CT stands for Classroom Tools because the latest version of this ever popular software is designed for whole-class teaching, both on an interactive whiteboard and within an ICT suite. But then hasn’t this always been a program ideal for that purpose? The working area was, and is, a clean, white space that fills the screen. You put the cursor where you want to work then select the necessary tool for the job in hand. It isn’t, nor ever was, a case of opening different applications for different tasks because everything was always available from within the same working space. Distinctively different yet distinctively simple.
Happily most of that difference has survived into this present incarnation. When you open the program you get a white space that fills the screen and a toolbar across the top. In previous versions that toolbar scrolled rapidly left and right to get to the tool you wanted. In this version you click on “Toolbar Control” and select the one you need - and what a selection it is. There are no less than seven specific applications available from within the workspace, from the “General” which still retains the tool to speak any text on screen, to the particular, the “Turtle” or the “Database.” Also included in the bundle are time limited trial copies of “IdeasMap” and “Timeline” which are very useful add-ons and Textease Movies which opens separately although your films can then be incorporated into the other applications.
The beauty of this system is that if you are working on one area and need the tools from another you don’t bring up a new program, just a new set of tools. So you can mix a spreadsheet with a paint program (to illustrate the objects) or a logo style turtle with a word-processor (to make links between spelling groups). Or even put up two versions of a database, one a datasheet the other branching. But you don’t have to use several applications simultaneously, the beauty of this system is that it puts you in charge of what is available and when, whether it is a single application or many, you decide the tools to work with.
Those tools sometimes work a little differently from more commonplace suites of applications, although in some cases more intuitively. To help new users short “Getting Started” guides are available and very helpful video clips on the Softease website. Any difficulties will soon be overcome as you begin to learn a slightly different way of doing things.
Overall this development remains an impressive piece of software, with a clean, uncluttered interface and a wealth of tools to use, everything you could want to deliver both the ICT curriculum itself and everything else besides. What is also innovative is that these tools are now available beyond the school. For a comparatively small annual fee (given the potential number of users) all members of the school community can download the suite to use at home, making Textease CT seamless in more ways than one.
|
Contacts and prices
Textease Studio CT
Softease Stand C56
www.softease.com
Prices: £199 + £70 for additional users
Ratings
Fitness for purpose 5/5
Ease of use 4/5
Features 5/5
Quality 4/5
Value for money 4/5
|
