1. Timeliner 5.0 Software Evaluation Laura Kolar EM 590 February 28, 2007

2. Introduction Timeliner 5.0 is a program for creating, illustrating, and printing timelines. Timeliner serves a two-fold purpose for educators.  Teacher use  Student use (grades K-12)

3. Curriculum Support Timeliner supports the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks in: social sciences, English language arts, science, and mathematics. Objectives  Students will:  Understand the concepts of time and chronology;  Use number lines to compare time, size, weight, distance, and temperature;  Illustrate differences in measurement systems such as Fahrenheit/Celsius, meters/yards, and fractions/decimals;  Record data points from science experiments;  Sequence plot events in literature to create a summary or examine cause and effect.

4. Curriculum Support With Timeliner, elementary students can:  automatically organize their data chronologically or in another custom format.  use the program to create timelines, number lines, and even multimedia slide shows with links to web sites, sounds, and movies. Program includes some multimedia files Printing capabilities Product website

5. Website Resources

6. Design Design is simple, easy to use, and easy to figure out. The title screen offers only two options Six types of timelines Six views: banner, vertical, compact, list, and slideshow User inputs data, and the program creates the timeline, using appropriate spacing and automatically putting the events in chronological order.

7. Title Screen

8. “New Timeline” Options

9. Data Input View

10. Sample Data Screen

11. Sample Banner View

12. Sample Vertical View

13. Slide Show View

14. Story Sequence

15. Fraction Number Line

16. Design Toolbar on the left side of the screen, with icons and text. The user can:  insert a graphic or a label  compress or expand the timeline.  Edit: categorize and add notes, pictures, movies, sounds, or web links to an event.

17. Edit Menu

18. Add Multimedia Screen

19. Universal Design As a productivity tool, Timeliner is very accessible for users of different ability levels. As an analytical tool, students with lower abilities might need some extra assistance and a more structured critical thinking process.

20. Change Font Screen

21. Student Interest The novelty of the software and the end result will initially motivate students. Lacks “bells and whistles” Teachers can assign different ways to use it and use it in different content areas. Elementary students can use it independently after initial use.

22. Hardware Requirements Mac 8.6 or higher Windows 95 or higher The cost for one stand-alone copy of Timeliner is $79.00. An unlimited site license is $1,200.

23. Cost

24. Recommendation Timeliner has potential as an elementary classroom tool. Primary use should be as a productivity tool. One of the greatest strengths of the software is its versatility. Can be easily explained to and used by elementary students. Accessibility for students of all ability levels. Recommended for use in the elementary classroom as a supplement to the curriculum.