Evaluations

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Installation

The suppliers installed the Network version.  This work took several hours. Therefore if a teacher wanted to do it he or she would probably need to have good technical knowledge.

Once installed the program runs from the hard drive.  It loads at the same speed as a Word processing application. 

For use with a full class group you need to allow 10-15 minutes preparation time to ensure that all is working properly

Navigation

The design of the software is user-friendly.  It is very easy to navigate through the most frequently used functions.  When the text has been scanned in it is pretty straightforward to carry out the task.  The toolbar is very similar to the standard one in a word processor. 

The Help section is quite comprehensive.  It gives clear and concise guidelines. To read text click on the Read menu. You can vary the speed. You can opt for silent reading. Click on Read the Web.  This allows student to have articles from the Web read to him or her. Bookmarks can be inserted. These are the most commonly used functions on the software.

Teachers can add Sticky Notes to give students specific study advice. These notes can be in voice format.  These can be deleted or altered quite easily.

Documentation

A user’s guide is supplied for each computer on which it is installed.  This gives clear and concise instructions on using the software. 

In most instances I would advise the teacher to familiarise themselves with the program and in turn give a simplified version to the students.

I suggest that a trial version be tried on a selection of students before purchase.