PROGRAMMED BY TEACHERS

It is interesting to see that my favourite programs this month were designed, written and produced by practising teachers. Andy Watson in Aberdeen and Bill Elliot in Plymouth, have both become aware that much of the educational software on the market is not really what teachers in schools are looking for, and so have come up with their own products. If you expect these to be amateurish, you’d be wrong — Expose and Nightmare/Potholer are both extremely professional packages which have been thoroughly tested in the classroom.

Andy Watson has been interested for many years in the potential of the computer in the classroom, and as a teacher of English, and more recently, working with remedial children, he has built up tremendous expertise in his field. Bill Elliot also, has reaped the benefits of his computing knowledge. Seventeen out of his class of twenty-eight children at Southway Junior School own Spectrums, and indeed, are avid readers of CRASH. Over to them for their comments on Potholer and Nightmare:

“I like Nightmare because of all the different monsters in it like the Number Gumber who knocks you for six.”
Ben Davey

“Every time you got killed by monsters you just couldn’t wait until your next go to find out what would happen next.”
Simon Rash

Nightmare has a lot of riddles and lots of different monsters. This game is very interesting for people with an imagination.”
Carl Bates

Pothole is a game for all the family. It is well put together and is a long game.”
Sarah Green

“It is good how you have to work out plans to get over a river and try to rescue your friends.”
Steven Morris

“I like it when the computer gives you funny remarks, then when you get clues, that is when your brain has to work.”
Jason Rowe