Thinking
of giving software this holiday?
Try one of these great Learning
Company products.
This month we are looking at seven different software
packages, all of which are designed to run on PCs using
Windows 3.x or Windows 95. They come from The Learning
Company, formerly SoftKey International, Inc., and may
still be available under the name of Compton’s, MECC
or SoftKey. The products reviewed are but a mere
representation of all the wonderful offerings available
from The Learning Company. We are differing from our
normal review format and presenting these products by
target audience, without acknowledgment that they can
really be used by anyone needing a program with their
functional attributes. The areas we are going to group
them into are: Small Office-Home Office (SOHO),
Reference, Learning and Fun for the Family.
Small Office-Home Office (SOHO):
Labels Unlimited version 2, and Business Card Pro are a
must for anyone running a small business, be it at home
or not. These will run on the most basic PC. The only
requirement is the need for a CD ROM drive to take
advantage of the extensive clipart, graphics and font
libraries included. The totality of features that sets
these programs apart from the competition are as follows:
Labels Unlimited:
Product includes - 2600 clipart images and 100 fonts.
Quick Data Entry - Eliminates the need to set up a
database when you need just a few labels. Merge Assistant
- Simplifies the process of setting up a mail merge which
automatically fills information gaps (e.g. address line
2) when it finds an empty field. Auto Alignment &
Text Effects - Makes short work out of arranging objects
on a label, as well as creating special visual effects
(e.g. shadow, skew, squeeze and wrap text. Bar Code
Support - Many premade styles in full support of postal,
industry std. and serial number bar codes.
Business Card Pro:
Product includes - 500 clipart images, 20 scalable
TrueType fonts, as well as hundreds of professional
layouts and design variations. Use Standard Business Card
Stock - -Coordinates with stock business cards from Avery
®, PaperDirect ®, BeaverPrints ® and Z-Grafix ®.
Special Effects - Shadow, skew, squeeze and wrap text.
Easy Alignment - Snap-to-grid for easy layout and design.
Print Options - Color or black-and-white output user
selectable. Powerful employee database - Included within
the program.
Not only can these two fine products save you money by
not having to use the services of a commercial printer,
but they will allow you the convenience of printing at
will and in any quantity you desire. Making changes for
your own personal look is no longer a problem and you can
easily eliminate this needless expense.
Reference:
Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia 1997 and
Interactive World Atlas are targeted at the home PC user,
but are full featured enough to be a positive contributor
to any office needing quick access to general
geographical information. Despite their reasonable price,
$50 or less on the street, they are full-featured and far
superior to low priced offerings and give-always. It has
been many years since I last used an encyclopedia and, as
they often say on TV, "You’ve come a long way
baby!" If you do not already have a current version
of an encyclopedia and/or World Atlas, then this is the
time to consider buying one. The features found in these
two comprehensive, fine products are as follow:
Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia 1997:
Product Includes - More than 37,000 articles, numerous
videos, animations, sideshows and maps. Direct Web site
links - For automatic monthly information updates, using
any commercial online service or Internet access
software, providing direct, one-button access to the
Compton’s NewMedia Forum. Powerful Information
Search Engine - Conduct Boolean and advanced query
searches (e.g. - type "*ball" to find instances
of "baseball," "football,"
"basketball," etc., or if you are interested in
learning about sharks, other than the Great White type,
"sharks not great white" to find the relevant
information. Planetarium - You can now view a night sky
from any place on earth, during any time of the year by
visiting your own planetarium. You can learn star names,
see constellation shapes and boundaries, and learn about
astronomical phenomena with links to articles within the
encyclopedia. Play Star Quest - Go on a mission to locate
and photograph an astronomical object while you are
immersed in a 3D environment to find the object in the
night sky. Show Maker - Create your own multimedia shows
by combining and arranging any information/media included
in the encyclopedia. You can add audio and create visual
design effects by adding borders and making title
screens. There is no limit to the possibilities offered
here.
Compton’s Interactive World Atlas:
Product Includes - 600+ maps, 60 cultural videos, 1500
photographs, 750 music and sound clips, and 200 national
flags. Different Map Types - 286 political maps showing
boundaries and cities, 150 elevation maps illustrating
topology features, and 158 satellite images of land
without cloud cover. Customize Maps for any purpose -
Add/Remove labels for country names, oceans, rivers,
cities, etc. 3D locator globe - Would-be world travelers
can spin the globe, then point and click to be
transported to selected locations. Valuable Scholastic
Information - In-depth profiles of every country in the
world, complete with detailed essays on each
country’s people, history, culture, government,
economy and more. Direct Web site links - For automatic
monthly information updates using any commercial online
service or Internet access software., providing direct
Web site links with information about countries and
continents, and bulletin boards for exchanging travel
tips.
