The new second edition LEARNING WITH COMPUTERS II (Level Orange, Grade 8) is a revision of the first edition preject-based text to cover Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010. There is also a companion text, LEARNING WITH COMPUTERS I (Level Green, Grade 7). This series for middle school students delivers a strong foundation in keyboarding and computer applications.

In this project based text, students are introduced to the Explorers Club where four young members of the club – Luis, Ray, Julie, and Lin – guide students on virtual explorations. Along the way, each student keeps a personal journal about their explorations. The text offers multiple opportunities to reinforce and maintain basic keyboarding, word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, database, graphics, and Internet skills. Students are also introduced to new grade-level appropriate computer skills based on the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS). Additionally, the text emphasizes research, reading, and writing activities relevant to social studies, science, math, and language arts curricula.

The text for use with Windows applications, is divided into 4 units; Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Presentations (Graphics, Multimedia, and Integration) and Databases. Each unit contains multiple projects (totaling 18 projects per text), plus an introductory project. Each project focuses on a group of grade-level appropriate objectives for particular computer applications. Several hands-on activities within each project are designed around these objectives.

This one-semester text can be used as a stand alone text or in conjunction with South-Western’s MicroType keyboarding software. MicroType is an engaging, easy-to-use program that teaches new-key learning and skill building. Features include 3-D animations, videos, and fun interactive games.