Thursday, February 01, 2007

What about Dora?

After many of my friends spoke about Dora in a positive way, I decided to watch 2 shows of it that we had on a DVD we got as a gift.

My kids were screaming at the screen, answering to Dora, kind of getting up to dance when they were supposed to (I had to encouragethem to get up).

I was first surprised by this "interactivity", with the arrow moving on the screen it felt more like a computer game to me in fact. Dora encourages children to repeat & participate in the show. Dora is always on a mission.

In many ways it reminded me of birthday party entertainment. Entertainers usually started by exciting the children, making them scream, feel as team, overcome obstacles, and it is a lot of fun!

In the show, everything has to be repeated over & over. At the end of each trip they shout We did it! We did it! Which is a little egobooster for the little ones.

I found the pace of the editing ok, not too fast. But at the end, I did not feel really comfortable with the show…

In fact, I did not like the show, the shouting, the repetition but most of all the storyline. It is so simplistic, basic. My children are far more intelligent than that!
I already exposed them to far more sophisticated programs with complex language and concept that they enjoyed and followed easily. In fact, I will use this program in my media education curriculum.

I would like to read your feeling and opinions about that show. Please do not hesitate to post your comment.