This post will look at some of the screen layout improvements in the Text Match component of version 3 of TaskMagic compared with previous versions, and in particular at how much better TaskMagic3 works with matching exercises with fewer than 16 matching items.

Previously, only matching exercises with 16 matching items filled the screen completely, and exercises with fewer than 16 items looked incomplete on the screen. What is more, files based on fewer matching items provided access to fewer exercises. This was a problem if your particular unit of work - or the lexical set you were working on - was based on fewer than 16 items. For younger learners, 16 lexical items in one exercise was often too much to take in.

See the images below comparing various exercise screens between versions 2 and 3 of TaskMagic, with a Text Match file based on 10 matching items.

In the TM2 version of Drag & Match above, the bottom half of the screen is empty. The TM3 version fills the screen, and the text size is bigger, auto-sizing to fit the available space.

3 in a row was only available in TM2 if you had 16 matching items. In TM3 you need a minimum of 9 matching items, providing a 3x3 grid, with 3x4 and 4x4 grids available if more matching items are included.

In Against the Clock and Pelmanism there are empty spaces around the screen in the TM2 Version, whereas the TM3 version fills the screen. The text size is bigger, auto-sizing to fit the available space, and text is centred vertically and horizontally.

Invaders and Spin are similarly improved.

And Type.

Football used to require a minimum of 12 inputs. It now works with 2 or more.

Tower Block used to require a minimum of 15 inputs. It now works with 8 or more.

Jump! is completely new to TaskMagic3.

As is Trainer - a vocab practice and testing activity.

Many of the other TaskMagic screens have all sorts of visual improvements. But there is one major improvement which affects all TaskMagic screens in all of the exercise groups. See below:

TaskMagic1 had no full screen mode (you could only see exercises in 800x600 resolution). A full-screen mode was introduced in TaskMagic2. BUT this did not centre screen components on wide screens such as modern monitors and laptop screens. See the TM2 version of Drag & Match above in full screen mode, where all the screen components are on the left of the screen. The TaskMagic3 screen is perfectly centred.

Another feature on many TaskMagic3 screens is the facility to change the number of items that appear on the screen (maximum 16, minimum 8).

This allows you to make the exercises easier for the students, reducing the number of options. And it's a good way of making the text appear larger on the screen, as text resizes automatically to fill the available space.

For details of these and many more improvements in TaskMagic3, see http://www.mdlsoft.co.uk/TMUpdate.htm