, and on-line comprehension aids. For listening, reading, and vocabulary development. Voice recording. Pricing options include per-student-use cost. Contact the publisher for details. Windows 98/NT/2000/XP; Mac OS 9, X.
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Last updated 05/15/2009 by Deborah Healey.