Archive Magazine CD 1995/Archive Magazine CD 1995.iso/discs/prog_disc/volume_8/issue_09/education/Jargon2b

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Educational Jargonese
Richard Rymarz
In response to Paul's plea for some help with educational jargonese, here are a
few hints in that direction. Just one or two points: the list is not exhaustive − a
whole book could be written; and I have refrained from passing any judgements
even though I am sorely tempted. So, here we go with the most common ones
first:
Year groups − Children are now placed in Year Groups. Thus a 6 year old is in
Year 1, a seven year old in Year 2, an eight year old in Year 3 and so on up to the
age of 15 when they are in Year 10. There is also an 'unofficial' Year R which
includes those children who are 5 and under.
National Curriculum − Children's learning has now been divided into eight
(nine in Secondary schools) subjects which have to be taught in all state schools.
Three of these: English, Mathematics and Science and 'core' subjects and,
particularly in primary schools, most time in school is spent on them. They are
also tested (see below). Religious Education also has to be taught.
AT's − Attainment Targets − Each subject has a number of Attainment Targets.
These are details of the broad areas that must be taught within the subject. Thus
English has three AT's: Speaking and Listening, Writing and Reading.
Levels − All subjects have been divided into 10 levels. However each Level does
NOT correspond to each Year Group.
An average Year 2 (7 year old) would be expected to complete a course of work
at Level 2: an average Year 6 child (11 year old) would be expected to complete a
course of work at Level 4; an average 14 year old Level 6; and an average 16
year old Level 8. Only exceptional children will complete Levels 9 and 10.
Key Stage − There are four key stages corresponding to four stages of a pupil's
school life:
Key Stage 1: 5-7 years old
Key Stage 2: 7-11 years old
Key Stage 3: 11-14 years old
Key Stage 4: 14-16 years old
SAT's − Standard Assessment Tasks (Tests). At the end of each Key Stage,
children are expected to take national tests. These are called SAT's and are
confined to the three core subjects.
Now for some pertinent organisations:
LEA − Local Education Authorities − Most schools are under the umbrella of the
LEA which provides funding, services and advice.
GM − Grant Maintained − Some schools have chosen to 'opt out' of LEA control.
They are funded by a separate Government Quango.
SCAA − School Curriculum and Assessment Authority − This Government body
looks after all curriculum elements within schools as well as the testing
arrangements.
OFSTED − Office for Standards in Education − this is the official body that
inspects and reports on standards in state schools. All schools should be inspected
every 4 years.
DFE − Department for Education. The administrative body for all educational
matters.
Finally, one which at the moment is causing an extra burden.
Special needs − This applies to children who for a variety of reasons:
academic, social, physical, emotional, are not performing as well as they should.
These children have separate programmes of study and are often helped by a
special teacher and are taught in small numbers. If the child has a long term
problem he/she may be formally assessed and have a statement which
describes in detail his/her needs and any entitlement to special help.

I hope these pearls of wisdom and insight will make Archive readers more aware
generally of what is happening in education as well as specifically with reference
to educational software. u
Number Time
Richard Rymarz
Number Time is a multi-media CD rom containing three sets of mathematical
skills specifically geared to the younger child and one with special educational
needs:
1. Times Tables − Twelve applications covering the traditional times tables
2. Number Bonds − An application that allows the user to add any two numbers
between 0 and 9
3. Tell Time − Three applications covering hours, half hours and quarter hours
The company that produced the CD − Hazelnut − have used Genesis to create an
easy to use multi-media environment that includes hundreds of animations,
speech and sounds.
All in all there are 16 applications.
Times Tables − Clicking on one of the applications loads it onto the icon bar.
Menu options include the obligatory quit and an option to search for a text string.
The program itself begins with a title page with the words spoken. Clicking on
the arrow leads to the tables page and a question. This page is fairly basic with
the question in the centre of the screen and the possible answers around the
outside edge. The question is voiced and a child has to click on the answer. The
reward for answering the tables correctly is an animated picture − answer
wrongly and a shrill cuckoo sound is heard. All this is very basic but each table
has a theme − the 4 times table has picture and sounds of animals, the 7 times
table has animations based around an alien, and so on. The pictures are basic but
quite attractive and will appeal to the younger child.
Number Bonds − With this series of exercises the child clicks on one digit
and then another and has to click on the sum of the two. Answer correctly and a
picture is shown which has an animation which the children have to discover.
This is very basic allowing number bonds up to an answer of 18 but double digits
− eg 10 or 12 or 15 − cannot be used. The same pictures, albeit with slightly
different animations, are used fairly often.
Tell Time − These three applications follow the same pattern. The child
navigates through the exercises by clicking on the clock. Each application
involves a theme which holds the whole thing together. There are three
animations if the child answers correctly − two of which the child has to discover
themselves.
