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Midnight
Play You can always find new educational software that emphasizes facts and solutions. Midnight Play from Simon & Schuster Interactive (1998) reminded me that true understanding comes not from facts, but from making connections. There
are only two rules a learner must know in order to succeed with
this software: The images amazed me. I felt focused and quiet as the fantasy theatre unfolded. It was like watching those old Monty Python collages where pieces of drawings come to life and interact. I remember thinking, "wow...who comes up with this stuff?" As a kid, I didn't realize it was enough just to ask the question. I only knew the wonder felt great. Wonderment still feels pretty good, but Midnight Play is more than just eye candy. There is shape and color, and musical composition to explore. At first, the fantasy seemed random. After I found my favorite characters and "plays", I discovered subtle clues that guided me back to them. The pattern in the navigation was difficult to see until I needed it. When the student was ready, the teacher appeared. It left me wondering what else I might have missed because I wasn't ready to "see" it yet? Or ready to "hear" it? The accompanying score to Midnight Play is expansive. Swells of woodwinds and strings made my grown-up heart a little lighter. I contentedly experimented with melody and percussion lines to create my own musical masterpieces. I'm gushing, I know. I want parents and teachers to buy Midnight Play so more software of this extraordinary quality will be created. Sometimes, in the rush to learn facts and find solutions, we forget about learning for learning's sake. Midnight Play reminds students of all ages that how we learn can be even more exciting than what we learn. Note: This CD-ROM did not run on the reviewer's version of Windows 95 with a 100 Pentium. Minimum
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