Just a quick little release which fixes a bug where the unlock screen wasn't displaying correctly on some computers (thanks Russel).

Also updated the art work to the fresh new design used on the website. Here is the cute mascot designed by our amazing designer, my magnificent wife, Salihan.

If you have Termites installed then it should tell you an update is available every time it starts up.

If you don't have it installed then why not!? Go to http://termitesapp.com/download and download the greatest software in the world for creating classroom seating charts.

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Have just uploaded a new version of Termites; v1.9.0.

I'm very happy because it adds two features I've been wanting to get in for a long time!

First feature highlights student relationships so you SEE how they are spread around the room at a glance. Just hover your mouse over a student on the classroom plan view and good relationship will be highlighted in shades of green, and bad relationships in shades of red.

Second feature makes it easier for new users to get a feel for the software. There is a new item on the Help menu to generate fake students with random relationships, and a fairly standard looking classroom plan. Now a new user just has to click that, then go to the plan view and click the Generate button to see the magic happen.

Also fixed a couple more bugs.

Just download the new version and install right over top of the old one on your computer, should be no dramas.

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Released new versions of Termites and Monkey into the wild yesterday.

Only one visible change; Both will now automagically check for new updates when the software starts up. Don't want you to miss out on any new features!

Fixed a few bugs behind the scenes and continued to clean up the code preparing for the big version 2 changes.

The trial process has also been tweaked slightly. Both Monkey and Termites are now fully functional for one week. After that the file access and printing features are disabled. Previously there was no fully functional period. I hope this allows you to evaluate the software more thoroughly.

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Jason de Nys has done a great review of Termites and Monkey which has been referenced by Paul McMahon. Check them out here and here. I'm pleased to find out that educators are finding the software useful in the classroom. Although I get immediate feedback from colleagues, somehow international feedback gives me a real buzz. Thanks!

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It is currently being used in another international study. Hundreds of University and Secondary students from Nanjing in China to Schools in South Africa are being tested. The purpose is to compare the scientific literacy results of previous paper based assessments with the new software. Many many hours of hand marking have already been saved. And more importantly many students have had their language difficulties diagnosed. It's great to be involved in such an innovative and useful project.

Check out this screenshot.

We will be offering a public release soon but if you are an institution interested in being involved in the study please contact Mitch or myself. Keep an eye on thinkliteracy.com for now.

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In my opinion the best use for Monkey is creating faculty class lists of students in a school. Here are the steps:

1. Prepare a CSV file of student data and import it into Monkey
2. Record the web of relationships among the students
3. Update the group size to the number and size of the classes you need
4. To stream the classes select the "Group Ability" checkbox
5. Click generate and watch the Monkey place each student into their best class

You will now be left with a set optimum classes, students with bad relationships in separate classes and students with good relationships in the same class. If you chose to stream then each class will also contain students clustered around an average mark, but the software would have still done its best to keep those relationships in order.

Good, one less barrier to students achieving their educational outcomes and one less headache for school executives and teachers. There is nothing worse than spending every lesson on behaviour management, lets get those class lists right this time.

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Monkey is finished and has just been released, I hope you enjoy it.

It's software to create productive groups, think Termites for groups. You provide the names and their relationships, and it places people with the good relationships into the same group and bad relationships into different groups. It will even cluster people of similar ability into the same group if you want.

You can read about it and download it from tinyrock.com/monkey

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A teacher contacted me to share a funny story about her class. She allowed the students to use Termites and they all spontaneously started creating arrangements for inanimate objects like shoes, musicians, cars, and movies. She said the criteria for the relationships was quite amusing! Seemingly unrelated objects had strong relationships according to the students.

I hadn't considered using Termites as a teaching resource. But in hindsite it's a great idea. To make the lesson a bit more structured and rewarding, perhaps the class could create seating plans for members of the UN, historical figures, or countries. It should help the students gain a deeper understanding about relationships.

Ofcourse the serious and intended use is for the teacher to create seating plans for the kids. However, allowing the kids to suggest their own relationships works too and is another way to engage the class.

It's great to see the software being used for unintended purposes. It was designed from the beginning to be simple and general for that very reason.

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Tiny Rock now has photos. You can check them out here. It's mainly screenshots at the moment, but photos will follow soon. Bonus! Salihan, our fantastic designer/wife, also has stacks of great photos.

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It's that time of year again, new classes with unknown students. So how do you create an effective seating plan when you don't know the student relationships?

Even though I could easily have used Termites to create a random arrangement, I wanted to do better.

So yesterday I tried an experiment in one of my classes, a student directed seating plan. Each student wrote down two students they work well with, and two students they don't work so well with. I then added these relationships to Termites and generated a seating plan.

Surprisingly, the student-suggested-relationships produced a seating plan which was quite good. Better than I could have drawn up with pen-and-paper anyway. And now with a bit of tweaking after today's lesson the final arrangement looks great.

At last I can confirm a hunch and recommend that students should have more input into the class seating plan, especially in the early stages of the year. It increases their ownership and demonstrates that you trust and respect them. A great start towards that quality learning environment they deserve.

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