Wonder Rotunda (www.wonderrotunda.com)

$45, Windows, Mac OSX, Internet Site

Teaches: science, history, biology, ecology, space travel

CTR Rating: 72%

CTR Review

Great science and ecology content is combined with low levels of interactivity and a didactic presentation in Wonder Rotunda (www.wonderrotunda.com), a subscription-based ($45/year) web delivered service first released in the summer of 2009. In order to make the site work, you need a Flash-enabled browser and a credit card. No other software or downloads are required. We evaluated the service using a complimentary password provided by the publisher. After you create a male or female character to represent yourself in the game show portion of the experience, you see a map representing 11 topics including: orchestra, rain forest, great barrier reef, American government, digestive system, Apollo 11, planet earth, kangaroos, healthy eating, the Serengeti and business adventure. By clicking on an area of the map, you launch a 20 minute or so animated adventure, in which pop-up facts appear. Unfortunately, the dialog -- while good -- can't be interrupted and the spoon feeding pedagogy can get tedious. In addition, there are no social or adaptive features. If you finish a unit, you get to play a limited game, which consists only of a multiple choice quiz and requires reading. Missing are any help for wrong answers; plus you don't know how many questions you have to answer before you finish, potentially making you feel trapped. Teachers should note that the content is flavored by a pro-environmental bias -- for example, children are urged to reduce their carbon footprint. That said, all the information seems valid, and complete references are provided. All in all, there's a lot to discover in Wonder Rotunda, if you're willing to click through it all. This site has the classic "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make 'em drink" problem. The service is completely worry free -- there are no ads, sponsored content or social features. As a supplement to an upper elementary science curriculum, this site could work, especially because an ongoing score is kept for each account. However, the limited interactivity limits the educational potential of the experience.