Writers’ Workshop

This is a literacy product aimed at media-aware young people. Taking several different models of writing from publishing and broadcasting, the user takes on a ‘brief’ and writes a piece according to clear specifications. The program looks good and runs smoothly with a consistent design. ‘Video shorts’ invites you to write a voice-over for a video clip, and then record it to hard disc with the aid of an auto-cue running on the screen. ‘Sound bytes’ takes you through the process of writing and recording a two minute radio feature. ‘Write on’ gives you a brief for a newspaper article, and ‘Photo Copy’ requires you to design and write the text for a photo story. In ‘Face Value’ you choose a photograph of a face and write a piece about the character you have chosen, and ‘Radioactivity’ and ‘I Site’ provide frameworks for factual radio features and web-based autobiography.

Many of the activities would need the extra pieces of equipment that come with multimedia PCs, a sound card, microphone and headset. Every part of the program is accessible in four languages, so it should be very useful for modern language teaching.

I have described this program in some detail, because it is an excellent piece of software for learning: a very effective resource for English and cross-curricular literacy in Key Stage 3. It opens up the possibility of working in genres which would otherwise require very expensive technology, and does so in a supportive but challenging way. It promotes the vital notion of the computer as a space for effective initial writing to take place. Every section is supported by writing tips and access to a library of information and materials. You do not need access to an additional word processor, as the writing program of choice is a web page (HTML) editor called Webford. Unlike a word-processor, this does not include a spell checker. Writing to a web page may seem a little strange at first, but it does have distinct advantages. Everything that a pupil writes is still available for printing out, but is also ready made for web publishing. It gives writing for the Internet a very normal place in the student’s IT skills.

Reviewed by Andrew Rudd for Literacy and Language magazine

Granada Learning. PC. £79 (+VAT) for a five user licence. Available from Granada Learning, Granada Television, Quay Street, Manchester, M60 9EA. Tel: 0161 8272927