Animated Step-by-Steps®

Monday, January 25, 2016

Supporting a Literacy Group Using ASbyS - Dr. Caroline Musselwhite

I was thrilled to discover that Dr. Caroline Musselwhite was using an ASbyS to support her Literacy Group so I shamelessly begged her to write a guest blog post. Here 'tis ....

Most Fridays our Literacy Group meets, with students who are home-schooled because of medical issues. Students all use AAC, and have significant mobility and access needs. This year, we have been on a world tour, studying history, music, culture, and foods across several countries. During December, we compared holiday traditions for several of the regions that we had studied. In conjunction with our study, we read several texts (Hanukkah, Winter Holidays, Diwali), did a candle science experiment, and completed a word web for the word LIGHT.

But the most fun part of our morning was making . . . Potato Latkes! We used the animated Step by Step activity to support this, with great success. Students were focused and enjoyed both giving and watching the instructions. They also loved eating the latkes! I’ve highlighted a few features that were especially helpful.

Key Features That Supported Learning:

Text First – I am a big fan of showing text BEFORE you show any graphics. This activity shows text, and the graphics (photos, drawings, symbols) are not shown until AFTER the next selection is made. This means that adults can control reading, then confirming what has been read through graphics and animation
Range and Quality of Graphics – Graphics used in this activity included high-quality drawings of people and objects, plus photographs (e.g., frying pan), and symbols (e.g., PCS symbols) to extend learning. The combination of graphics and animation offered excellent comprehension support.

Animations – We used the Don Johnston switch interface, so that students could be in charge of the animations. The switch interface provided empowerment, and the animations supported meaning and engagement.

Well-Selected Sound Effects – Sound effects were very helpful for lengthening student engagement, and were well chosen to add ‘zip’ to the activity, without being annoying.

Caroline Musselwhite has a wealth of clinical information. Check out her work and the work of her talented colleagues at http://aacgirls.blogspot.com and http://aac-balancedliteracy.wikispaces.com

...'til the next post .... (new posts every Monday!)

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Monday, January 18, 2016

Imported into Keynote … Yikes! Where’s the Sounds?

The Animated Step-by-Steps™ are Microsoft PowerPoint files.

They are cross-platform, meaning they will work with both Windows-based and Mac-based PowerPoint applications. There are some subtle differences in how things look within each program …. but functionally … they are equivalent.

In addition, I’ve created the Animated Step-by-Steps™on a Mac using PowerPoint version 14.5.9, but have saved the files as PowerPoint Show files 1997-2004. This ensures that the file will be readable by earlier versions of PowerPoint. Again there may be some subtle differences if you are using a much earlier version of PowerPoint, but the Animated Step-by-Steps™ should continue to be ‘functional files’.

When I create the Animated Step-by-Steps™, I typically use .wav sound files rather than .aif files (the latter is native to the Mac platform). Although .wav is a format not typically associated with the Mac platform, the Mac version of PowerPoint is designed to accommodate .wav files to promote cross platform exchange.

Initially, I had hoped that the Animated Step-by-Step™ PowerPoint files would be an ‘easy import’ into Keynote, the Mac-based equivalent of PowerPoint.

I was genuinely disappointed when this was not the case. Not all the animations import (drats!!!) … and … .wav files do not play in Keynote (double drats!!!). I did experiment with using .mp3 files (which are reportedly cross platform) but it is my understanding that MP3 will not ‘embed’ within the PowerPoint program making file transfer more problematic; they must be linked to an outside folder.

Soooo Mac Users …. you have three options for viewing your Animated Step-by-Steps™:

1. purchase a current version of Microsoft PowerPoint

2. download an earlier Mac version of PowerPoint for free from the web.

3. download the free Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13 which allows you to view but not edit the Animated Step-by-Steps™. This third option might just be the simplest option.

Don’t forget … the Animated Step-by-Steps™ also display beautifully on iPads using the free Microsoft PowerPoint app

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-powerpoint/id586449534?mt=8

Although I have not tried it myself, there is a free Microsoft PowerPoint app for use with Android tablets! If you try this option, please let me know how it works with your Animated Step-by-Steps™.

http://microsoft-powerpoint.en.softonic.com/android

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

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