Intermediate English 1

ZX Computing

James Walsh

JAMES WALSH, OUR PINT-SIZED EDUCATION REVIEWER, THE TERROR OF HIS SCHOOL IN LOUGHTON, TAKES A LOOK IN THIS iSSUE AT THREE EDUCATIONAL PACKAGES, FOR THE ZX81 AND SPECTRUM. In this edition I have been asked to look at three educational packages for the ZX81 and the Spectrum, The first one that I'll look at is CALPACs new Spectrum "JUNIOR EDUCATION" cassette which (I quote) "contains eight attractive, easy-to-use programs for the 7 to 11 age group, including Maths, English, Junior Science and History. Colour graphics and sounds are used extensively". The other two packages are both for the ZX81 and are produced by ROSE CASSETTES. I use the word package intentionally, as both cassettes contain no less than 6 full length programs. The two packages that I will look at shortly are: JUNIOR ENGLISH 1 and G.C.E. "O" level FRENCH. As I said earlier (if you were listening), I would first like to look at CALPAC's JUNIOR EDUCATIONAL cassette or the ZX Spectrum, so here goes:... The cassette itself comes well packaged with a specially prepared leaflet of teachers notes. Though they are brief, they do give the teacher, parent or pupil for that matter, a reasonably good idea of what each program aims to do and hence whether they fit their requirements. My only suggestion is that some hints on loading could be included for the uninitiated user. DRAWING PICTURES The first program is called DRAW. The idea is simply that you can guide a dot around the screen and draw pretty pictures with it. It is reasonably advanced as it allows you to control a number of functions listed below: iNK, PAPER, FLASH, BRIGHT, OVER, INVERSE, INVISIBLE, ON, OFF, SLOW, FAST, COPY and ENOUGH. Though this program holds very little educational value as such, it is a very good way for a newcomer to find his or her way around the keyboard, and generally feel that they are in control. The second program is called "HOMEOPHONES", or in other words, words that sound the same but mean different things. You are given a sentence with a blank space and two or three alternative answers. You then type in the answer that you think is right. If you are correct then a graphically represented plant will grow and if you get to the end it will flower. If however you are wrong it makes a raspberry noise and goes onto the next question. Though the idea and application is good there is no variety, and I feel that most kids of the prospective age-group would get bored with the same questions and only one special drawing at the end. Next on the tape is "SUB", which is a basic subtraction program. It deals with the subtraction of larger numbers from smaller numbers in a very understandable way. If you get a question right then you get a pleasant tone and the bridge gets a little longer. If you get it wrong then the program will carefully take you through the right way of doing it. At the end a tank will drive across the bridge and stop if it cannot get to the other side. A very thoughtful addition is the facility to choose how the answer should be explained, depending upon the way in which the pupil has been taught so far. This is a reasonably good program, but it gets rather boring after a while. NATURE STUDIES "FLOWER" is by far the best program on the cassette so far. It first draws an accurate diagram of a typical flower and all its parts. It then goes on to tell you what they all do and how. It also tells you where they all are and test you on their location. This program is ideal for 2nd year science/biology pre-'O' Level course candidates, as this is a major subject. We now flip the cassette over and start looking at the second four programs. TABLES The first program on side two is called, quite aptly, TABLES. You are allowed to specify a particular table from 2 to 12, or if you prefer then a variety up to a specified table, (3 to 12). It will then ask you 20 questions. If you get a question right then a bit more of your graphic train is drawn. If you get one wrong you hear another raspberry tone and the offending table is displayed. When you have finished your score is displayed and your train is shown driving through the countryside. This program is very good, ideal for Junior school and lower secondary school pupils. Next we come to "COMP" - an English comprehension program. A sentence is given with a blank and you have to choose one of four words to fit m that space. The special value of this program is that it allows you to enter your own words and phrases. Again, if you get the answer right a bit more of the plant is drawn, and if you get it wrong it... you guessed it, makes a raspberry noise. CHARIOTS "ROMANS" is a simple question and answer program on Roman history. If you get enough questions right the