Software Review of:
Typing Instructor 

One difference I noticed right away between this program and other typing programs that I’ve used was the variety in the type of activities. I considered this a big plus for Typing Instructor since boredom is a big factor in the repetitive nature of typing, especially in learning to type. The attractive settings and user friendly screens let the learner interact easily, switching to new instructional components as needed. To illustrate, let’s go to the opening screen. Here you will see the Terminal, or a section of an airport concourse, complete with sounds of arriving and departing passenger planes. Your main focus is drawn to the ticket desk where you receive boarding passes to take a lesson or a test. To the left of the ticket counter are the Information Booth and Virtual Adventures typing games arcade. To the right of the counter is the Magazine Kiosk, and in front of that the Tour sign. 

If you click on the Lesson monitor behind the ticket counter, you’ll board an airplane where a typing lesson awaits. Using a virtual laptop computer, you work through various lessons, building a foundation for touch typing. Each lesson introduces a new set of keys until you are using all of them. Placed conveniently around the laptop, several icons provide you with useful information, like your progress in the lesson, up-to-date words per minute, proper finger placement, etc. Your Lesson Passenger Ticket comes personalized with your name, suggestions on how to improve, suggested lessons, and music, if you’d like some. Detail lessons results, including three forms of Words Per Minute (adjusted, peak, and average) and accuracy, are displayed once you’ve completed, paused, or stopped a lesson. 

Clicking on the Tests monitor, which sits besides the Lesson monitor behind the ticket counter, flies you to a destination to take a typing test. You may choose from among twelve country scenes and music, if desired. You may also select a desired difficulty level and time limit. For the creative individual, constructing a personalized test with original text is another option. And if you want to download test material from the Internet, you just click on the Online button. Test results are displayed in detailed manner similar to the way that Lesson results are shown. 

Back at the main terminal, if you go to the Information Booth, you are given the option of choosing from 6 resources: Typing Instructor Online, History of Typing movie, How to Type lesson, Passport, Results, and White Courtesy Phone. The Typing Instructor Online allows you to download additional practice material from the Internet. The History of Typing movie covers the origin of typing. The How to Type lesson provides audio and video explanations of fundamentals, like what to expect, how to set individual goals, what is correct posture and positioning of hands, strategies for improving speed and accuracy, and, one of my favorites, exercises to relax and reduce stress. The Passport function on the Information Booth console allows you to review, add or delete typists, or change your goal WPM. Clicking on Results button will give a detailed analysis of your typing results, and, finally, you have a courtesy phone to pick should you need assistance with anything. 

Moving to the left of the Information Booth, you enter the Virtual Adventure Arcade. This area contains 7 interactive, typing games: Cliffhanger, Tomb Typer, Xtreme Typing, Gone Fishin’, The Wild West, Flotsam Fighter, and Sea Adventure. Each game is designed to entertain while you polish your speed and accuracy. As usual, you may choose among several levels of difficulty. My favorite was Tomb Typer where you’re given a set amount of time to pick up treasure while safely navigating an obstacle course inside a cavernous structure. You can post your game score to the Internet and compare your results with other typists. 

On the right side of the ticket counter, you’ll find the Magazine Kiosk where you may select from among 8 different subjects: entertainment, history, legal, literature, children’s classics, medical, sports, and online magazines. Each subject has its own menu of articles. You can practice typing skills based on hundreds of articles that represent a very broad assortment of written content and style. And, once again, you have the option of typing to preselected music or music of your own. 

On the learning and enjoyment scale, Typing Instructor has to rank near the top. I really enjoyed its flexible, easy to use approach that works well for beginners or seasoned typists who want to improve their proficiency. Their practice materials are some the best. And for the price ($29.99), you can’t go wrong. It certainly is about time that someone has found a way to make learning to type more that a dull routine. With this program, it is an adventure! 

Typing Instructor is recommended for ages 7 and up. It comes with a user guide which describes individual components and makes navigating a breeze. Toll free technical support and customer service is available at 1-800-331-3313. Suggested requirements to use the program include: 486 or Pentium PC or higher; Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups 3.11; 8 MB RAM available; 5 MB hard drive space available;  double speed CD-ROM drive; 256 color VGA or higher display; sound card; speakers; mouse. 

CompUSA sells Typing Instructor, Deluxe Edition V. 9 for $29.99. You can also purchase it for the same price (plus shipping charges) by calling the company toll free at 1-800-822-3522 or by going to their Web site at http://www.individualsoftware.com  The company’s mailing address is

Individual Software Inc.
4255 Hopyard Road, #2
Pleasanton, Ca 94588-9900. 
Fax orders 1-925-734-8337.