Test Drive-GeoSafari Laptop

Learning system for children

Educational Insights, 2206 Oakland Parkway, Columbia, TN 38401. (800) 995-4436. www.educationalinsights.com. $49.95

The GeoSafari Laptop is one of several electronic learning systems on the market. As I wrote last month, these sorts of products can be a lot of fun to play with, but I'm skeptical about their educational value. GeoSafari Laptop, distributed by Educational Insights, is just about what I expected.

The GeoSafari Laptop's name may be a little misleading. It is not a laptop computer at all, but a quiz machine shaped and sized like a laptop computer. The flip-up top serves not as a viewing screen, but as a storage compartment for the 6x8-inch question cards that are the heart of the GeoSafari system. Students select a card, place it face up on the deck of the Laptop, and enter the card's ID number using the keypad. Game play begins by pressing one of two large blue "Go" buttons on either side of the keypad. A blinking light along the side of the laptop's playing surface identifies a question or concept; a numbered answer is found somewhere else on the card. Keeping an eye on the LCD countdown clock, students find an answer and enter its number using the keypad. A correct response is rewarded with a musical salute; an incorrect response elicits an error tone. There are three play modes: a single student can play against the computer, two students can take turns, or two students can compete head-to-head. The 64-card set contains more than 2,000 questions in five general topic areas. An alternative set of cards designed for 3–to–7–year– olds is in the works.

I gave the GeoSafari Laptop to a class of middle-school students who had fun experimenting with it. The students may have learned some facts while playing with the device; any learning, however, was factual and episodic, not conceptual or thematic. Indeed, when two students played with it, the important question seemed to be not what they learned, but who knew more to start with.

After-school programs and parents may find the GeoSafari Laptop a reasonable option for quiet play. However, school media centers and classroom teachers might want to look at items that more directly support their school's curriculum.