Bulletin Number One 1986

A solution was found in public domain and user-supported software. These can be had for about US$6 (less than HK$50) each, complete with a manual on the same disk. For public domain software, the user's commitment ends there. The satisfied user of user-supported software is expected to become a registered user by paying about US$50. Today's automated offices require software in three categories. We have chosen one user-supported software package from each category: Wordprocessing: Document generation, editing and printing. Software: PC WRITE by Bob Wallace, from Quicksoft; Database Management: The handling of ordered lists and files. Software: PC-FILE by Jim Button, from Buttonware; Spreadsheet computing: A new invention specifically for personal computers, combining input, compute and report generation by handling an array of cells. Each cell has a dual personality: i t may contain a hidden formula, but shows the result of the execution of the formula. Software: PC-CALC also by Jim Button of Buttonware. The chosen software are modern, ultra-friendly, quality packages i n brilliant colour, easy to learn and to use. They are certainly adequate for the average student and staff. UCMCL owns over a hundred public domain diskettes covering a variety of subjects. For the serious worker who need them for research, there are in addition about thirty commercial packages including the most popular ones, and special packages like Mastertype for teaching typewriting, and even a software package to help students with the Graduate Record Examination in the United States. Two - hou r short classes Each of the three basic software packages have been taught in two physical hours. The students, so to speak, are given the choice of either going to a movie, or taking the class which is bound to benefit them for the rest of their lives. The Laboratory, equipped with a whiteboard and a sound system, is the classroom. The teacher is supported by about five roving assistants who peek over the shoulders of the fifty-four students to help them when needed. Three students are assigned to each machine. The student is immersed in the operation environment from the very start, and learns more than ten times faster. So to speak, learning efficiency is bought with machine access. The coverage is not intended to be encyclopaedic; indeed, only the essentials are discussed. Nevertheless, enough is taught to instill confidence, and to help the student to learn the rest by himself and to teach others. The students are not encouraged to take notes, for a user guide is supplied to every student. This guide, intended for possible self-study, offers a quick reference to main features of the system, foolproof procedures and concise summaries, with particular attention on correct procedures and error fixups. The user guides are being combined into a UCMCL Handbook. Both the author and Dr. H.C. Kuan, Dean of the Faculty of Social Science, are teachers of these short classes. Thus far these short classes have been taught successfully to about twelve per cent of the College community. On l y a beginning Computer literacy, critical for the future of Hong Kong and her citizens, in this age of human- engineered machines and user-friendly software, no longer demands month-long courses, but only the time for a movie; there is no excuse not to try. The ability to use application packages wit h confidence, while no substitute for course work or general-purpose programming, already goes far towards allaying computer phobia and appreciating the power of the computer in the service of mankind, and helping the machine-user to produce better reports, to get faster results, to make better decisions, and even to think more lucidly. The United College Microcomputer Laboratory and its related programmes to promote computer literacy is clearly a step in the right direction. But this is only a modest first step. The Laboratory currently offers less than one hour per person per week for our College with more than 1 ， 800 students and more than 200 staff. There are already signs of saturation. But the Laboratory is still growing. Soon to be added will be six more personal computers, and before long all the IBM PCs will be equipped with Chinese language cards. Some machines may soon have communication gear to link with the large mainframe IBM 3031 machines in the Computer Services Centre, to participate in library projects. Towards efficient teaching, the Laboratory may even add an RGB (red-green-blue) projector to put computer images on the screen directly. —Tien-chi Chen ， Head of United College 12 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS