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A New Package – All About Animals!
PC-Compatible Computers running MS Windows 95 or later
By
Gerry Kennedy: Computer Consultant in Education - SPECTRONICS
(Vic)
This is the second
innovative software package from Education by Design; a
Melbourne based software company. Animals Galore deserves a
Triple "A" rating. It has just been released at the
time of writing this review. Similar in design and programming style
to Food For Thought, it features
COMPIC pictographs. It has an ‘animals’ theme. The four
captivating activities include
COMPIC images of animals found in the zoo, on the farm, in the
sea as well as typical pets. The rich multi-sensory components used
throughout the program will appeal to teachers and parents alike.
Students of all ages, but more especially younger children, will
thoroughly enjoy the various multimedia aspects of the program. It
is totally voiced, can be customised to suit individual users
preferences and is easy to use.
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Target
Audience
It caters to children who are either learning and/or using
COMPIC in special settings.
It is ideal for children who are included in mainstream
classrooms who have special needs, as well as catering to infant
classrooms in the learning of numbers, animals, language,
sentence construction and visual/auditory discrimination.
Teenagers and adults with intellectual disabilities will also
discover that Animals Galore will compliment their
programs, especially if they have an interest in animals and
pets. It incorporates activities that talk, auditory
discrimination tasks that promote listening, counting games from
1-10 and from 11-20, and matching exercises. Children can
succeed with appropriate task that can be both challenging and
enjoyable, customised to meet their visual, access and learning
requirements. |
Featuring
COMPIC
Animals Galore was designed to meet classroom needs. It is
not as fully featured as the highly acclaimed Food For Thought.
It definitely offers very good value for money though. The focus is
on animals. It includes identification (visual and auditory, using
voice, text and pictographs), counting, listening to animal sounds
as well as constructing sentences by selecting one or two words to
complete a sentence. The young female voice heard throughout the
activities is clear and well articulated. The instructions,
directions, prompts and rewards are voiced using high quality
reproduction, being digitised voice or "human quality" sound. In
this delightful Australian software package, the spelling,
pronunciations and cultural references adhere to the local market
expectations.
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A section provides
information on customising the program, a section mentions using
Animals Galore with IntelliKeys and
external switches, as well as the entire Vocabulary List
containing 65 words is listed. Number words 1 through 20 are
also used in the Counting Activity. The combined 85 words can be
used in Extension Activities on and off the computer and some of
these are included in this very informative and practical
"hands-on" User Guide. |
The Activities
Talk
A language activity: A number of leading and ending phrases can be
selected from Levels 1 and 2. Users select a COMPIC from Level 1
options, including "I like …", "I have a pet …", "I saw a …" using
singular and plural terms. The various animals are randomly
displayed at the bottom of the screen in a "choice bar". A "more"
pictograph can be selected to provide different animal pictographs.
Level 2 includes "On the farm, I saw a …", "At the zoo", "At the
beach" and "In the garden". The use of prepositions, descriptions of
locations, concepts of place and position as well as examination of
typical animal habitats and environments can be introduced in an
entertaining fashion. The background can be changed to a solid
colour or kept in the default mode.
Listen
In this activity, you choose the animal and listen to the sound or
you listen to the sound first and then match it to the animal. It
promotes listening, assists in increases attention span and
concentration on a task, with learning to "wait". Children learn to
discriminate between sounds and identify the correct animal by
matching the word/pictograph to the appropriate sound that’s heard
through the speaker or headset.
Count
Using numbers from 1 to 20, you choose from Level 1 or 2. The voice
directs you to place animals in various environments, such as "Put 6
horses on the farm", or "Put 6 elephants in the zoo". There are four
different environments from which to choose, including the zoo,
garden, farm and sea, each with their own colourful background
graphic. This activity aids in developing counting skills, number
recognition and one-to-one correspondence. Maths concepts are
introduced in a fun way, with children keen to participate and
learn.
Match
In the first level, you match the pictographs with an auditory and
visual cue. Level 2 has no cues and so it is more challenging. Match
helps develop visual and auditory discrimination using words and
pictures.
Using Animals Galore in Different
Settings
Trainers in adult settings will quickly realise the many practical
uses and applications using this software with adults who have
intellectual and/or physical disabilities. In some activities,
Animals Galore provides opportunities for clients to select and
match their favorite pets and animals. Access is solved due to
various settings available. Users can use either mouse, the standard
QWERTY keyboard (i.e. using arrow keys and the space bar) or by
scanning (using the spacebar or alternate input device such as
IntelliKeys, Concept Keyboard, TouchWindow or a
Discover:Switch). Scanning times of 2, 5, 10 and 20 second
delays can be set to accommodate clients who have a physical
disability. They can elect to press their mouse button, space bar or
switch (using IntelliKeys).
This easy to master program can
help teachers and parents introduce animal names, their associated
pictographs, as well as have students practise spelling skills and
number skills. The figure ground employed throughout the program is
well designed and uncluttered. The background colour can be
maintained as per the default, filled in a solid colour or textured.
This feature caters to users who are vision impaired. The COMPIC
pictographs are consistently placed in the choice bar, and are
accessed in each activity in the same manner, dependent on the input
device chosen.
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Using Alternate
Devices
Using IntelliKeys, the two switch ports can also be
programmed in a manner of minutes, with Port 1 being the
spacebar, and Port 2 being an arrow key. Similarly,
Concept Keyboard overlays can be created using
Informax or Concept Plus overlay designer programs.
Children who use a touch screen can begin work immediately.
On-screen keyboards can be positioned to provide access for
mouth or head pointers, using software such as Switch
Clicker 3. These programs can emulate keyboard presses,
providing access using a single switch. Discover:Switch
from Don Johnston, can be programmed to enable interaction using
a simple scanning array. |
Animals Galore offers four
entertaining and exciting activities using the animals theme. The
package is suitable for a wide range of users, and caters to many
abilities, yet is aware of users who have special learning and
access needs. It is a voiced program designed in Australia, and
assists in teaching COMPIC. It is ideal when used with other
resources. It does not have facilities for printing as it has been
designed to provide "on computer" learning experiences.
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