After three years of preparation, Professor Garfield is ready to teach. The Professor Garfield Web site, which has been up and running for about a week, provides a free way for children to have fun and learn at the same time.
The creation of Professor Garfield was initiated when former Ball State University student and Garfield creator Jim Davis and his company, Paws Inc., teamed up with Ball State. Director of Educational and Online Initiatives Bob Levy coordinated the project for Paws, Inc.
Professor Garfield was designed with the intent of being both enjoyable and educational through its interactive format and instructional content.
The opening page introduces the site with an animated video featuring Professor Garfield and the educational subjects he teaches. After the introduction, children are presented with links to games relating to a variety of educational subjects.
One of the many interactive games can be accessed by clicking on “Orson’s Farm.” This link leads the user to a barn setting filled with fun objects that are familiar to children such as truck and duck. The goal of this educational game is to teach children about rhyming through matching the objects that rhyme with each other.
The Professor Garfield site filled with an abundance of content.
“If you spent 15 minutes on the site, you wouldn’t even see a fraction of what it has to offer,” Levy said.
Links such as “Reading Ring” and “Art Bot” provide games designed to teach children about a variety of subjects including math, social studies and reading. The “Art Bot,” for example, allows users to draw their own Garfield cartoons.
“Reading Ring” has children put their reading skills to the test by putting the frames of a Garfield cartoon in chronological order.
“Star Sleeper” is a game in which children are asked to match hidden pictures using their memories in order to “save the world” from lack of sleep.
A link to the “Teacher’s Lounge” provides a site designed for teachers that includes lesson plans.
“The main purpose of the site is to create what we hope will be the finest learning portal for children,” Levy said.
Lawrence Smith, professor of elementary education for Teachers College, has been involved with the project for more than two years.
“My major part deals with the teaching of reading,” Smith said. “What we’re really going for is edutainment. We want children to go to the site and do activities to reinforce what they’re learning in school, but we want it to be fun for them.”
The site creators hope to eventually reach a large audience, Smith said.
“Little ones like Garfield as well as adults,” he said. “We hope to reach millions of children, teachers and parents.”
Smith was also responsible for connecting one of the site’s supporters with the project.
“I built the relationship between Paws and Pearson’s Digital Learning,” Smith said. “I got them involved with the project.”
Professor Garfield has received support from the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, Columbia University’s Teachers College, The National Institutes of Health, Pearson’s Digital Learning, Red Grammar, Sallie Mae, Scholarship America and USA Funds.
Ball State’s involvement with the Professor Garfield Web site is not limited to the Teachers College. Through the Business Fellows program, which is funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc., students have had the opportunity to participate in the creation of the site.
Paws, Inc. and Ball State have fulfilled their goal of creating a Web site that is both fun and educational.
“This has been a great opportunity for Ball State to partner with Paws,” Smith said.
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