Music 1

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.'