Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 12

by Riverdeep

Product Features

• Easy to Use
• Understandle Typing Tutor

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005MKSU
• Item model number: 380858
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 26, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,489 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #77 in Software > Education & Reference > Typing
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From Children's Software Revue® -- "Subscribe Now!"

It seems that the Mavis creators are never satisfied! Here is yet another version (number 12) of the already good Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Instruction begins with an assessment of the student's typing skills. Next, structured lessons are provided, always accompanied by a set of onscreen hands to model proper hand placement. Kids can visit the updated Media Center for video and instruction on ergonomic issues, or can go to the Game Hallway for arcade-style practice with a variety of engaging games. The program is highly effective at improving both speed and accuracy. New features for version 12 include bilingual Spanish/English instruction, an updated look for Mavis Beacon and her classroom and an expanded dictation practice feature. There is also an onscreen manual featuring the One Hand Typing Method for typists with the use of only one hand. Copyright © 2001 Children's Software Revue

Product Description

Boost your keyboarding skills with the #1 best selling typing software! Customized lessons become more challenging as your skills improve. Measures your progress with speed tests!

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but it could be better, January 15, 2002

By 

Shawn Weil - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 12 (CD-ROM)

I'm a long time Mavis fan - from version 5 on. I am a fairly fast and accurate typist, and much of the credit should go to the authors of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. However, it could be better.

Pro:
If you are an inexperienced typist, you will learn where to place your hands on the keyboard, which fingers do what, and how they work together. You will learn all of the symbols, numbers, and accessory keys. The diagnostic capabilities of the software will target lessons to your specific deficiencies.
The lessons are geared to either children, teens, or adults. Different users have different needs, and Mavis is at least sensitive to differences.

Con:
Little has changed for many versions, and some of the changes that have been made have not been for the better. For example, in earlier versions, you could see very detailed diagnostic info about your typing. Now, this info is watered down a bit.
The on screen font is ambiguous. "i" looks like "l" and "1" - a problem that is annoying when your typing accuracy is being evaluated.
The interface isn't clear for navigation. Menu options that should always be accessible require you to be in the correct mode.
When the software is installed, it does not give you the chance for a custom or advanced installation. You will find that Mavis is running in the background, and that a shortcut for AOL is on your desktop.
Although there are custom options in the program, they sometimes affect the lessons themselves. For example, if you do not want Mavis to read the instructions out loud, you can turn off the sound. However, when a dictation lesson is offered, you hear nothing.
No Dvorak training is available. This would be neat.

So, should you get this software if you are a "hunter/pecker?" Absolutely. Will you always be satisfied? Possibly not. Is there anything better? I don't think so.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It has an unsupported bug, September 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 12 (CD-ROM)

I found this program to be very helpful in helping me to type, but I must warn that it has a bug in which if you don't pass the final quiz at the beginner level it freezes up.
When I checked out the bug at the customer service site(support.learningco.com) the exact issue is adressed by telling you to do a ctrl + alt delete reboot your computer and try again if you fail the test.
As good as the concept may be, I don't appreciate throwing my hard earned money away on unsupported software. I think that if you are going to make something available for sale to the public then it should be free of bugs. If it isn't bug free, the least you should do is offer a patch!

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars God Bless Mavis Beacon, December 10, 2001

By 

TundraVision (o/~ from the Land of Sky Blue Waters o/~) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing 12 (CD-ROM)

As I said in my review of the no-longer-available Version 10, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing "is a Godsend for those who employ the `hunt & peck' method of typing - or some modified version thereof ;-) For many of you it may be unimaginable, but when I was in high school, Bill Gates and his contemporaries had yet to create the now ubiquitous PC revolution. Although we weren't quite toting stone tablets and chisels, it was still the relative `Dark Ages.' We had IBM Selectric typewriters sans `word wrap,' spell check, and all the other niceties of modern civilization. If one made an error ¾ of the way down the page, one ripped that page out of the machine and started it all over. It was very frustrating. My `business education' typing teacher was complete in her prim uptight bunned hair and equipped with a ruler to smack those students who - gasp! - dared look at the keys whilst typing. I dropped out of the class before she could ruin by otherwise sterling GPA - and have `fended for myself' since."

I got Version 10 of Mavis Beacon from our fine hosts here at Amazon.com because it was on sale (in preparation for the newest edition) and I figured "what the heck - it can't hurt!" I was "ecstatically pleased to report that I am typing this review at, for me, Indianapolis 500 speed, without looking at the keys! The online lessons show where finger placement should be. The drills and arcade games (so far the Penquins are my favorite) reinforce learning. I encourage anyone who would like to improve typing skills to get one of the editions of this series!"

Now I add: If you have never tried Mavis Beacon, Try it, you'll love it!

BUT, if you already have a previous version, this UPDATE may not be worth it. I was languishing in the 60's [wpm - not the decade.] I thought maybe if I updated the version, I would at least "graduate" to new paragraphs to practice on. The text for the typing lessons and the games have not changed. The colours have changed - for the worse. Version 12 promised a "Mavis Beacon Personal Coach," including "The Speed Gauge allows you to view your typing speed regardless of what program you are using. When typing an email or using a word processing program, the Personal Coach will track your progress. Each time you type a key, that key will be measured, allowing an immediate view of your typing speed." Nice selling point, but here I am, typing away in "Word," and that gauge over there is flatter than Bob Dole before Viagra®! The gauge registers if one simply lays on the space bar or backspace key, but otherwise is totally useless.

Problems of the prior version remain in this one. One I find particularly irksome is punctuation. She consistently does things like ")." My word processing needs to be right! That means that sentence punctuation goes first, then the close parenthesis! The sentence punctuation goes first, and then the close quote! Mavis does it wrong and marks the student off for doing it the correct way. This either leads to demerits for "mistakes" - which they are not - or inculcates incorrect punctuation in the typing student.

So, my recommendations are:
If you have not experienced Mavis Beacon, buy this, you'll love it!
If you are thinking about this for an upgrade, don't bother!