Conclusions
What we really have here is a series of drill and practice exercises which will test
whether the child has mastered the appropriate skills. This it does in a fairly
attractive and orderly way. The speech is audible − a primary school child clearly
enunciates the words although the linking of some sentences is a little disjointed
− not really a problem though. The quality of the pictures is also adequate, some
of them being very attractive. If I were to be critical it is with the animations
which are sometimes difficult to find and are a touch insignificant. Further, the
exercises are quite linear with the questions always following the same pattern.
I did like the themes that held the exercises together and the subjects are covered
quite thoroughly.
Number Time comes on a CD which on my review copy did not tell me which
side was which − a slight irritation. It is recommended that the applications are
loaded onto hard disc in order to quicken up the running time − CD's are
notoriously slow compared with hard discs. The applications can also be bought
separately on floppy discs but would probably take an age to load and run. A hard
disc or CD-ROM Drive would appear to be essential.
Number Time − The CD costs £50 inclusive + £1.50 postage. (Does not
include the Subtraction element in Number Bonds.) Times Tables − 12 discs
costs £30. Number Bonds − 3 discs covering addition and subtraction costs
£15. Tell Time − 4 discs costs £20. Add £2.50 postage but no VAT as Hazelnut
are not VAT registered. u
The Talking Animated Alphabet
Richard Rymarz
The Talking Animated Alphabet adds significantly to the ever growing library of
programs specifically designed for pre-school children and early learners at Key
Stage 1 (5-7 year olds). Written and produced by Sherston Software, this
program tackles the three basic skills of letter recognition, visual letter discrimi
nation and aural letter discrimination. Presented on four 800K discs, the program
is easily loaded onto hard disc with the usual key disc used as protection.
The programs
Clicking on !Alphabet installs the program on the icon bar where a further click
fills the screen with the opening page offering the following:
u Visual letter discrimination
The aim of this activity is to ensure that the child can distinguish between the
shapes of the letters. It is suggested (mainly for the parent rather than teacher)
that the child first learns to recognise the difference between simple shapes such
as squares, triangles, circles, etc. Knowing the names is not essential − just being
able to match the shapes is. Once mastered the child can move on to Talking
Animated Alphabet.
The control screen (activated at any time by pressing Ctrl T) in very comprehen
sive. There are three levels of difficulty since some letters are more difficult to
recognise that others. Further, the teacher/parent can customise the letter groups
to provide very individual programs of learning. Finally, the number of tries can
be set. Click on OK and the activity springs to life with a beautifully designed
screen: a marbled backdrop with decorated balloons in the corners and the
appropriate letter shapes scattered around. The target letter is boxed and a huge
mouth appears in the right hand corner. A very clear voice tells the children the
task. The child then has to click on the appropriate letter. If there is a delay he/she
is asked again; if wrong then a, 'No! look again!' is heard. Three wrong guesses
and a polite, 'No! Never mind. try this one.' leads the child onto another letter.
Once the letter is correctly chosen it zooms to a larger scale, the voice says, 'Well
done, that's right.', the other letters disappear and two circular arrows invite the
children to 'morph' the letter. Thus an 'e' turns into an elephant, an 'l' into an
lighthouse and so on. The next letter is then presented.
u Aural letter discrimination
The aim of this activity is to ensure that a child can distinguish between the
sounds of letters. This takes the form of an 'I Spy' game where the children listen
to the spoken sound and than click on the appropriate picture. Clicking on the
picture morphs it to a letter. Thus an apple becomes an 'a', a jack-in-the-box
becomes a 'j' and so on. The control screen allows the level of difficulty to be set,
the number of tries, etc.
u Letter recognition
The aim of this activity is to link the shape of each letter with its phonetic sound.
It is suggested that only a few letters are used at first, gradually adding more as
the child gains confidence. The picture opens the activity which is then morphed
into the letter. A spoken instruction asks the child to, "Find the letter that says
'g'," for example. Clicking on the correct letter provokes the response, "Yes! This
letter says 'g'." Three mistakes and another letter is offered. A simpler activity
involves the morphing element only. All the expected options are available from
the control screen.
The package
The Talking Animated Alphabet comes in the usual Sherston plastic wallet which
now, thankfully, has a separate pocket for each disc. The excellent user guide
skilfully takes the teacher/parent through the installation procedure, describes
each activity in detail and, at the back, provides a welcome list of follow up
activities. Also enclosed are twenty six, coloured, A4 picture cards which can be
mounted and will provide a very attractive wall chart. Finally, there are three
record sheets that can be used as a check list for each of the three activities. All in
all the support materials should be very useful as well as being impressively
presented.
Conclusions
This program is great. Not only are the educational aims sound and clearly stated,
they are executed with considerable skill. The look of the program with its
'schoolkid' font, backdrops and letter design is first rate. The digitised sounds are
crystal clear and the intonation natural. Gone are the days when robotic voices
marred a good program. If I were to be over critical, I would say that, whilst the
morphing of letter to picture is excellent, the animations are minimal and a touch
disappointing. However, this is a small point in the overall structure of the
program which is easy to understand, easy to use and at today's prices, fairly easy
on the pocket. Designed for both home and school use, it costs £35.20 or £33
through Archive with a CD version promised for the future. Highly recom
mended. u