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For Apple Macintosh Computers

Mathpad from IntelliTools (Now for Mac and Windows)

MathPad can be accessed with keyboard, mouse, and especially with IntelliKeys, Touch Windows or with switches. It involves working onscreen with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Students can practise and learn about maths equations whilst completing problems on their Macintosh computer. They can decide when to borrow, carry or show a remainder, with all their working out clearly displayed onscreen, or printed as a hard copy. The program has numerous access features. Navigation is very simple and straightforward. An automatic scanning option can be used with students who use a switch interface or who wish to use a switch with IntelliKeys.

MathPad has a variety of size, font and colour options from which to choose. Preset font sizes of 18, 24, 36 and 48 point can be set quickly, or the font size changed in the Size menu. The style of font can also be changed to bold, italic, outline or shadowed. Any system font can be selected (e.g. Helvetica, Victorian Cursive Script). It is ideal for users who are visually impaired, as it is a voiced program. You can speak entries, rows and or the entire problem, or have it read problems automatically for you. Background, line and text colours can be changed at any time to suit the user's preference. Even a high contrast feature is available.

There are pre-packaged Problem Lists, including two levels of difficulty in each sample list for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These are ready to answer, or can be referred to as sample lists. Teachers can design their own lists, and make them as elementary or as complex as they require. Problem Lists can be re-edited to suit individual differences and user preferences.

You can turn on features such as Regroup, Remainder and Decimal Point. A Menu Protection option provides teachers and parents with the ability to prevent easy access to the menus and desktop while the student is using MathPad. You can hide or show the Toolbar and a Keypad feature is available (i.e. an onscreen numeric keypad for mouse, Touch Window and Trackball users). You can set default settings to suit your specific needs.

MathPad is a very versatile program and caters directly to the maths needs of primary school aged children, especially those who require switch or alternate access. It has many innovative features, and is easy to use. It can be used as a Maths Sheet generator program as well. All computation is performed by the student, though. MathPad will check whether the problem has been answered correctly. You can then print a problem, groups of problems as well as the list of problems to be solved. MathPad promotes inclusion, as all students can benefit from practising their Maths.

Show Me Math from Attainment Co

The Show Me Math software can be purchased as a complete package, or in three separate programs; Show Me Addition/Subtraction, Show me Multiplication, Show Me Division. Packaged on 3.5" disks, the series contains assessment and instruction modules. It is available for Apple Macintosh computers.

Maths problems appear onscreen as if written on a large "chalkboard". From an initial Welcome Screen, the user clicks on a circular shaped coloured Math Button from the bottom of the screen, or can go straight to Quiz mode. If you choose an operation, a screen appears, announced in a female voice. A maths problem is displayed as if written in white chalk on a black board, with answers scrolling vertically after the "equals" sign. The scrolled numbers can be made to move fast or slow. Students need only press the space bar to choose the number revealed in the target area (with a yellow box drawn around it) or click with mouse or touch with a Touch Window. If the number is incorrect, a low "beep" is heard. The number is removed from the scrolled list. Eventually, the child will answer correctly after five attempts. Answers are greeted with "Good job", or "Good work" displayed in a speech bubble onscreen as well as spoken.

If students need support, students can click on Show Me. A visual representation of the problem is shown where numbers appear as objects. They are manipulated onscreen in an animated "lesson", with voiced feedback. This is a great feature. Problems will continually appear until you go back to the menu screen.

The Quiz option gives you problems, with ten (10) displayed. The Show Me feature is not available. This is where you test the student. You only get one chance to answer correctly. There is no visual or auditory feedback either. At the end of the ten problems, you are given the number correctly answered out of ten and a percentage score. Show Quiz Scores can be selected at any time to reveal progress scores for all operations attempted in a session. You can turn on and off the speech, sound effects, music and cover screen. If you wish, you can hide the menu bar (e.g. to avoid young users going to the file menu and quitting the program).

In Show Me Options, you can select from 10, 25 or 50 problem mode. Problems can be displayed vertically or horizontally. In the animated movie section, you can select ants, beans or sheep graphics as the "counters". Numbers can be shown as words or digits, with extra pauses added in between problems. Problem types can be either "Fill in the blank" or "Multiple choice".

Show Me Math caters to children who require practise and repetition with the four operations. It is so simple to use for teachers, parents and children.

Incorporating a number of useful features, clearly articulated voice and pleasant graphics (especially in the tutorial section), it motivates young students to achieve and help build their basic maths skills, knowledge and competency.