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Resource: A Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus
Producer: Parsons Technology
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For what ages or kinds of learners is this resource appropriate?
It is recommended for I0 and up, but it can be used with guidance for younger ages/grades. - What is the content and is the content valuable for
the learners?
Learners are shown scenes of the holy land traditionally linked with stories from the life and ministry of Jesus, including information about architecture, history, and Biblical exegesis related with the stories and teaching of Jesus. - What is the biblical and theological perspective
present in this resource?
Fairly mainstream, except for the use of the King James Version for narration of Biblical stories and passages. Uses stories and passages from all four Gospels. - Is the resource attractive and interesting enough to
hold learners’ attention?
Very interesting to move around and explore. Would definitely hold learner's attention. This software utilizes the 3D space common in Playstation (3 dimensional, 360’ space) and other computer games. It requires strong use of spatial intelligence of the learner. For this reason, the visual language of the program may be very familiar to teenagers, or other young people who are used to computer games. At the same time, however, this visual language can be too complex to those who are not visually or spatially oriented. At times, the vastness of the visual space can be overwhelming because of the limited guidance of the program itself. There are valuable visual and audio links to historical and cultural information on every screen. However, these are very difficult to find, as they are not marked. - Does this resource offer a variety of navigation
routes?
Yes, there are many options for places to explore and stories to hear. - Is this resource interactive?
What do learners DO?
Yes, it offers a complete virtual space where you can turn and look all around, and zoom in or out on details of the environment. There are many options for movement and exploration of space. But there are no educational tools built into the program. That is left up to the teacher. - Does this resources offer varying degrees of
difficulty?
This program operates at one level of skill. - What kind of guidance does the resource offer learners?
There is an introduction which familiarizes learners with the tools for navigation. There is no built in guidance for "wandering" through the space. You are not given a specific route, beyond suggestions. It is a very "free-form' game of exploration which would require very structured and guided lessons in order to facilitate reflection and response. - Could learners use this resource more than once and
still learn from it?
Yes, this is a program that lends itself to continued use and exploration over a long period of time. It would be possible, for instance, to move through the liturgical year with an exploration of this program. - Can learners work together in using this resource, or
is it designed for one learner at a time?
It's possible, although the thrill of actually navigating might make it difficult to take turns. At times, the screen is dark and might be difficult to read unless you are sitting directly at the computer. Although it's possible to use it in pairs, we recommend individual use.. - What kind of time frame to you need to use this
resource?
This requires a large time frame for teacher training/preparation. Because it comes with no built in lesson plans or ideas, it would be necessary for teachers to build a curriculum around it. Learners could use it in one-hour guided sessions (for instance, over a multi-week unit). Because the program is so vast, it would be helpful to break it down for individual lessons based on particular topics, which could range from 15 minutes to I hour. - What are some ways to use this resource with a class or
group?
A class series could be made up of lessons based on individual units of material - ex. a series of Holy Week sessions, with a lesson for each "station". A series could be used linking the ancient stories and traditions with modern day historical sites, using reflection questions. This software could also be used as auxiliary material in history and/or art classes. - What kind of hardware do you need to run this resource?
You need a fast, up-to-date computer with a good speaker system and a CD/ROM drive. You need at least 640 MB storage capacity to install the software. Windows 3.1/95/98 or Mac 68030, 66 mhz or higher, 6X CD or higher, 16 megs RAM recommended. - How much does this resource cost?
$29.00