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Social Studies Software Reviews

Time Traveler CD: A Multimedia Chronicle of History
by New Media Schoolhouse

For Ages 10 and up

See also the Summary Rating Table for comparisons with other Social Studies software titles, and the SuperKids Buyers Guide for current market prices of the PC and Mac versions.


Reviewed on:
Time Traveler Screen Shot PowerMac 6100/60 with 16MB and 2XCD
Pentium90 with 8MB and 2XCD

Content
Time Traveler CD is a multimedia history reference guide designed for quick searching and browsing. History is sliced into five geographic regions, three categorizations: history, culture, and innovation, and by date. Searching can be accomplished through a simple alphabetical index, or by selecting the geographic area, time, and category of interest with simple clickable buttons. The user can then browse from any point in the database, along the dimensions of time, location, or category.

Interesting facts abound in this CD. One example brought to our attention by our seventh grade reviewer is typical. Thomas Edison's almost accidental invention of the phonograph was followed by improvements made by Alexander Graham Bell. Each went on to form companies; Edison forming the Victor Talking Machine Co. which eventually became NBC, and Bell forming the Columbia Gramaphone Company which was the forerunner of CBS!

Ease of Install / Use
"Easy to install and use," was the consensus of our reviewers. On both Mac's and Windows-based PCs, there was no installation required! Operation simply required inserting the hybrid CD, and clicking on the timetrav.exe icon. "Every program should be this easy to install," noted one teacher.

Methodology
As a reference tool, our reviewers felt Time Traveler's methodology was appropriate. Although the alphabetical search engine is rather simplistic compared to the boolean search capabilities of many CD encyclopedia, it was appropriate for a 4th to 7th grade user, according to our teacher reviewers.

Proxy Parent Value
Time Traveler will be a reference tool for most students, rather than an educational activity program. The value to parents, is that the CD contains a great deal of information formated in a way that our kids reviewers found accessible. This might mean fewer Thursday night trips to the library for research for the paper due on Friday morning!

Best for...
"Any student can use this program as a research vehicle," according to our fourth and sixth grade teacher reviewers. "It is useful for investigating or exploring many of the topics we cover in social studies."

Bottom-Line
Time Traveler is a nicely thought-out history reference tool for fourth to seventh graders.


See also the Summary Rating Table for comparisons with other Social Studies software titles, and the SuperKids Buyers Guide for current market prices of the PC and Mac versions.



Children's Software System Requirements


PC

Macintosh
Operating System Windows 3.1 or greater System 6.0.7 or greater
CPU Type and Speed 486/25 or faster Any 8-bit color Mac
Hard Drive Space none required none required
Memory (RAM) 2 MB 2 MB
Graphics 640x480x256 color 8-bit color (256)
CD-ROM Speed any any
Audio MPC compatible sound card n/a
Other Needs Video for Windows (incl)


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