please do not discuss? Thanks! -------- Original Message -------- Subject: edu: new typing tutorial Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 02:37:46 -0500 From: Kelly Pierce <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: Kelly Pierce <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Here's info on new typing software for the blind. kelly=20 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Craig Faris) Newsgroups: alt.comp.blind-users ATTENTION ALL TYPISTS! Are you a new computer user just learning how to type? Do you wish to dramatically increase your typing speed so that you can use a computer more efficiently? I CAN SEE BOOKS is proud to present "TALKING TYPING TEACHER", our newest and hottest computer program yet! Talking Typing Teacher, or TTT for short, has been designed especially to help teach you to type or increase your typing speed. The program guides you through every aspect of typing in such a straight-forward, exciting manner that you won't even realize how much your typing ability is improving. Since typing is so essential in our modern society, we felt that it was about time a program be written to teach you to type without typing boring drills over and over again. The main goal, kept in mind when TTT was written, was to change the method of learning to type from a boring, strenuous process to an exciting and rewarding activity. As its name implies, Talking Typing Teacher has built-in speech.=20 By this we mean that you do not require speech output devices to use TTT. You are guided through the menus, prompted to type drills, asked questions and informed of everything else by Eager Eddie, our friendly, prerecorded man's voice. The built-in speech option allows you to run TTT on your computer, regardless of whether it has a speech synthesizer installed. In most cases, you don't even require a sound card to be installed on your computer, as TTT presents you with the option of playing its sound on the internal PC speaker--the speaker inside your computer on which all system beeps and whirs are heard. In fact, we originally designed TTT for blind and visually impaired users, but found that our sighted customers also enjoy having their computers talk to them while learning to type or increasing their typing speed. TTT consists of ten main menu items and twenty sub-menu options, which are arranged with the easiest first and the hardest last.=20 Under each menu, you are presented with a series of choices designed to take the repetition out of typing and keep it interesting. Here are just a few of the highlights of TTT: =F9 The LEARN THE KEYBOARD option--under the FIND KEYS menu--allows you to press any key or key combination on your keyboard and hear the name of that key spoken aloud. =F9 Under the VERY BASIC DRILLS menu, you can practice typing the keys on the home row of the keyboard, or type amusing words, phrases and sentences, consisting entirely of words which can be typed on the home row. =F9 Under the BASIC DRILLS menu, you are presented with a series of choices, allowing you to practice typing on specific areas of the keyboard. Rather than randomly selected letters, we have found words that are typed almost entirely on the area of the keyboard you wish practice with. =F9 By the time you enter the HARDER DRILLS menu, you will have the opportunity to type interesting sentences. These sentences are not all about the benefits of typing and working hard; rather, every sentence will present you with an interesting fact, anecdote, saying or moral which you will find absolutely fascinating. =F9 In both the VERY BASIC DRILLS and HARDER DRILLS menus, we have included special choices to allow you to practice typing numbers, since we have found that many people do not get enough practice typing numbers and end up developing hard-to-break, incorrect habits of reaching these keys. =F9 The MATH and SPELLING menus allow you to practice typing numbers and letters as the answers to questions asked by your computer. =F9 When you suspect that your typing speed is improving, you can always select the OPEN TYPING menu and have the computer tell you your current typing speed. =F9 If it is ever possible to get tired of practicing typing with the numerous choices already described, you even have the option of playing memory games under the GAMES menu! =F9 As well as allowing you to practice typing in the fun and interesting ways listed above, TTT also contains traditional typing drills for you to practice learning the locations of keys by repetition, such as typing drills like "asdf" and "qazaq". =F9 As is everything else in TTT, the drills you are asked to type are spoken aloud for you to repeat back to the computer. Remember: TTT isn't just another traditional typing tutor; it has all of the traditional drills and options contained in other typing tutors PLUS our new typing made fun program as well!=20 Before long, you will find yourself forgetting that you are using TTT to help you learn to type, because the interactive environment, the constant enthusiasm offered whenever you type something correctly, and the friendly, always encouraging voice of Eager Eddie will make learning to type the most enjoyable project you've ever undertaken! On a personal note, all of us here at I Can See Books are very fast and efficient typists, but still manage to get sidetracked for hours playing the various games and typing all of the drills in TTT. "Every option in the program is just so fun and addictive," says ICSB's secretary, "that I find myself spending all of my breaks in the program instead of catching up on my paperwork!" Technical requirements: IBM-compatible computer, 386 or better, 2.5 megabytes of free hard disk space, MS-DOS 4.0 or higher, and a 16-bit sound card (optional). If you do not have a sound card installed in your computer and wish to know whether TTT's built- in speech will play adequately on your internal PC speaker, please call us and we will help you determine whether your PC speaker has the appropriate volume to support the program's built-in speech system. Your copy of Talking Typing Teacher will come with a comprehensive disk and print manual and your choice of either a Braille or audio/cassette version of the manual. You can order your copy of TTT today by contacting us with your credit card number, expiration date, and the name of the card holder, or by sending a cheque or money order for $49.95 (Canadian funds), made payable to I Can See Books. I Can See Books 88 Captain Morgans Blvd. Nanaimo, British Columbia V9R 6R1 Canada Phone: (250) 753-3096 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] World Wide Web address: http://www.ncf.ca/~dr100 -- VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List. To join or leave the list, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message, simply type "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations. VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html - Visit the jfw ml web page: http://jfw.cjb.net
