Software for the PS/l
When IBM computers became available in Irish schools recently, it was in many ways the dawning of a new era. Naturally, teachers were delighted to have such modem technology at their disposal. Starved of resources, and painfully aware of the rapidly approaching 21st century, schools jumped at the chance to acquire such valuable hardware. But what about software?

All PS/l computers come equipped with Microsoft WorkS, which includes a powerful wordprocessor as well as an excellent database. Unfortunately, powerful as this software is, it was originally designed for use by adults in a work situation, and certainly not for use by 10- year olds whose only previous experience of computers was through playing arcade games. (Don't forget -computers aren't only for sixth class pupils!).

The best software for use in a primary school is the software that has been specifically designed for children; such software is (by definition) attrac- tive, easy-to-use, and more often than not has large typefaces. In a previous edition of Primary Computing I wrote about Newsmaster2, a user- friendly desktop publishing package accessible enough for senior class pupils, but which is also powerful enough to be used by the teacher to produce more elaborate documents. In this issue I wish to focus on two PS /1 packages which more than satisfy the criteria specified above - i.e. which are child-friendly, teacher-friendly, and powerful. The packages under review here are also trememdous value for money.

PaintSpa

PaintSpa isa drawing/painting package. Using either mouse or keyboard, the computer becomes an artist's studio. The accompanying manual is comprehensive and well-written, describing simply and accurately how pictures can be cre- ated, altered, saved, and printed.
Harware requirements.
Although this program is most effective on a colour screen, it will run perfectly well on a mono monitor and does not require a hard disk (Good news for those schools with only the basic model PS/l). Similarly, PaintSpa pictures will print perfectly well on a mono printer - though stunning results are possible if you have access to a colour printer.
Using the Main Control panel.
The main control panel contains a large number of options: freehand drawing, line drawing filling in, zooming in, and erasing as well as dif ferent types of polygons and brush strokes. An option is selected by moving a pointer oveLthe required title and clicking the mouse button. For instance, clicking on 'polys' brings up a submenu offering a choice for drawing squares, rectangles, or circles, of any size, which may be hollow, or filled in with any of a large selection of colours or patterns. Children will gain enormous pleasure from drawing pictures and from filling in their shapes with different colours and pat- terns. With a little practice, it is a simple matter to draw the sun, the sea, clouds, a tree, a boat, a house ...the list is endless. PaintSpa allows the child's imagination to come alive and find ex- pression in bright colourful shapes, lines, patterns, and designs.
Handling Mistakes
PaintSpa offers a number of options to erase mistakes: .clicking on the undo button erases the opera- tion of the previous command .clicking on rubber offers the choice of an eraser in up to eight different sizes (from tiny to large) in order to eradicate unwanted areas, simply by using the mouse to move the eraser over the selected area . .the canvas can be wiped totally clean in one go by clicking on the wipe canvas option.
Text
Text can be added anywhere on the screen, and in any of sixteen colours. There are five sizes of typeface to chose from, in bold or in italic. You also have control over the padding (space be- tween letters) and the leading (the vertical space between lines). Both PaintSpa and WriteOn allow the user to insert foreign accents.
Colour
The main area of the screen display contains the 'canvas'. Underneath this is the main control panel, and on the right hand vertical side, is the colour panel. This allows the user to choose (by clicking) from any ot sixteen different colours or thirty-two different patterns. These can then be used to draw, filL or type in text. As pupils pro~ss with the program, they can experiment with creating new patterns (Edit Pattern) or new colours (Mess Colours). They may also like to zoom in on an area of their work to fine-tune or retouch it. For the more meticulous, selecting the Grid option provides an invisible grid of horizontal and vertical lines on the canvas, for greater accuracy.
Using the mouse
While PaintSpa can be used quite readily with the keyboard, use of the mouse is recommended -it's faster and more natural. Personally I have found that practice with the mouse is essential if pupils are to gain maximum benefit from the program. A couple of preliminary sessions on clicking, dragging, and then drawing lines and polygons, are necessary to build the pupil's confidence and to obviate the danger of frus- tration.

