Want to go to Oregon? There's an app for that... and it's way better than the old school version we had as kids (isn't just about everything?)!
Whether you teach the Westward Movement or just need something to turn off your busy teacher brain once and a while, the $0.99 Oregon Trail app for iPad/iPhone/iPod is entertaining and educational. It's the same concept from "way back when:" get to the Willamette Valley with your wagon party, while surviving disease, low food supply, and wayward oxen - to name a few. You know the drill: choose your "career," the month you depart, then purchase your supplies so you can begin the trek to Oregon Country! Of course, along the way you learn about the famous people, diseases, landforms, and landmarks that made up this historic event in American history. If you have a VGA adapter to hook to a LCD projector in your classroom, you can play this together as a class (a little bit each day or just enough to get your class "hooked" because the road to Oregon is incredibly LONG) to enhance your study of Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny.
When I downloaded it, I was expecting much less from an app less than a dollar. The graphics and activities in the app are outstanding! They are a little "cartoonish" in their depictions of landmarks and famous people, but for the sake of hooking kids on history, that gets a pass. Remember when you played Oregon Trail as a kid and it was a "big deal" to go hunting and decide how to cross the river? Yeah, that's been stepped up a notch. Your adventures on the Oregon Trail not only include hunting and river fording, but berry picking, FISHING (too much fun, I tell you), telegraphing, nailing together your wagon, and panning for gold! Oh, oh...and rafting a river is so much more fun when you get to tilt and twist an iPad instead of punching arrow keys! Hand and eye coordination at its finest, I tell you!
One thing that is kind of "eh" is that it does try to push you to buy "game cash," which is completely unnecessary to play and enjoy the game. It's just a way for the app creators to make money. However, if you just ignore that one little annoyance, the app works beautifully and allows you to complete your journey to Oregon.
There are different levels of the game, and if you have it set on easy, your students are guaranteed to make it to Oregon regardless of the missteps they take. It's fun! You learn something! And no matter how old you are...it's still fun and you learn something! Yes, I am a proud, card carrying member of Oregon Trail Addicts for Life. However, if you are looking for a rainy day recess app for your class, or another means of kicking your Social Studies instruction up a notch, it's time for you to head West!
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