| PCB
Wizard 1 Review |
| INSET, Autumn 1997 |
| |
When QuickTrack for the BBC Master was published
I realised I had found the definitive piece of PCB design software
for education: Its menus (an innovation in those days) meant
that my pupils found it easy to learn when they first met it
and, importantly, I found they hadn't forgotten how to use it
on the second and subsequent occasions; It wasn't full of those
'advanced' features that, while useful to professional designers
and draughters, simply obstruct pupils' understanding of what
they are trying to achieve in PCB design. This is not to say
that the software was limited (in the context of the available
technology!). Pupils were able to use it very efficiently to
design the PCBs for circuits of considerable complexity helped
by a range of features designed specifically for education contexts
– not least of these being a link to the Master's built in spreadsheet
that allowed pupils to cost their designs easily. |
|
| Much has changed since
then; computer technology has grown more sophisticated with
most of us now using 'WIMP' operating systems and I now teach
teachers more often than pupils. And I am regularly, and publicly,
found bemoaning the fact that I can’t find PCB design software
for Windows (Acorn users in education have been in a more fortunate
situation in this regard) that has the same friendliness for
pupils in schools as QuickTrack did. |
|
| Or I was. But then I
was sent a demo copy of PCB Wizard and realised that my search
was over. This is software that has clearly been created with
education in mind by designers who have allowed themselves to
be innovative. Just to whet the appetite (and persuade you too
to send for the demo discs) I will mention the comprehensive
control that teachers are given over the way that the software
presents itself to pupils (allowing it to be used with beginners
while still having the capability to satisfy advanced users),
the truly innovative 'Real World Layer' (I won't spoil your
pleasure by describing this to you – you have to see it), support
for pupils who are designing and modelling using a system based
approach and the ability to import circuit layouts from Crocodile
Clips as a rats nest. On this latter point, PCB Wizard doesn't
have autorouting built in which, in my view, is the right decision
for education, however it does mean that this rats nest has
to be sorted out by hand! |
|
| However this is not
too onerous a task with the tools provided; certainly not beyond
a pupil who is able to design and test circuits in Crocodile
Clips in the first place. Oh yes; it also has its own built
in 'Bill of Materials' which totals up the cost of the materials
and can be printed out as an order form. It’s even better than
QuickTrack... |
|
| During the Summer Nuffield
Design & Technology ran a series of electronics INSET courses
for teachers. I took the opportunity in these courses to talk
a little about computer aided PCB design and gave teachers rather
less than an hour to get to grips with PCB Wizard and undertake
some simple design. Noting that the majority of these teachers
did not describe themselves as experts in electronics, it is
a credit both to them and the software that they not only succeeded
in this task but also enjoyed it. |
|
Teachers are, in the
nicest sense, a critical group of testers and they were able
to report a few shortcomings in the capability of the software,
but this didn’t seem to diminish their opinion of it. Perhaps
most important is that when I reported these limitations back
to the authors the points were noted and have, I understand,
been addressed in the next version which will be a free upgrade.
This seems to me to be the way that software houses and teachers
should work together to create good software that supports children's
learning.  |
| |
| Torben Steeg |
| Department of Education,
University of Manchester |
| |