The programs can make getting information and learning
easy and make the experience fun at the same time. I was
up and running the programs in no time.
Learning and Fun for the
Family:
The people at The Learning Company have come up with the
way to make rudimentary learning a fun experience that
any boy or girl can do at his or her own pace. We took a
look at three educational programs that do make learning
fun and offer you a brief insight into what they entail.
Reader Rabbit’s Interactive Reading Journey
2
Thirty Original Storybooks - Strengthen essential reading
skills by either following the written word along with
the narrator or reading themselves and record it for
future playback. Good for children from the ages 2-8.
Sharpen comprehension, prediction and response skills -
Booker Frog asks children questions about what is going
to happen and what did happen. Response can be recorded
for future playback. Discover letter and sound patterns -
Rhyming and sorting activities help children learn ending
letter combinations and two-consonant combinations.
Children help Ben the Ant build yummy sandwiches as they
learn rhyming skills and the ability to quickly recognize
patterns. Connecting sounds - Children learn how word
parts are put together to form bigger words as they place
single-syllable caterpillars together to create
multi-syllable words. Building reading bridges - To
access reading comprehension and word recognition skills,
children help Buster the Car find words he needs to
create a bridge over to the next reading land. Tracking
progress - A proficiency-tracking system monitors
children’s progress as they journey through the
activities, assessing comprehension before they can move
to the next unit. Parents determine the level of
proficiency required, or can turn off the tracking
altogether to encourage free exploration through trial
and discovery.
Math Rabbit:
Top Selling early math program 1993-1996, according to PC
Data - For children ready for pre-school through first
grade math in a fun circus tent setting. Counting,
addition, subtraction and number recognition skills -
Children, ages 4-7, skill development/enhancement made
easy with lessons that the child will use longer and more
frequently, as they are fun, than you would have ever
imagined and they can do it on their own. Spoken Help -
Available throughout the game, helps pre-readers play
with ease. Game Fun - There are four different game/shows
to entertain your child and all of the games have
easy-to-use customization options, which allow parents to
change the difficulty level of the activities and help
children focus on specific types of math problems. At the
prize center, spectacular sound effects bring dancing
bears, mischievous trolls and skateboarding poodles to
life and reward the player’s efforts. The
Games/Shows are: The Calliope Counting Game - Learn
numbers through using music on the calliope by counting
to a number, appearing on a calliope pipe, from 1-8.
Increase the level of difficulty so your child will be
writing his/her own music using numbers and then
listening to their tune play. The activity helps children
learn simple number concepts with visual and auditory
reinforcement. The Tightrope Show - Help the Math Rabbit
perform his high-wire act by matching sets of objects,
numbers or math problems to a target number. The activity
focuses on addition and subtraction skills and on
understanding the concept of equivalence. The Sea Lion
Show - Children practice adding one and two digit
numbers. As the problems are solved correctly, a pattern
emerges. This activity lays the foundation for
multiplication by presenting number patterns created by
adding or subtracting constants. The Balloon Matching
Game - Children test their math and memory skills by
taking aim at the balloons and matching all the pairs
together. The customization option includes choosing from
8-12 panels which display matching sets of numbers,
groups of objects, written names of numbers or math
problems. The activity sharpens children’s memory
skills while at the same time learning to recognize
patterns.
The Oregon Trail:
Multimedia features galore - More than 5000
photo-realistic images, exciting full motion video,
motion picture-quality soundtrack to bring the sights and
sounds of the Old West to life. Historical problem
solving - Actively engages players in problem solving by
recreating the excitement and challenge of a true
historical saga. For all children (at heart) from 8-80
years old. Ever changing game play - The action is
different each time you travel from 1840 to 1860 and
venture across hundreds of possible westward routes on
the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. Relive the
exciting historical past - Ride in wagon trains, barter
for clothing, navigate raging rivers, and interview
historical characters for survival tips.
Education was as much fun as when I tried these fine
products. Not only did they hold my interest for a
never-ending number of hours, but I found them
informative, as well as making learning easy and fun.
Conclusions and Observations:
Every program was easy to load and a quick look in the
package contents soon put aside any setup
questions/uncertainties. System requirements are modest
by today’s standards and many older systems can
easily operate any of these fine programs. Make this a PC
(Perfect Christmas) for the loved ones in your life by
giving one of these fine gifts for use at home or in
business.
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