Title:  Ayiti: The Cost of LIfe

By:    Katrina Oh

     Basic Info:  Publisher name •     Global Games Playing 4 Keeps.     Type of software:   x___free website                        Cost  $      free                  

In this interactive simulation game, students must help the Guinard family survive and get ahead in poverty-stricken Haiti.  Students make decisions that help the parents, Jean and Marie, and their children, Patrick, Jacqueline and Yves, make decisions about healthcare, personal purchases, community building, education and work.  (http://ayiti.globalkids.org/game/)  An interactive software is more engaging than a regular classroom lesson.  Since obtaining a high score depends on knowing the lesson, students will be more incentivized to retain the information or search for information that will give them a competitive edge in the game.  Interactive softwares also have good visuals that may be more appealing to visual learners.Yes, this software was very engaging because you sympathesize with the characters and feel invested in their lives. This program requires students to be able to budget so that the family can make enough earning to get through the season.  They must be able to do forward thinking. I feel like this subject and grade level is appropriate for middle school level and older.  It would not be appropriate for elementary school children since characters may actually die.