4 stars (High Strokes for Typing Instructor for Kids) - High Strokes for Typing Instructor for Kids by Individual Software
Target:
The student was a 6 Â# year old girl; smart kid at the top of her first grade class. She was self-motivated to master typing, yet viewed typing practice as work rather than play. An unexpected alternate target turned out to be the parent.
Expectations:
The student understood that mastering typing would take a long time, and that three 10-minute lessons per day is better than one 30-minute session. Although the program is fun, the expectation that the student view it as a pure game was unrealistic. Yet, for the parent, it was a pure game; silly but entertaining.
PC Platform; Hardware & Software:
Dell Dimension with 2.4 GHz Intel Celeron processor; Intel 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV integrated Graphics Controller with 1-23-05 6.14.10.4020 driver. XP home edition with all Microsoft security updates installed; DirectX Version 9.0c.
Fun Factor:
The student viewed Typing Instructor as fun educational software. She engaged in adventures on a treasure island, and competed in games by demonstrating typing proficiency. When the final stages of the game are reached, the castle offers a collection of books to type, as well as other games, e.g., a run away from the mummy type of game; both were enjoying. Narration was implemented with the aid of comical cartoon characters. This added to the enjoyment of the program, especially during the initial introduction before the student mastered any typing skills. The student was motivated to advance to higher levels in the game, and understood that it only occurred with advancement in typing skills.
Multi-Person:
The game supports multiple students. The parent started using the game out of curiosity, and became hooked. While the game challenges are geared for a child, the typing lessons are useful for adult too, and it helped to sharpen rusty parental skills. Also taught old timer a thing or two, e.g., the "F" and "J" keys have bumps to aid with home location.
Testing and Metrics:
A rich variety of metrics were tabulated to provide feedback to the student and parent. This was very useful to aid progress and tailor extra sessions.
Settings:
The settings were configurable to customize targets, e.g., speed..
Problems:
Sadly, there were a few problems, but this was in the minority: The Diamond Glider game stalled consistently with "-10," and would not terminate except with "exit." Game results couldn't be tabulated. This appears to be a software bug, and no updates were found on the Individual Software website as of 4/2005. Might want to read the FAQ at http://support.individualsoftware.com/faq2/ (Then navigate to the desired program, i.e., Typing Instructor for Kids). The help button in the Diamond Glider game provides troubleshooting information; mostly related to DirectX and video driver incompatibilities. Dxdiag showed no faults, and the troubleshooter wasn't helpful. This may be a bug that has nothing to due with DirectX. McAfee was also shutdown, but didn't cure it. Individual Software technical support was contacted via the web, but no response was ever received. Individual Software gets low marks for customer response. If someone finds an answer, please post.
The Sea Creatures game was functional, but was very sluggish; excessive pause after typing error. This was cured by temporarily disabling McAfee Virus Scan (by right clicking on the McAfee icon in the Taskbar Notification Area and selecting disable). After this problem was discovered, McAfee was disabled whenever Typing Instructor was to be run. Thus, it is unknown if McAfee impacts any other games. Suggest McAfee be disabled prior to use.
Parental Satisfaction:
Given the amount of time she will likely spend on a keyboard, the $20 investment was (to me) money well spent. The parent has been using the game, and it has improved his keyboarding skills; valued well beyond $20. This program is rated fully satisfactory, despite some small deviations from perfection.
Reviewer:
The reviewer is a middle-aged electrical engineer. |
