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Note: To go to the TTAPS Home/Student User edition for parents buying for the use of this program at home click here.

Touch typing tutor designed to teach the fundamentals of good typing to children.

Are your students tired of struggling with typing software written for adult Americans? Now could be the time for a change! TTAPS has been the typing tutor of choice for increasing numbers of Australian schools since it was first released three years ago. Designed by an Australian teacher specifically for school-aged students, TTAPS uses an Australian voice and animated hands on a clear screen keyboard to explain fingering. Sixteen carefully paced lessons take students gently through the typing process. Keys are practised in a wide variety of contexts to maintain student interest and promote reading and punctuation skills. In this program the emphasis is on accuracy and games such as 'Cannon', 'The Rope', 'Picture Puzzle' and 'Stamp' are provided at the end of each lesson to provide additional fun and further reinforce keys taught.

This program has many excellent features for students with ^low vision. Like any program, modifications may need to be made for individual students. TTAPS would be suitable for primary school age students and above who require a beginning touch typing program. This program is currently being used by the New South Wales and Victorian Department of Education Visiting Teachers for students with vision impairments.

Features for students:

• Teacher designed
• Proper words and sentences used in practice activities
• Clear, uncluttered screen presentation
• The text is bold, black and displayed on a white background. Font sizes vary between N24 and N48
• This software is compatible with Zoomtext screen enlargement software
• Large print (N40 and N24) worksheets
• This program has sound, eg a voice tells the students which keys to type, some of the directions are voiced and sound rewards are used to encourage students
• The instructions are centred, which can be an advantage when using screen enlarging software, eg at x2 enlargement with Zoomtext most of the instructions still fit on the screen
• The games sections offers students choice and reinforces keys learnt in the lesson in a fun way
• The booklet, which comes with the program, has some good ideas for teaching touch typing
• The program has a simple structure, which is easy to follow and the activities move from one section to another in a predictable way
• Australian voice
• Emphasis on accuracy

Features for teachers:

• CD-ROM is Windows/Macintosh OS dual format
• Easy to install
• User friendly instruction booklet
• The structure of the program consists of 16 lessons
• Each lesson contains an introduction and six parts to practise the keys
• At the end of the lesson there are four games and a copy sheet (in large print) for the student to complete
• When the student has completed these sections they can move on to the next lesson
• The student’s progress is monitored throughout the program
• Feedback is given for accuracy and typing rates
• Positive reinforcement is used to help students remain on task
• The program keeps individual records of the student’s progress

Suitable for age 7-17.

Windows and Macintosh Dual platform CDROM

• MS® Windows®
• Windows® 98, Me, XP, Vista
• An extra disc is supplied which is compatible with Vista OS
• Pentium computer 16MB RAM
• CDROM drive
• SoundBlaster 16 compatible sound card
• VGA (256 colours) driver and monitor 640x480 screen resolution
• Macintosh® PC
• MacIntosh® OS v8.1 or later; and supported in Mac OS X classic environment
• Power PC 233 MHz (minimum) Power PC 500 MHz or better (recommended)
• 32 MB RAM
• Monitor 640x480 screen resolution (16 bit colour)
• CDROM drive
• Sound Card
• 270 MB of available disc space

Ordering:
For the single user and multi-user options you can use our online ordering selector at the bottom of the page by clicking on the pull down menu showing Single, 5 User, 10 User, 20 User and Unlimited Site Licence options. The +$ amount is the increase over the single user CDROM price with a multi-user licence (see table below). Please select either 'Australia Post Express Parcel' or "Registered Post' for your preferred freight option (same cost factor). After product, quantity (default value is 1) and freight selection click the 'Add to Cart' button. This takes you to the registration & payment pages where you can choose to pay by credit card (secure PAYPAL system) or direct deposit. Customers can also place an order online then phone (0386829945) their credit card details through to finalise the transaction or simply phone in their complete order details during business hours (9-5.30 Mon-Fri).

School ordering of single user and multi-user licence options.
Organisations may fax a purchase order to East West (0390178931) rather than use the online ordering system. Schools, hospitals and other government bodies will then be sent an invoice with the delivered goods. See the table directly below for the final ex. GST price that eligible organizations will pay after recovering the initial GST outlay. Note that schools with a pre-existing single user CDROM can upgrade to a multi-user copy by simply faxing a purchase order for the desired multi-user licence. The prices for these are shown in the table below. It's not possible to order the licence only option from the website.

*The School Editions include: the User Manual, Teacher's Handbook, Copy Sheets, Student Project Activity Booklet, Black Line Master Record-keeping Charts and Cut-out Student Awards. The Home Users version has a User Manual and Copy Sheets.

• The keyboard graphic shows a beige keyboard with black print to show the keys
• You may need to show students finger placement if they have difficulty with the graphics
• Play “home keys” game as suggested on P.5 of the teachers handbook before starting lessons
• Have an enlarged copy of the keyboard to show the student if required
• Directions at the beginning and the end of the lesson
• Not all directions have voice output
• A few instructions appear in bold red (N24) print on a light brown background, ie you may need to read out directions to some students
• The game “Crack the Code” does not have any voice output and the print size is between N18-N24
• The print for the lesson is black on a white background
• The code keys are red with white letters
• If this game is not accessible to the student you can skip it by going into Student Records screen (hold down control and shift keys) and moving the student onto the next section