The Classroom

Rating: A
Have you ever tried to teach children in grades K-3 Mircosoft Word? Not just keyboarding or story writing, but actually have them use Word. To do so you need the patiatice of a saint, and a BIG bottle of aspirin on hand. You could use other programs like storybook weaver and kids works to teach basic word processing skills, but this can lead to other problems:

1. If you don’t have the same program on your computer you can’t view the file.
2. Many homes don’t have these programs so the child can continue to practice newly learned skills.
3. They will eventually need to learn MS Word.

Well the folks at eWord in Australia came up with a solution. A suite of programs then called “Max’s Sandbox” added a “kid friendly” interface to the three most popular Office Programs – Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. This was then upgraded to “Max’s Toolbox” which Scholastic purchased the North American distribution rights and Scholastic Keys was born!

Regardless of what name you call it (because I’m Canadian I’ll stick with the Scholastic Keys moniker) this fantastic program contains 3 parts:

1. Max Write (Word)
2. Max Show (PowerPoint)
3. Max Count (Excel)

You also get Max Paint and Max Recorder that allows children to create their own pictures (either freehand or with templates and stamps) and to record their own audio track.

With Max Show I have seen Grade One students create simple PowerPoint presentations that were printed off to create predictable books for them to read with our Kindergarten class. With Max Write Grade Two students have written longer stories then they did on paper, inserting appropriate graphics as they went (a skill some teachers have yet to master). These students were able to do their basic word processing and keyboarding skills, while learning the basic interface of one of the most used (and complex) suite of programs around.

The “key” to the success of Scholastic Keys is in the limitations they put on the features offered. Extras like the contextual menu, hyperlinks, even the highlighter and format painter are removed (and how often did you REALLY use them anyway?) The old standbys of cut, paste, save, and print remain – but the icons are larger and easier to identify. One MAJOR oversight that was missed in Sandbox, but remedied in Keys is the spell check feature. But large icons and fewer choices are not the only way Scholastic Keys makes Office simple for the little ones to use.

One of the hardest things for Division One students is file management, especially over a network (the F drive takes on a whole new meaning for Grade One teachers). Scholastic Keys remedies this by not giving students a choice. Once a specific folder has been set (this can be tricky… but I’ll get to that later) Keys creates three folders in which it stores all it’s files – One for each program: Max Write, Max Show, and Max Count. When a student goes to open a file, they don’t just read the file name, but get to see a “thumbnail” (a small picture) of their first page, so they can recognize it visually as well. These features make file management for little ones a breeze.

Setting up that file management however is not something for the beginner to do. Scholastic Keys is defaulted to place the three folders into the My Documents folder. Great! Unless you have 200 students using that same My Documents folder. Depending on how your computer lab is set up, this may not pose a problem. However if it does, it’s not the easiest thing for the lay person to change. Don’t get me wrong, it can be done, and anyone with a reasonable knowledge of networks can do it in 30 seconds flat, but I highly suggest that everyone else leaves it to the techies.

That said Scholastic Keys is one of the greatest new programs that has come across my desk in a long time. While the first day or two can prove to be a challenge for the really young ones, they learn extremely fast, and really enjoy the experience. The programs are easy to use, and seeing as the students are REALLY using the Office Suite, create files that 95% of computers can read and use. And when they go home they can still point out to Mommy and Daddy the save, cut, paste, and even insert clip art icons, and continue practicing at home (with out having to buy new programs). I whole-heartedly give Scholastic Keys an A, and recommend it for all elementary schools.

Pros:
Easy interface for Div I students
Actually uses Office Programs
Max Paint allows kids to extend their creativity
Unlimited educational opportunities
Cons:
Can be a bit tricky for young kids at first.
Set up in a network environment can be a slight challenge in certian situations.
No Mac version.