horse will gallop away with its chariot. Personally I found that this was reasonably advanced for a Junior school and so would be useful in Secondary school as well. The final program on this cassette is called "SPELL", which is quite naturally a spelling program. The difference being that you type in the words and clues so that pupils can be tested. This way a large library of words can be built-up. In all this is a good cassette. There may be certain programs that you will decide not to use, but this is mainly due to the incredible variety on this one cassette. I agree with the maximum age of 11 for the programs, except for FLOWERS and ROMANS, which may be useful in secondary schools. This cassette can be obtained for £5.50 from the address below: CALPAC Computer Software, [redacted]. This is definitely a worthwhile cassette for any junior school teaching using a SPECTRUM in class. JUNIOR ENGLISH 1 Junior English is one of many educational packages from Rose Cassettes. These cassettes come quite well packaged, with loading hints on the inside of the cassette insert, but with very little information about the programs themselves. In computer circles it is not always necessary to include documentation, but for the product which is not only aimed at the computer owner but also at the school environment, I do feel that some introductory notes are helpful. CALPAC have done this simply by including an A4 size sheet folded into an A5 leaflet with a couple of sentences on each program. One small touch which I did like about the Rose Cassettes loading hints, was that they included approximate loading times for each program. This gives the user some idea of how many cups of coffee he or she has got time to drink before starting work! Junior English is made up of six full 7K to 12K programs all of which are recorded once on the cassette. It may seem a better bet to record them twice, but reliability is almost 100%. MEANINGS The first two programs are called MEANINGS 1 and 2 respectively. The idea is that a phrase or word is displayed at the top of the screen, and underneath are three possible meanings. Your job is to decide which is the correct meaning and then type 1, 2 or 3. The program holds a large stock of questions and answers so that you don't get the same questions on each RUN. The only difference between 1 and 2 is that 2 is slightly harder than 1. The next program is called PARTS OF SPEECH. The idea is that you fill in the blank with one of three words displayed. The first program on side two is called PROVERBS. It holds 35 well-known proverbs, such as: "A stitch in time saves nine". It displays one at a time but with a word missing so that you have to complete the proverb. I particularly liked this program because it gave a little variety in a subject which even with the best teacher in the World, most people find tedious after a while. LEARNING ENGLISH We now come to "SIMILES", an aspect of English which is more popular (if that is the right word) than most. This time the program holds 40 well known similes. The program itself follows a very similar format to the rest, in that you have to fill the blank with one of the three possible answers. The final program is called "ANAGRAMS". What you have to do is unscramble one of 50 six-letter words. If you cannot get the answer simply type 'Help' and the computer will display the first letter of the unscrambled word. One particularly nice part of each program is the 'Jackpot' game which is played every time you answer a question. Though they are very basic, there is a different one on each program. A very important point when using a program in class is its 'uncrashability', if you would pardon the expression. In other words, it is important that the computer checks every INPUT before it tries to digest it. This is very well done, as it is almost impossible to crash without hitting the 'BREAK' key. Overall, this is a very well thought out program and well worth the expenditure of £4.50 (for those studying English at Junior School). This and various other educational packages are available from: ROSE CASSETTES, [redacted]. ROSE CASSETTES: SUMMING IT UP Ian Marshall of Bramhope, Leeds, sent us this program, with the following comments: "Most of the teaching programs for simple maths seem to be of the type 13 + 14 = 27, where the calculation must be done mentally, (or with pencil and paper), and the answer entered in the sequence 'tens' followed by 'units'. "In general, this is not the way a child is taught to add, and the facility to add the 'units' and then the 'tens' and enter the answer in sequence would be desirable. "The following program is very simple, but it follows what I believe is the desirable format and offers more sophisticated possibilities."

