Video Vivisection

You could be sitting by a pond listening to a soothing summer evening concert sung by frogs. But you are actually in front of a computer, in the comfort of your home, office, or classroom, without annoying mosquitoes or biting flies. This performance is an interactive multimedia CD-ROM, the Digital Frog 2 (DF2), which is an anatomically precise computer simulation of a frog. DF2 has three segments: dissection, anatomy, and ecology. The anatomy segment compares amphibian and human anatomy and occasionally ventures delightfully into molecular details of a body part. Structure-function relationships are emphasized. Courtesy of Digital Frog International The original 1995 version of DF2 received numerous awards, making its 1999 release much anticipated. True to its environmentally conscientious mission, Digital Frog International works out of a converted barn in Ontario, Canada, and has produced a number of other award-winning CD-ROMs about wetlands and rainforests, capturing the imagination of teachers and students alike. Tony Murphy, assistant professor and director of Minnesota FrogWatch at Hamline University in St. Paul, works with upper elementary to high school teachers and states, "[DF2] is exciting and even more informative than the earlier version. The improvement will almost certainly enhance the learning of the anatomical and ecological aspects of frogs. I wish I'd had Digital Frog when I was in high school." DF2 has a healthy dose of video, animation, sound, and highlight features. You can watch how an organ should be dissected, how a joint moves, how muscles extend and contract, how blood circulates, or how a neuronal synapse transmits a signal. "Watch out for the surprises," advises Celia Clark, vice president of Digital Frog International. Sure enough, the cursor becomes a scalpel in the dissection segment and lets you cut the organ you're viewing. If you prematurely dissect an organ out of order--say, the intestine before the heart--you get a surprise message. Some of the surprises are amusing. Indeed, the CD-ROM provides a wonderful romp into the frog world. "Best of all, this program, unlike traditional classroom dissections, encourages students to care about frogs by urging the adoption of local ponds and the preservation of their resident populations," says Jonathan Balcombe, associate director of education for the Humane Society of the United States. The California Instructional Technology Clearinghouse recommends this CD-ROM for grades 7-12. The California Technology Assistance Project commissions the organization to recommend high-quality video and multimedia products for K-12 educators. According to Brian Bridges, evaluation project coordinator of the Clearinghouse, a team of educators rigorously evaluated and tested Digital Frog in the classroom. It was rated in the top 10 percent of programs submitted. Are there any flaws in DF2? Not really. But perhaps the muscle anatomy and dissection portions could be strengthened in the next version--commonly referred to muscles such as the gastrocnemius and sartorius could be shown. Both Bridges and Murphy wish that DF2 had more audio features. DF2 comes with a workbook for the student and teacher that includes additional information (food-for-thought study questions) and reference sources. Installation instructions are clear and easy to follow, even for the technophobe. Expect to pay up to $120 more for DF2 than for other virtual frog dissection products, but most other products are either noninteractive or lacking in information on structure-function relationships or ecology. Frog dissection (only) programs are also available from the Internet. To be used efficiently, those programs require very high speed modems or dedicated (and more expensive) services. DF2 provides an alternative for students and teachers opposed to animal dissection,1 and classrooms need no longer purchase and maintain large numbers of frogs, so costs are lower. However, cost effectiveness should be assessed not only based on price, but also on the delivery of solid biological concepts and "edutainment" value.--Alice Chu (aliceishere@excite.com) 1. R. Lewis, "Instructors reconsider dissection's role in biology classes," The Scientist, 11[22]:13-4, Nov. 10, 1997. Digital Frog International (800) 621-FROG www.digitalfrog.com

Video Vivisection

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