Animated Step-by-Steps®

Monday, December 14, 2015

iPad Pro!

Apple has recently added the larger iPad Pro, to their roster of ipad devices. I’m excited about this addition because the larger screen is great for using the Animated Step-by-Steps™ with small groups of students. If you don’t have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom, the iPad Pro might be a feasible alternative allowing you to pace small groups of students through an activity set up in a station format. As each ASbyS is supported with text, animations, sound effects, and symbols (depending upon the version), meaningful differentiated instruction is now possible within a small group format. In case you are new to the Animated Step-by-Steps™ blog, the files work beautifully on the iPad using the free Microsoft PowerPoint app available in the Apple App Store. Go to http://apple.co/1OO5452 online to read about this product.

You may also wish to view a previous post, Previewing a Center Activity on the Interactive Whiteboard http://bit.ly/1NAw2uI for further information re: the use of Animated Step-by-Steps in an Activity Center/Station format. An Animated Step-by-Step Craft, such as Bottle Snowmen, for example, might be displayed on the iPad Pro providing a text- and symbol- rich format for pacing small groups of two to three students through the steps for constructing their own bottle snowman.

As I mentioned before, I am excited about this new addition to the iPad family.

You might just need to add the iPad Pro to your Holiday wish list!

…’til the next post … (new posts every Monday)

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Augmentative Communication Consultant

Speech-Language Pathologist

Special Educator

Sunday, December 6, 2015

More "Under the Hood" Stuff

In an earlier post, Under the Hood (http://bit.ly/1jR2KhF), I discussed the complex animation sequences that are required to make the animated steps look as realistic as possible. As you are well aware, each Animated Step-by-Step™ (ASbyS) incorporates several animations per page. The animations are sequentially programmed, i.e., each click will advance the program to the next animation. The sequential nature of the animations can be used in conjunction with the safe zone (http://bit.ly/1M1UCp5can) to make ASbyS perfect for giving a student using a switch a more active role in that group lesson. On the ‘down side’, however, you do have to be careful to not inadvertently touch the board as touching the interactive whiteboard (with anything other than the pen tool), will either trigger an animation or move you to the next page. “Yikes that’s not what I wanted to do!”

Occasionally a lesson lends itself to assigning sound to various graphics on the page.

For example, when you touch the colored clothing items on the page in I Spy with My Little Eye it gives you auditory feedback as to the correctness of your choice when asked to locate ‘something that is blue.” Similarly when you touch a printed word or a star in the Parts of the Mealworm lesson, that corresponding word will be spoken.

On the surface this ‘touch to produce audio’ feature looks easy enough but it is actually quite tricky given there is often also an animation sequence on the page. If you accurately touch the graphic it works great but if a child mispoints and touches outside the graphic you run the risk of the program advancing to the next animation or the next page depending upon where you are in the sequence. Yikes again!

Eventually I figured out the solution to this dilemma … create a large ‘safe zone’ that is positioned behind the audio-supported graphics. Now when that child with less than perfect targeting skills misses the target slightly the outcome is not devastating … it only produces an inert action (a brief silence) …that does not disrupt the program. Illustrated below are the ‘safe zones’ that lie behind the graphics with programmed actions to produce audio.

I’m sure this is more information that you actually wanted … or for that matter needed but it’s offered only to let you know that there is lot of ‘behind the scenes’ work necessary to make that Animated Step-by-Steps work for a broad range of students. Worth the effort? Most definitely! I want the Animated Step-by-Steps™ to be as good a fit as possible … for as many students as possible.

…’til the next post (new posts every Monday)