Pauline Whitehouse
Hernhill CE Primary School

We began with a brief whole class introduction, to show pupils how to access the program. They learned how to use the mouse pointer to select items from the menu or function icons. They were also shown how to build up a 'GO program' for the on-screen Roamer using the mouse pointer to operate the Roamer keys.

Following the introduction, pupils worked at the computer in small groups over a period of days, devising their own projects similar to those of Lesson 1. For the first group I chose pupils who were confident computer users. They worked with me and then acted as experts and 'trouble shooters' to support other groups using Roamer World.

Although they could have chosen to work on one of the project scenarios which come as an integral part of the Roamer World program, the most motivated groups were the ones that developed their own projects. However, one result of this open ended approach was that rather more time was spent using 'Paint' to create backgrounds than was actually spent programming Roamer instructions! One group developed the islands theme from another group's earlier work with the floor Roamer. They programmed the screen Roamer to move between some islands designed as a background to the working area.

As a follow up, the class were shown how to attach the linking cable and send GO programs written in Roamer World to the floor Roamer. We discussed how this facility could be used to record and develop GO programs, without the need to key in all the instructions again each time a change was made to one part of the program.