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Resource: The Church's Story: An Interactive History of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Producer: Curriculum Publishing Area of the PC(USA) in Louisville, KY
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For what ages or kinds of learners is this resource appropriate?
It was designed for youth for use with confirmation classes and is the perfect accompaniment to Journeys of Faith. However, it might be better for elder training or adult membership training. The elders or new members could check out a laptop and study the resource at home. - What is the content and is the content valuable for
the learners?
The resource can be navigated and studied by going in two different directions. The learner can trace the history in five sections: Early Church, Medieval Church, Reformation Church, Early American Presbyterians and Contemporary American Presbyterians. Or, the learners can study by topic: Worship, Beliefs, Church Government, Social Issues and Mission. it is a good, basic introduction to more in-depth study on each topic or segment of history. - What is the biblical and theological perspective
present in this resource?
It is designed by the Presbyterian Church (USA), so the theological perspective is REFORMED. - Is the resource attractive and interesting enough to
hold learners’ attention?
No. The resource needs to have more music and movement. The youth announcers needed to move and have mouths move when they speak. Some of the pictures should be movie clips of actions-i.e. see the pastor actually break the bread. The computer reads to learner sat beginning. Later on, the learner is left to read a silent screen with multiple pages of text! The music used in the beginning would not be interesting to the intended audience (youth). There was a certain amount of talking the learner had to listen to before he/she could proceed with the resource (too long). - Does this resource offer a variety of navigation
routes?
Learners can follow one of two routes - history or one of five topics. Learners can explore various readings under the topics, but it will not take you somewhere new. In the end, you come back to original topic. - Is this resource interactive?
What do learners DO?
Learners read and listen and can explore other smaller topics under main heading (i.e. Worship: Sacraments, Music, Sermons, etc). - Does this resources offer varying degrees of
difficulty?
No. - What kind of guidance does the resource offer learners?
Because of the lack of flexibility in navigation, it did offer guidance to the learners. At the beginning of the resource, there were instructions on how to quit. There was a compass to click to new areas always on the screen. - Could learners use this resource more than once and
still learn from it?
Yes, because it is so information heavy a learner could not get through it in one sitting. - Can learners work together in using this resource, or
is it designed for one learner at a time?
It would be difficult for learners to work together because they would have to wait for each other to finish reading screens. - What kind of time frame to you need to use this
resource?
It would take at least a half an hour to get through one topic or era in history, but not longer than an hour, because it is boring. It would likely take about 5 hours to do the whole thing. - What are some ways to use this resource with a class or
group?
We would probably not use this resource with a group or class A more effective use would be to have individuals check out the resource during the week for review at their own pace. - What kind of hardware do you need to run this resource?
CD-ROM drives,, indows 3.1 or higher/486 33 Mhz, 1640 x 480 256 color display, 2X CD drive or faster, 8 MB RAM minimum, 16 MB or greater recommended. 16-bit sound card with speakers. - How much does this resource cost?
$49.95