Fletcher's Castle

Crash

Rosetta McLeod

CRASH COURSE By Rosetta McLeod GIVE GIRLS A BREAK A few months ago, I mentioned the problems that schools and parents are facing in interesting girls in computers. The London Borough of Croydon has now published a fascinating document entitled Girls and information Technology which reports the results of a survey commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission. It discusses the observation that computers seem to be used more by boys and male teachers than by their female counterparts, and refers to a study carried by the MEP Primary Project which showed that twice as many boys as girls have access to a micro at home. Why should this be? Are girls intrinsically less interested in computers than boys are? If parents consider it more important to provide home computers for sons rather than daughters what implication does this have for the future of women in an age of technology? In many secondary schools, computers have been linked with the mathematics department and too much emphasis has been placed on programming and numerical uses rather than data-processing and other social implications. Another problem is that traditional stereotyping seems to occur very early with boys being perceived to have more interest than girls in new technology. Girls may be keen to learn word-processing but seem to have little curiosity about other computer uses. Perhaps the problem lies in the content of the commercial software available. Girls are not nearly so interested as boys in arcade-type games and even educational software tends to be directed towards male interests. Luckily though, the programs I've looked at this month are of a particularly high standard and will appeal equally to boys and girls. FLETCHER'S CASTLE Producer: Fernleaf Educational Software Retail Price: £10.00 Age Range: 8-12 years Like The Perfume Hunter, this game is designed for group, rather than individual use. The story line is that a knight has been given a gift of land and has to build a castle quickly in order to defend it. He is given only ten days to complete the work so that he can demonstrate his authority over the native population, and in that time he must prepare the mound and the ditch, set guards, fell and haul trees, build the tower and fences, and obtain food. The accompanying booklet contains a pupil worksheet which may be photocopied, and this allows the group to keep a record of the work done each day together with the gains or losses of soldiers and workers. At the beginning, the group are told that the type of castle to be constructed is a wooden motte and bailey, that they have 91 soldiers to help them, but that the 85 local workers cannot be trusted alone. Their first task is to evaluate from the map three possible sites, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Gradually more and more decisions have to be reached, so that the soldiers and workmen are all sensibly and usefully employed. Every so otters the screen display shows in graphic form how the work is coming along, and gives an up-date on the state of the workforce, some of whom may have been the victims of accidents, surprise attacks, or lack of food. Fletcher's Castle would be an excellent resource for use within a program of work on the Norman invasion. Although the historical content of the program is very limited, its success lies in the focus it provides for logical reasoning, and the development of oral language skills. Children will love this game, and the teacher or parent will find it fascinating to observe the group dynamics. COMMENTS Control keys: single key commands Keyboard play: responsive Graphics: good Use of colour: bright and sensible, for both the graphics and the text