If Monks Had Macs...--Review by Steve Bercik.

If Monks Had Macs... is a unique CD-ROM because of the variety of topics which it covers. Though it sounds as if this CD-ROM is about religious topics, etc., it really only uses the monastery as a theme for a center of learning and study. "If Monks Had Macs..." is actually full of both historical as well as recent topics of interest.

It contains electronic editions of works such as Thoreau's Walden and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Meanwhile, it has interactive collections such as: 1) a JFK Archives section which allows you to judge for yourself who killed the former president, 2) a medieval role playing game, 3) the story of the White Rose resistance in Nazi Germany, and 4) even a create-your-own-song jukebox.

For me, the most important educational value of If Monks Had Macs... lies in its great integration of art, history, literature, and politics. Often one topic was discussed through all four of these perspectives. Not only does one understand the topic from many angles, but it is easy to see how these societal forces influence each other.

On a more practical note, this CD-ROM is useful because of its variety of topics, games, interactive possibilities, etc. A single student could read "The Man Who Was Thursday" or a group of students could study the JFK Archives. With over fifty topics of varying interests, If Monks Had Macs... is, well, a smorgasbord of activities and lesson plan possibilities.

This CD-ROM could be used in English, history, art, science, and other classes. I think that it covers so many areas of learning that I'm not sure I can cover all the bases on what activities could lead to and follow its use, so I'll just give one example from an English classroom. If a teacher wanted to discuss the American Renaissance, he/she could have the students look at Thoreau's diary and life history to get a grasp of the ideas and beliefs which shaped his writing. This would be an engaging precursor to reading Walden. Not only would they gain more interest in the book (which can be a challenging text to teach in high school), but they would have a deeper understanding of it as well.

All of this variety not only gives the teacher a lot of choices when thinking about using this CD-ROM in the classroom, but it helps students develop multiple literacies as they learn about different subjects. If Monks Had Macs... contains interactive art puzzles, a symbol memory game, music games, written texts, and video and audio clips. These are all different literacy systems for learning and working with new material. Students should not only be interested and have fun while learning about new things, they will also practice learning through reading, listening, viewing, and spacial learning techniques. They might not be aware of this practice, but the more games and interactive activities they explore on If Monks Had Macs..., the more capable they will be with these different literacies.

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