Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Platinum V20 (Mac/PC)

Product Details

• Delivery Destinations: Visit the Delivery Destinations Help page to see where this item can be delivered.
• ASIN: B001AZ7Q10
• Release Date: 20 July 2008
  

By : Avanquest Software
Price : £14.99

Product Description

Manufacturer's Description
Type Better - Email Faster - Work Smarter!With a complete re-design, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Deluxe 20 may not look familiar, but we promise that Mavis Beacon still provides guaranteed improvements in only 2 weeks.
Mavis Beacon's unrivaled typing training program has great features that will benefit any user, from students just starting out to professionals looking to squeeze a few more emails into the work day.
Dynamic personal instruction automatically places and adjusts the lesson plans to users' individual performance12 fun ; challenging typing games that will keep users coming backOver 325 practice session optionsDetailed tracking ; reporting
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Deluxe 20 is all new!We've done what we didn't think was possible - we've made Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing even better!
Upgraders from Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 17 will find an all-new user interface and re-designed features and functionality. Here are just some of the improvements we've made to the leading typing instruction program available:
Core Curriculum ImprovementsWhile the core curriculum within Mavis Beacon remains as effective as ever, we've introduced a Curriculum Map to make it easier for users to see where they are in the overall training program.
Re-designed GamesMavis Beacon Teaches Typing 20 Deluxe features 12 re-designed games. Each game provides a fun and motivating way to practice and improve typing skills.
More Practice ContentWith over 325 different sessions, passages and tests, there is something for everyone in the Practice Area. Content includes passages and sessions from literary classics, historical autobiographies, poetry and more!
Key Features:
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing has been the leading typing instruction application for at least a decade by offering:
Dynamic Personal InstructionLeverage Mavis Beacon's renowned Adaptive Response Technology to run through the core training curriculum and maximize your improvements in the shortest time possible. Mavis Beacon will automatically place you in the lessons based on your current skill level and adjust your path as you progress through the training program.
Practice AreaMavis Beacon lets you choose what you use to practice your typing. Select from hundreds of articles and passages covering a wide variety of topics and subjects including literary classics, history, autobiographies and poetry.
Typing GamesWith a total of 12 typing games designed to improve your speed, accuracy and/or rhythm, the Games Area is sure to be a favorite destination for any user.
Progress Tracking ; ReportingMavis Beacon tracks your performance over time and provides a series of reports so that you can understand and review your progress.
The Summary report gives a snapshot of the users' cumulative performance.Keyboard Proficiencies show detailed performance by individual key, allowing users to see on which keys they need improvement.The Curriculum Map provides users with a view of where they are within the Mavis Beacon Training Program.Progress Over Time charts users' performance on milestone lessons over an extended period, giving users a view of how much they have improved.
Spanish ModeIn Spanish Mode, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing presents help, reports and more in Spanish, allowing Spanish- and English-language learners to get more out of their time with Mavis Beacon.
Key Features:
Keyboarding skills have never been more important for students. Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing has many features that help young typists stay motivated!
12 fun ; challenging games will keep kids motivatedFun practice sessions including IM/text messages, emoticons, nursery rhymes and excerpts from classic books and stories including Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Little WomenImport and listen to your favorite MP3 while you type
MAVIS BEACON TEACHES TYPING V 20 PLATINUM
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Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Platinum V20 (Mac/PC)

 

Product Features

• Learn essential keyboarding skills or improve overall typing efficiency
• 350 personalized lessons, exercises and tests
• Detailed progress reports assist in identifying strengths and weaknesses
• 12 Entertaining typing games
• Bilingual instruction (English ; Spanish)

Customer Reviews

This is a well-structured product. It's clear and simple to set up and use (installed on my Vista-based laptop within 3 minutes) and provides a good range of exercises, assessments, skill levels, games and rewards - in the form of print-off certificates - to help users feel that their efforts are taking themselves somewhere. The instructions are clear and concise and it is easy enough to edit out unwanted features (such as the disappointing BLAH muzak that plays as a default to accompany exercises).
Users should be aware, however, that the program is clearly designed for a US market. This does have some impact on the content of the product: the American English spellings of several words used make it particularly necessary for UK users to ensure that they pay careful attention to typing out what appears on screen in front of them... rather than relying on knowledge of how a word is spelt in British English. This probably should make no odds to an experienced touch-typist, however as someone who was not typing trained, but is trying to improve their keyboard skills, I have been finding this quite hard to master... especially since, in some exercises, the difference between a UK and US spelling can result in a whole section of text being marked as mistyped.

As a lifelong `two-index-finger-tapper' I thought it was about time I learnt how to type properly. I have in fact tried a similar CD touch typing course in the past but found it boring and quickly lost patience with it. Mavis Beacon's `Teaches Typing Platinum' is a considerable improvement on this and I was surprised to find how effective it was.
To begin with the disc loads up no problem. You are then presented with a colourful and graphically pleasing interface that simply guides you through the preliminaries and after a couple of tests the programme then assesses your current ability. You are then given increasingly difficult routines to copy and are tested at various intervals to gauge your progress. Depending on your progress further letter keys will be added (or taken away) and new exercises introduced. If you are not particularly happy with a certain routine you can repeat it as many times as you wish till you feel up to speed (and there is an indicator that shows your current words-per-minute-speed). After every few exercise the tutor invites you to play a simple videogame-style exercise that tests your familiarity with the newly learnt keys. The learning curve can, at times, be steep but the programme never leaves you behind and will suggest going over some of the previous exercises before moving on.
Anyway, what you really want to know is `does it work?' Well, having used it for an hour or so a day for the past few days I am pleased to find that it is indeed very effective. In fact even within the first couple of hours I was finding myself typing simple words and phrases without looking at the keyboard. I was then able to concentrate on increasing the speed. I have still a long way to go before I could claim to be a proficient touch-typer but, I genuinely believe if you are reasonably dedicated to following the programme, you should expect great results before too long. Sure, the syrupy, American over-the-top remarks of encouragement (Good Job! You're doing amazing - keep it up! etc) can get on your wick at times but that's a small quibble in what is otherwise a great little package.
Recommended.

 

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Platinum V20 (Mac/PC)