Hello!  Thank you for trying this program.     NT686
                                   
                                                msg ver:20 Nov 95,
                                         MGF2 variant of 12 Feb 96

The program is free. In return, let me know a few things? I am
trying to determine the best distribution channels for my shareware
products. Your feedback would be a big help. I won't inundate you with
junk mail!!! However, depending on early feedback, you may learn about
improved versions  of this as they become available. You may learn about
other products as they come along.

Questions: All are optional.... ANYTHING is better than nothing!

    a) How can I contact you? (Email preferred, snail-mail backup
          address welcomed as snail-mail is more likely to be
          forwarded if necessary.)
    b) From where did you obtain this program? (I may start a system
          of rewarding good distributors, and if you support your
          distributor, he/she stands the best chance of receiving
          further programs for you and others. This information will
          also help if it becomes necessary to circulate bug-fix info.)
    c) Did the program give you any problems? (I can't fix them if I
          don't hear about them!)
    d) What did you like? What could be better? What audience did you
          find enjoyed the program most? (Comments from the users would
          be welcome, too!)
    e) Anything you care to share about yourself and the context of your
          use of the program would also be welcome... I'll enjoy more
          whatever satisfaction you get from what I've created if
          you're not just an anonymous E-mail address!

Please: I know what using shareware is like... with the best intentions
    in the world, it is so easy to not "get around" to contacting authors.
    A minimal preliminary "receipt" for this would be much appreciated.
    The full review you hope to send me in due course will be very welcome,
    when it comes... but the quick comment you can get "out the door" now
    will be a big help in the meantime!

Please ignore this paragraph until you have answered questions 'a' and 'b'
    above! (Doing that is half of the 'cost' to you of this program...
    I did say it was ALMOST free!)
    
The other half of the cost: Please pass a copy of this on for me? I usually
    distribute my work in self-extracting files containing support
    documentation, data files, etc. If possible, I would be grateful if
    you distribute that.

Contacting me: I have a CompuServe account: 100664,1141. You can E-mail me
there from Internet, too: 100665.1141@compuserve.com

Snail-mail: TK Boyd (Tom), 7 Nelson Close, Tangmere,
            Chichester, W Sx, PO20 6FW, England
or PO Box 367, Essex, CT, 06526, USA. (The English address is best.)
Postcards welcome!

Please read the rest of this information sometime.... but you
can simply go on to the program now.

Me: (In case you're interested, or it helps you remember to respond
to my plea for help!) Born in the early 50's. Very lucky to attend
Pomfret School (CT, USA), which bravely bought a PDP-8 before most
schools had considered offering computing. That launched a lifelong
passion. I've been a teacher by career, moving towards computers as
the PC became affordable. I most enjoy teaching 10-13 yr olds, though
I have taught everything from 8-18. I've taught science, maths ('math'
in American) and computing. My career has been in English boarding schools.
My programs are written for my own satisfaction and for use in my own
teaching. When I say "they work", it is because I've used them with
pupils! However, turning them into commercial packages without rough
edges takes hours of additional work... If my attempts to generate a
reasonable income from that work fail, new products won't appear. This
may not be a great shame... but how will you know if you don't
encourage me??!

Other products: I have many good programs in various stages of polishing
for commercial release.

__________________________________
Already available... from my WWW site, or as follows >>>>>>>>>>>>

A program to help children become fluent in the addition tables. It
presents problems like 3+4=?, 5+2=?... like a thousand programs before
it!... BUT: it also only allows a limited amount of time for answering
the questions. The time limit can be adjusted by the user. Also, the digits
in the problem can be adjusted by the user, e.g. one digit can come from the
range 4-6 (inclusive) while the other comes from 0-7. The digit from the
first range will not always be the first digit in the problem.

Many children who think they "know" the addition tables have to think again
when they see their score when faced with the time limit. Being able to "get
the answer" is an important start. Knowing the tables means (to my pupils)
being able to answer without hesitation or counting through a series. If
enough schools indicate an interest, it is hoped to run an inter-school
championship someday.

Available by downloading from CompuServe Education Forum, file TMA9.EXE,
or by post from Tom Boyd, 7 Nelson Close, Tangmere, Chichester, W. Sx,
PO20  6FW, CompuServe 10065,1141. For IBMs & clones. Will run on minimal
machine.

Internet users can download it as follows:
For anonymous ftp, ftp over to archives.math.utk.edu
      change into the directory /software/msdos/k-12/tma9/
      get the file tma9.exe
For Gopher, gopher over to archives.math.utk.edu
  follow the sequence of menus:Software (Packages, Abstracts and Reviews)
                               MSDOS Software arranged by subjects
                               K-12 (Pre-Calculus)
                               TK Boyd's Addition Tables Trainer
On the WWW, use the URL:
       gopher://archives.math.utk.edu:70/11/software/msdos/k-12/tma9

A Windows program which gives a display looking like a 3 wheel combination
lock. However, the "wheels" have the alphabet on them, in order. The game
is to set the wheels to a word, and then click on the "that's a word" button.
Who can find the most words in the least time?

Spelling exerciser/ trainer: Created to help children learn the weekly
list of spellings that I hope every school encourages. Can be used for
many learning tasks... but requires situations where only one response
is right.

Mathematical word problems, e.g. "Elizabeth had 5 apples and lost 2. How many
does she have now?"

____________________________
Other products, nearly ready:>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A short-term-memory exercising game.

Multiple choice learning/ testing systems (two): Teacher produces
question sets with word processor. Pupils exercise their little grey
cells with them. As in many of my programs, immediate feedback and some
personalization of the computer's response to the pupil are features.

Database for bird identification.... British birds. This is a file of data,
you will need a program to access it, e.g. Borland Paradox.

____________________________________
Still some way from "out the door"...>>>>>>>>>>>>
A program to help children learn their arithmetic tables... with the computer
recording all previous answers by a given child, and tailoring the questions
given to that individual's strengths and needs.

A program to conduct surveys. Originally conceived for teacher assessment,
but flexible. It requires the user to repeatedly rank subsets of the people
or ideas being assessed on a variety of criteria. At the end, you may find
that "Mr. Atkinson" (or "Saving the environment") repeatedly comes out on
top for "Fair" (or "Worth giving up cars for") in preference to other people
or ideas. Because the questions are generated at random, the results are
less likely to be affected by the sequence of the questions. This is an
example of using large numbers of data to overcome the problem of "noise".

Other mathematics programs like the word problem program. They will
eventually be combined into a larger program that jumps about, giving the
user a "buffet" of different exercises to complete. It will be possible to
select the frequency of different items on the "menu".

A hardware/software solution to the problem of collecting information from
multiple choice forms.... It would, for instance, be able to "read" and
tabulate (British) National Lottery tickets.

Nearly lastly: I am also willing/ able to undertake implementing your own
ideas... but please don't underestimate the work involved in creating a
program! Modest goals are more achievable!! I prefer to create DOS programs
like this one... not everyone has the equipment to store/ run Windows
programs... but I can write Windows applications, too. I only work on IBM
compatible machines. Send me a sketch of what you want a program to do,
I'll comment... free!

Lastly:  I hope the program with this is fun and/or useful for you!!

                           Tom Boyd