Sinclair User

Dave Sayers

PROGRAMS CAN HELP TO BRIGHTEN SCHOOL-DAYS As the ZX-81 becomes more popular in education, more software is being written. Dave Sayers tests a sample. The number of micro-computers in schools is growing rapidly in both the secondary and primary sectors. The increase in the use of micros in education has been stimulated by two things - the part funding of the purchase of computers by the Department of Education and Science and the many keen and interested heads of school and teachers who have introduced computing into their classrooms, often using their own machines and programs. Yet there lies the irony; while machines were being bought there was little or no software available commercially which was written specifically for school use. The programs reviewed show that the need for software has been recognised and is being filled. There are several points which have to be borne in mind; loading the programs has to be made as simple as possible and instructions should be clear and concise. In booklet form where necessary, with an explanation of what the program does and how it is operated, since instructions included as text are often sparse and uninformative. The programs should run without bugs, use graphics if possible, and have interesting content together with excellent error-trapping. Rose Cassettes sent six tapes for review, Junior Maths 1 and 2, Junior English 1 and 2, Champion Quiz and Arithmetic for the under-eights. Junior English 1 and 2 and Champion Quiz are all quiz type programs and as such, because of the limited content and vocabulary, largely unsuitable for regular classroom use. Champion Quiz, however, is better than most of its type. Junior Maths 1 includes long multiplication and division, fractions 1 and 2 and two other programs. The level set is difficult but the children are taken through each stage of working the answer. Junior Maths 2 includes areas, perimeters, sets and Venn diagrams, as well as two other programs. The standard of the tape is really very high, with good diagrams and instructions. It was, moreover, a winner with the children. Arithmetic for the under-eights is a superb cassette, dealing with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The level can be set at units; tens and units; or hundreds, tens and units. The numbers are shown in large characters, well-suited to a classroom monitor, and carrying is illustrated on screen, in stages. A really good, worthwhile tape for classroom use, well put together and, like all the Rose software, properly error-trapped. Junior Maths 1 and 2 and Arithmetic for the under-eights look like essential buys for any school using the ZX-81 in the classroom. I hope they will also be available for the Spectrum, too. The tapes cost £4.50 each and each cassette runs itself from loading. The Fun to Learn cassettes, available from W H Smith and direct from Sinclair by post at £6.95 per cassette were the next to be examined. Eight titles were reviewed, English literature 1 and 2, History 1, Mathematics 1, Music 1, Inventions 1, Spelling 1 and Geography 1. Spelling 1 is an interesting idea which unfortunately is not suitable for school use. Words are played from tape, listened to by the child and the child's spelling of the word is checked by the computer. The only trouble is that there are too many sets of words on each side of the cassette, 15 to be precise, and the time involved in searching for sets, as well as the fixed nature of the words, renders it unsuitable for schools. Nevertheless, any parent interested in helping a child with spelling should consider it. Geography 1 is very good indeed, with two programs - cities and countries in Europe and towns in England and Wales. When run, the relevant maps appear, although borders in Europe are not marked. An atlas would help. The children enjoyed it and I felt it was useful to them, as it can teach them as well as quiz them. A good buy. Mathematics 1 is a fairly ordinary mathematics tester. The Rose cassettes do the same job better, I feel, although this one deals with decimals as well. Apart from Spelling 1, Geography 1 and Maths 1, the other programs are simple quizzes. That again renders them. on account of content and age level, unsuitable for schools. Geography 1 is very good value for money and highly recommended. All the programs were well error-trapped, although they did not run themselves from loading. ZX-81 Software, published by Brian Negus of [redacted], has three music teaching cassettes on offer. These cassettes were well error-trapped, two of them dealing with the various clefs and the third with beats and note times. The four clef programs cover alto and tenor/bass and treble. When run, notes appear one at a time on a short bar, which is suitably large for use on a classroom monitor; the graphics are very good. The children are then quizzed on the notes shown. A help facility is included. Beats aims to teach children rhythm by having them follow moving graphics. In mystery beats the graphics are static and the children have to discover the beat for themselves. As in Arithmetic for, the under-eights the large graphics fit these programs well for use in front of a class. At £12 for three they must rank as good value, essential for music teachers. They also run themselves from loadin, a good feature. Negus informs us that these programs will soon be available for the Spectrum. AVC Software of [redacted] submitted two programs for review, Tables Countdown and Geography Hangperson, at £3 per program. The programs are claimed to be completely error-trapped but one girl still managed to crash one when she typed RUN NEWLINE instead of GOTO 50. That was because, in using RU, she cleared the variables loaded from the tape. I feel that AVC should reconsider that part of its programming policy, as one has to reload the program to re-start it. Tables Countdown is slightly expensive for what it does, as the Rose cassette arithmetic for the under-sights offers four programs of better presentation for £4.50, although a simple graphics reward is included. It tests the four rules, without help, at four levels of difficulty. Geography Hangperson tests knowledge of locations in the British Isles with the aid of graphics clues. The locations are not well-thought-out and the contents of the program are limited but the clues are amazing - "Is there a town that makes frisbees. Sir? It looks like a man with his head on the wrong way round". I cannot recommend either of those two programs for school use. There are better programs available and at lower cost. Although the AVC programs can produce a printout of scores, so can the Rose software, of which the children thought very highly, and so did I. They were better thought-out and far more comprehensive than other products, with the exception of the Negus cassettes, which were also very good. Loading in all cases was first-class and only proves that good cassettes are vital for easy loading. Cheap tapes just will not suffice. Instructions were poor for all the programs reviewed; educational software really should be supported by comprehensive instructions in booklet form.

'Instructions were poor. Educational software should be supported by comprehensive instructions.'