Summary
PaintSpa is bright attractive, powerful, and versatile. It is easy to learn and to use. By stimulating the child's imagination and foster- ing appreciation of colour,shape, patterniand tone, it will add a new and exciting dimension to the work of any teacher. It should also provide an endless supply of eye-catching work to decorate the bare walls of classroom and corridor.

WriteOn

If there are still some bare patches on your walls, then WriteOn is a program that will provide a large supply of childrens' work to fill them. Just as PaintSpa brings the Art and Craft lesson and the computer togethel; so WriteOn is the ideal vehicle for children to generate text -stories, letters, projects, poems, newsletters, or scrap- books. Wordprocessing provides the pupil with the opportunity to produce his/her work in printed form, in a variety of typefaces and font-sizes. Spelling or grammatical errors can be corrected with the touch of a buttop (no ugly blobs or red biro marks!). Words can be inserted or deleted anywhere. Selected areas of text can be high- lighted or emphasised. With these advantages, even the weakest pupil can produce attractive, meritorious work. Pupils' confidence, motiva- tion, and job-satisfaction are guaranteed to in- crease.
Common features
PaintSpa and WriteOn are very different applications, but they have much in common. Both packages are child-friendly, appealing, and versatile. Both can be operated either by key- board or by mouse. Both are designed to allow the pupil to grow into the program i.e. from simple beginnings. to perform tasks of increas- ing coltlplexity. Saving, loading, and printing work is logical and straightforward. Partially completed work can be saved until the next work session, allowing actual printing to wait until 'perfection' has been achieved.
Compatability
A very worthwhile feature of the programs is that pictures created in PaintSpa can be imported onto the WriteOn page. A pupil can draw a picture on PaintSpa, write about the picture in WriteOn, and then combine both on the printed page. Such compatability though unusual, is desirable and highly commendable.
Features
WriteOncontains a small selection of pictures which can be imported directly onto the page. There are four different typestyles to choose from, and five type sizes. (Younger classes might use one of the larger sizes). Headlines can be selected in a larger size than that used for body text, and specific areas of text can be emphasised by selecting a larger size or a different typestyle. Any or all of the text can be in plain, bold, italic, or underline format. Selecting text for formatting is achieved simply by dragging the mouse over it. As WriteOn is fully WYSIWYG, any changes made Immediately appear on the screen -and whatever is on the screen is what appear on the final printed page.
Advanced options
WriteOn is designed to allow a wordprocessing novice to start with a simple uncluttered screen. As the pupil progresses and gains confidence, he can gradually gain access to more sophisti- cated features. These features -normally found in 'adult' wordprocessing programs -can now be introduced at the teacher's discretion. Such features include: .variable left and right hand margins .find and replace facility .page breaks and footers .tab stops .file imports from other wordprocessors In this way for example, while third class pupils can write simple stories in large letters, sixth class can produce more elaborate documents which may involve removing texVmoving text from one place to another, copying text (cut- paste-uncut), justifying text, or importing pictures onto the page.
Summary
Through use in the classroom, I have found WriteOn to be an ideal childrens ' wordprocessor for the IBM PSll computel: Unlike PaintSpa, it will not run on the basic model PSll due to insufficient memory. But its ease of use, versatil- ity, and attractiveuser-interface allow it to be used with classes at all levels and with pupils of all abilities. At £39 and £38 sterling respectively, WriteOn and PaintSpa represent excellent value for money. Pupils and teacher alike will find them enjoyable, challenging, and beneficial. The com- bination of power and user-friendliness make both programs ideal for use in primary schools. Don't be fooled into thinking that no good educational software packages exist for the PSI 1. The programs featured here represent just two of the superb packages available. I thoroughly recommend them both.