JIM: A sad lad had a flask.
RIK: New screenplay for Nicholas Cage?
JIM: No. I'm learning to touch-type with this month's batch of programs.
RIK: Ah. Only learned the middle tier of keys, eh?
JIM: Yep. But I'm progressing fast. All four programs offer good tutoring in typing basics.
RIK: But what counts in a home app is extras that encourage practice.
JIM: That -- and, if possible, some bonus educational value to boot.
RIK: The Learning Company's Read, Write & Type! r serves up both.
JIM: Right. Its virus-zapping game combines phonetic reading skills with keyboarding -- great for prereaders.
RIK: But for older kids, arcade action boosts practice, right?
JIM: Well, maybe. The other three programs all offer game play--but with mixed success.
RIK: The BlastOff game in Sunburst Communications' Type to Learn, for instance . . .
JIM: Great graphics, sloooooow game play.
RIK: Thomson Learning Tools' l PAWS in Typing Town offers lots of arcade games.
JIM: But typing has little to do with game play: Fast, accurate typing earns you credits (such as racing fuel or game-clock time)--then you play a 30-second mouse-based game.
RIK: *Yawn.* So were any of the games good?
JIM: My favorite was the Missile Command-like game in Davidson's Typing Tutor 7: You type words as they drop from the sky to prevent them from hitting your cities.
RIK: HAcceptable (3 of 5 mice). Who'd ever think typing would be fun?
JIM: Glad dad.
PAWS in Typing Town Very Good/Acceptable (3.5 of 5 mice)
Ages: 8 and up.
Price: $35 estimated street (CD-ROM).
Sound typing-instruction lessons are incompletely integrated with keyboard-based arcade games, a Journal word-processing module (with clip art), and QuickTime movies of proper keyboard techniques. Game activities don't match well with student skill level.
Company: Thomson Learning Tools, Cincinnati, OH; 800-824-5179 or 513-271-8811; http://www.thomso .com/tltools.html.
Read, Write & Type! Very Good (4 of 5 mice)
Ages: 6 - 8.
Price: $50 estimated street (CD-ROM).
Cutesy-but-clever game format combines typing exercises with early-reading lessons: Keys represent sounds as well as letters. You tell increasingly elaborate stories by accumulating keyboard knowledge.
Company: The Learning Company, Fremont, CA; 800-227-5609 or 510-792-2101; http://ww .learningco.com/.
Type to Learn, Home Version Very Good/Acceptable (3.5 of 5 mice)
Ages: 7 and up.
Price: $30 estimated street (CD-ROM).
Good blend of solid instructions and fun activities -- although BlastOff spaceship game takes far too long to move between scenes. Word processor is very good but feels detached from the rest of the program.
Company: Sunburst Communications, Pleasantville, NY; 800-786-3155 or 914-747-3310; http://ww .nysunburst.com/.
Typing Tutor 7 Very Good (4 of 5 mice)
Ages: 12 and up.
Price: $30 estimated street (CD-ROM).
Noncartoony design is well suited for adults, older kids. Fun, fast-paced Missile Command-style game is the best of the bunch. Games match well with lessons. Excellent progress reporting lets you isolate areas for practice.
Company: Davidson/Simon & Schuster, Torrance, CA; 800-457-8357 or 310-793-0600; http://www.davd.com/.