At the beginning, we had trouble installing the software. The program always crashed. Now the program runs smoothly, but we don’t like switching to 256 colours from the usual true colour. We found the software fun and easy to use. It was a creative way of learning. There was a map of everything on a card to make sure you explored all of the centres. We liked the field trip to the bog because it was a virtual tour. You could walk through the bog and access information about different animals in the bog. Once you clicked on one of the animals, you could also watch a movie about it. The only thing we didn’t like was the graphics. They were a little blurry in places. We think the colour could have been enhanced. We would change the graphics and colour to meet Windows 95 standards. We would also like to hear more sound, such as music during the activities. But the movies were superb. We liked the movie of the beaver the best because it took you right inside the dam.
     We learned a lot from this program. For example we learned about how bogs formed and about different types of bogs. We could go on, but if we did we’d run out of room. This program and the way it was organized had a fun way of learning to it. We think the digital field trips are a very clever idea because they actually take you to wherever, and you see everything as if you are actually there. It’s so simple to use; it’s even easier than using a VCR. Overall, we think it is a worthwhile program. It is very informative and teaches a lot about the wetlands. Our impression of the program was good. We both liked the activities in the program.
 
Dominic’s summary: I really enjoyed the program. It really helped me understand different types of bogs. The software was really made well. I hope Digital Frog makes another great program such as this one. I think that Digital Wetlands was a great program. Digital Frog made learning fun with the neat videos and digital footage of a real marsh.

Michael’s summary: The program Digital Wetlands was a very interesting concept. In order to “pass” the game you needed to go to every station. Once I went to all the stations I didn’t feel stressed from learning, but I felt satisfied. I’d recommend this program to anyone willing to do something more in their spare time than watch television.

(Originally published in the Winter 1999 issue of YES Mag.)