Keytec will be showing off its new USB slimline touchscreen at the BETT show in Olympia next week, and after using it for two weeks in school we have to give it a big thumbs-up!

This USB version at last brings a stable touchscreen to both Mac and PC, and is a breeze to install and configure for a relatively affordable price of pound;199. But it’s when you stop to think about the pupils who need a touchscreen that suddenly the appeal goes through the roof - laptops!

For pupils who may have the range of learning needs that point to using a touchscreen, very often there is also a need to bring the computer to them rather than trying to organise a dedicated computer area and adapting it to make it accessible. A laptop with a touchscreen can be brought into any environment you need for the pupil, and if you are using wireless networking, such as Apple’s Airport, you can have full access to your school’s network and the Internet for whatever resources you need.

Pupils here at Frank Wise School in Banbury have been using the touchscreen for work from basic HyperStudio stacks designed to encourage awareness of cause and effect through to communication with symbols and creative expression with programs like Dabbler and KidPix.

The actual screen itself manages to avoid the reflective glare that we used to see on earlier touchscreens but in doing so there is a slight loss of resolution. From what we have seen with our pupils this trade-off is perfectly acceptable. The connection to the USB port is via a slim connector on the lower right side, and while we found no problems during our trial we were concerned that a slight pull would disconnect it and may damage it. This can be readily protected with masking tape but it may be something Keytec can address when releasing the next version.

The screen is light and slim and attaches with two Velcro straps at the top plus two more at the sides, giving it a firm balance, and on a laptop such as the new iBook it sits comfortably in place despite being larger than the screen. The connection from the touchscreen to the USB port is fairly short, and although just long enough for the iMac port it does require a USB extension cable for the iBook laptop. Keytec might consider offering longer cables or adding an extension cable into the package. The touchscreens come in sizes from 13 inch to 19 inch to work with Macintosh, Linux and Windows. We’ll definitely be looking at these for our growing number of iBooks around the school!

Keytec Magic Touch Add-on ScreensBETT stands: D50 amp; E50 (RM) + B40 amp; SN60 (REM)Price: All laptop screens pound;199: others pound;199-pound;399 www.magictouchscreens.co.uk