by Harold Berlfein, LACS

Professor Teaches Office XP Plus is a complete multimedia training program for the Office XP Suite. There are 9 separate tutorials on 9 CD-ROMs. These include the Office XP programs of Word, Excel, Power Point, Access, and Outlook and also Internet Explorer, and the Windows operating systems of Me, 98 and 2000. Since each of the CDs follows the same format, I have chosen the Outlook Tutorial to describe in depth for this review.

There is no manual. In each Jewel Box housing the CD for the particular tutorial, there is a registration card and on its back side instructions for installation and how to start and exit the tutorial.

For my computer which has AUTOPLAY, I simply put the CD in the drive, closed the drive and up came a query on the screen, "Do you want to install now?" When I answered, "Yes," I was given an option to change the folder and file in which the installed program would be placed, and the installation was on its way. There are also instructions for starting the program which requires the CD to be in the drive.

I have used Outlook for some time, mainly for email and as an address and phone book. Even in these areas with which I am familiar, I found the tutorials provided me with a better understanding of the organization of the various aspects of the program. The use of very good teaching methods and teaching aids distinguish these tutorials. Tutorial, uses an instructor’s voice explain details of the program. What he is saying is also shown on the screen and stays on after the voice stops. This enables you to get a second or third chance to absorb what he said. He then has you perform a relevant operation. Here the program makes use of a large red arrow and other aids making it easier to follow the teacher’s instructions. The use of quizzes, expanded definitions of what they call " Hot words" (technical expressions) indices, glossaries and a host of teaching aids make for an excellent learning experience.

Another nice feature is the student’s ability to return to the tutorial at a later time and simply by clicking the return button, be at the same spot he was at when he exited the program.

The features of a program are included in menus and commands. Knowing what a program can do for you frequently means what the program’s commands can do. During the tutorial’s learning by doing, there were occasions when I couldn’t find the correct button and I would just click a possible button. A window would come up indicating an error and directing me to the spot where the correct button was located. With this feature, I discovered the location of many commands I didn’t know existed and found the route to locate them.

My first impression was to suggest the need for a manual as a valuable supplement. However when I saw the modest price, I realized it might be a cost problem. If a printout of each of the frames were available at a modest cost, I would certainly buy those associated with selected tutorials. This printout would be very helpful where a series of buttons must be clicked to obtain a desired result.

The tutorials are not designed for reference. However, other aids which supplement the oral presentations can be used for that purpose. For example, there is a complete discussion on working with Tables in Word. I wanted to construct a simple table to keep tab on my passwords. The Index pointed me to the discussion which still lacked some answers which I found in the Help section of Word. To help the learning process, there is an Index, a Glossary, Chapter descriptions, and Highlights of what was learned in each Chapter.

Pentium PC or higher , Windows Me, 2000, 98, 95 or NT4, double speed CD-ROM Drive, 16 MB RAM available, 2-30 MB Hard Drive space available per application, 256 color VGA or higher display, sound card, and Speakers or a headphone, Mouse.

I would say the "Professor Teaches" tutorials are advantageous in providing a good orientation to a novice. They provide some additional help to someone who has been using the program by alerting the user s to features of the program of which they may be unaware, and providing knowledge of functions which can be accessed through menus and icons.

The average street price for all 9 CDs is $40, which seems very reasonable for what you are getting.

Individual Software Inc., 4255 Hopyard Road #2, Pleasanton, CA 94588 (925) 734 6767, http://www.individualsoftware.com

To bring this review current, I thought I should also comment on the Windows XP tutorial.

The Windows XP tutorial follows the same teaching format as the Office XP tutorials. . The eight chapters deal with Windows XP basics, customizing and using the desktop, working with files and folders, managing the computer, printing and networking, exploring the Internet, email and instant messaging and mastering media.

By the time I had listened to a number of the tutorials of the Office XP PLUS, I discovered how I could use some of the other features in the Windows XP tutorial to help solve problems in using the programs. For example, I like to use History to access a file whose name I have forgotten rather than Search. To learn how to bring up the session which shows how to access History when not on the Internet, I looked in the Index. By clicking on the word History, the session where it is discussed came up with very clear instructions. There is also a Glossary which is helpful. The summary at the end of each chapter is not only instructive, but also helps you decide whether you want to get more details by listening to the chapter completely.

The Windows XP Tutorial covers Windows XP Home Edition and advanced features of the Windows XP Professional plus Internet Explorer 6. It provides an excellent way to become familiar with the many new features of the Windows XP operating system. The instructional methods are very good and at a very nominal cost.