Sesame Street Launches a New Website Experience
Sesame Workshop has recognized the important role the Internet plays in the entertainment and education of today's preschoolers. Their response was the development of a 14 million dollar website which aims to provide a customizable Sesame Street experience online. The site, SesameStreet.org, contains a large library of muppet-laden video clips and interactive games.
My first visit to SesameStreet.org. was bogged down with apparent server problems, a crashed browser and an experience that felt more like a step back in time than a glimpse of the future. For the most part I felt like I was watching Sesame Street on my computer screen, which is silly since it is microscopic compared to the mammoth TV my husband recently added to our home. The PlaySafe feature holds some promise. It essentially takes over your screen and will not let kids navigate away or minimize the window. Unfortunately, that's the feature that crashed my browser (Internet Explorer as recommended by the site) and left me unable to use my backspace key. The site also features the ability to create a "homepage" for your child with favorite games and videos. The system was moving too slow for me to test it out.
I'm looking forward to giving SesameStreet.org a second glance in a few days to see if they've worked out a few of the kinks. The site is still in beta, so I'd expect some rough patches here and there as they start getting a lot of users online.
Comments
Here’s hoping the kinks get worked out! I just visited and didn’t seem to have any problem; plus, I was very happy to see Feist singing and counting with Muppet penguins! CTW really is the best.
I do not like the new site. Its hard to navigate and loads up so slowly. I wish you would go back to the home page of the sesame house and all the characters at the bottom and the street post on the side. I liked using it with my students but not anymore. Go back!