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Newstream Hotline consists of a very realistic stream of news reports coming hot off the press - a single computer and printer. It transforms the classroom into a hive of activity, like a real, busy newsroom. Combined with one of the other newstreams it comprises an explosively powerful package. Your Hotline program drives the computer printer as if it were a News Agency Terminal or Fax machine, printing out over 100 news items, and up to nine copies of each, so that one computer can service up to 60 students! A group of news-hungry reporters will attend a news conference every 20 minutes, run by a representative from one of the crisis groups, keeping the news groups up to date. Back in the newsroom students are experiencing the speed and pressure that they might find in a real news situation. A single computer can serve up to nine 'newspaper groups' of 5 students at the same time. This creates a lively, interactive atmosphere full of the questioning and decision making, simulating situations that happen in everyday life. Hotline can be used with all other newstream programs, - handling a nail-biting hijack, rescuing stranded astronauts or saving a party of school-children from a pot-holing disaster. Hotline can be used to fill a week of lessons with a single class, but it really comes alive as a special event for a whole year group, scheduled for a morning or afternoon (2-3 hours). |