ABOUT
THE PROGRAMComputers play an ever increasing role in today's technological world. Children are being introduced to computers at an ever decreasing age. Therefore the learning of key boarding skills is crucial. Phonics Alive! 6 Typing teaches Primary age children to use a keyboard correctly. It does so by blending tried and tested traditional teaching methods with the entertaining and interactive capabilities of a modern computer program. The student is taken on an underwater journey and with the assistance of Qwerty, the submarine's resident penguin, they learn to touch type in short, simple stages. Practise activities such as conducting the Marine Choir and defending the submarine from the Crab Invaders, increase key boarding skills in a fun and absorbing way. Once the basic lessons are mastered the program offers a speed and accuracy test to give students and teachers a traditional benchmark on which to judge their progress.
COLOUR CODED KEYS
To assist the teaching process, colours are assigned to each finger and corresponding colour coded keys are used on the on-screen keyboard. In addition transparent on-screen hands further show which finger to use for each key. To reinforce the colour codes, coloured keyboard stickers are provided with the program. These are attached to the student's keyboard and serve to make the verbal instructions clearer. At the end of each module the student is encouraged to colour in the keys they have just learned on the printed keyboard chart provided. New keyboard charts can be printed from within the program.
POSTURE
With people in all professions spending more and more time at the keyboard, correct posture is extremely important. The program takes the time to explain how to position oneself at the keyboard and continually encourages the student to check their posture at the start of each lesson.
COMPUTER
VOICE DIRECTIONThe student is guided through the program by a teacher voiceover. In a relaxed style, this voiceover encourages students to complete tasks, explaining the correct procedures and touch typing practice.
STUDENT RESULTS
Unseen to the student, the program records all of their actions and presents these for later analysis by a teacher though an administration section. Progress is tracked so that the program will take returning students back to where they last left off.
THE CONTROL ROOM
The compre-hensive, easy-to-use navigation system has been well tried and tested with other members of the Phonics Alive! family.
In
PA! 6, the Control Room's navigation dial provides easy direct access
to the program's 22 modules. The Control Room's Name List keeps track
of individual student's progress, and places them at their next task from
whichever task they last completed. The administration section allows
teachers to add, or remove, names of classes and students, and to access
student results. In our computer-focused world the learning of key boarding
skills is crucial. Children who complete Phonics Alive! 6 Typing will
have a sound basis for the development of further computing skills.WHO WILL BENEFIT?
Phonics Alive! 6: Introduction to Typing will enhance the computer keyboard skills
of
most primary and early secondary students. It should also prove useful
for older students and adults who want to learn the basics of touch typing.
