LINC upgrades many of its popular software titles on a regular basis, allowing the software to run on newer computers with advanced operating systems.Ý The latest upgrade that LINC has added to its software loan library is Early Learning I (EL1) by Marblesoft. Early Learning 1 is targeted to pre-reading students with disabilities, and offers dozens of options to the teacher to custom tailor the program to any studentís needs.Ý Early Learnng I includes built-in support for all the most popular input devices, including keyboard, mouse, TouchWindow, IntelliKeys and single- or dual-switch scanning.

The four activities included in the software are Matching Colors, Learning Shapes, Counting Numbers and Letter Match. Ý

Matching Colors teaches recognition and identification of eight basic colors. The teacher can select from 4 to 12 colors to practice.

Learning Shapes allows students to learn to identify shapes by sight and sound. The teacher selects from 4 to 12 shapes to practice.

Counting Numbers teaches recognition of numbers and counting. Allows the student to practice counting numbers from 0 to 20. The software has special prompts for blind students.

Letter Match allows students learn the alphabet in both upper and lower case, teaches letters from A to Z and offers color pictures to be used for reinforcement.

Jean Wunder, LINCís Special Education Projects Manager, said, ìWhat I like best about this software is its simple interface. With relative ease, you can change some of the details (background, color, size) depending on the childís needs or preferences.î She praises its user-friendliness and said navigating through the different levels is trouble-free. A teacher or parent can go back or forward to allow the student to review skills that need more attention.