Spongebob teaches me to type...

Today in class we were given "educational" software in small groups and were asked to evaluate it based on categories we brainstormed as a group. My group chose to try "Spongebob Sqaurepants Typing". Now, here come the pros and cons:

Pros:
- Highly recognizable figure which students would probably be excited about working with.
- Lot's of options is terms of games for practicing typing skills.

and ummm.....that's about it?

Let's just say we definitely found a lot of cons, including:

Cons:
- Does not load on newer versions of the Mac OS
- Is not intuitive at all, some sections of the game are even mislabeled; for example - "Typing Tournament" is actually where the beginning lessons are given; "Practice" gives lengthy paragraphs which would only be able to be completed by high school students.
- Most of the "games" given would frustrate young students as they are lengthy in nature.
- Most of the instructions are given in text; young children would have a hard time figuring out what the next step is.
- Very mature listening and reading skills are required in order to have any type of success.
- Spongebob "laughs" at the user as you make mistakes; not too many children would want to practice a skill after being laughed at.

All in all, I can't say that any member of my group was impressed with this software. I think there are a lot better options that can be found FOR FREE, such as Tux Typing!