Web Posted on: January 7, 1999

Developing a Multimedia Curriculum Using IntelliPics for Windows

Suzanne Feit
IntelliTools South
Simi Valley, CA

Scott Schafer
IntelliTools
Novato, CA

Overview

IntelliPics is both a multimedia educational program and an authoring tool. It's ideal for reinforcing early learning concepts. Children love IntelliPics! They enjoy making pictures move, grow, and multiply. They like to hear the computer speak in a familiar voice - their teachers' or their own.

Older students can use IntelliPics for preparing science and social studies reports and for making multimedia presentations. By selecting keys on an overlay, a student can access text and graphics to learn and reinforce core curriculum concepts. When combined with Overlay Maker(, a drawing tool to make custom overlays for the IntelliKeys( keyboard, IntelliPics can easily be used to create a wide variety of activities for children with special needs.

In this tutorial, participants will create an IntelliPics Transportation activity that involves importing graphics, sounds, text, and background pictures, as well as creating a small animation. In making this activity, participants will take advantage of IntelliPics' built-in scanning features. Next, they will use Overlay Maker to instantly create an overlay for use with IntelliKeys. Finally, they will create a quiz which will help students use the Transportation activity to learn more about vehicles.

This is not all. The IntelliTools Word Wide Web Activity Exchange at www.intellitools.com has many IntelliPics activities which were created by teachers, therapists, and trainers from around the world. These activities, many of which are on a CD-ROM participants will receive, provide a rich opportunity to see how IntelliPics is being used in the classroom.

Participants will learn how activities already created with IntelliPics for the Macintosh can be converted to the Windows platform by using the IntelliPics Converter located on the IntelliPics Windows Installer. The Converter must be installed into a Macintosh to convert Macintosh files to Window. The converted files can be transferred to a Windows machine. The Overlay Maker files can also be converted and transferred.

Creating an IntelliPics Activity

Participants will use a tutorial to create an IntelliPics activity to help students explore and learn about cars, buses, and other types of vehicles.

The activity will feature four picture items. Other modifiers such as numbers, colors, or motions, will not be used and are deselected in order to make the screen less distracting for the student. For convenience, participants will paste in pictures of vehicles from the IntelliTools( Picture Library. However, any graphic that can be copied onto the Windows Clipboard, can be used. Participants will follow the sequence below for each of four picture items.

Adding Sounds, Motions, Spoken Name, and a Caption

After participants have copies a picture of a vehicle from the Picture Library, they will add a sound to reinforce their picture. IntelliPics( makes excellent use of recorded sounds. Using IntelliPics, one can easily record any voice or virtually any sound. IntelliPics even comes with a variety of fun sounds. In this activity, participants will make a sound to mimic their vehicle.

In addition to sounds, participants will add a movement to their picture. IntelliPics provides two methods for adding movement to pictures. Participants can select one of fifty built-in motions or create their own movement using the movement editor. In this tutorial, participants will use one of the built-in motions.

Participants will also add a Spoken Name to their picture. A Spoken Name adds a name or verbal label to the picture. This is in addition to the sound that was previously recorded. The Spoken Name is essential for making a quiz for the activity. In this tutorial, the Spoken Name is the name of the object - for example, "airplane" or "bus".

Participants will add a caption to each picture item for visual feedback and to promote literacy. A caption can be a word, a phrase , or a sentence. For this activity, the name of the object is used as a caption.

Participants follow the same process to create three more picture items adding sound, motion, a Spoken Name, and a caption to each.

Once all the picture items have been created, they can be easily edited to add other features. Participants will learn how to change the color and size of a picture, add a frame animation sequence, as well as a special background.

Making an Overlay for the IntelliPics Activity

Now that the IntelliPics activity has been created, participants will make an overlay to use with IntelliKeys(. IntelliPics makes this process a very easy one provided the program Overlay Maker( is also loaded. Participants simply have to select "Make Overlay" and "Save" from the IntelliPics File menu, and the program will create an overlay with same name as their activity plus the suffix "overlay". The newly created overlay will contain the same picture items used in the IntelliPics( activity, and can be edited, saved, and printed.

IntelliPics has Built-in Scanning

When the "Make Overlay" feature is used, IntelliPics automatically defines the key content for switch users as well. Participants will learn how to access scanning using the keyboard, a mouse, or a switch. They will learn how to adjust the scanning speed by pressing a number from 1 (slow) to 9 (fast) on the computer keyboard.

The IntelliPics Quiz Feature

IntelliPics has an interactive quiz feature. Participants will create a quiz as part of their activity. During the quiz, a student will be asked to "Find the airplane", or "the car", or whatever vehicles were used in the activity. When students chose the correct picture, they are rewarded with "That's right." If the wrong picture is selected, they hear "Try again." Students can be given different verbal reinforcements after each try. If after four tries, the right selection is not made, IntelliPics moves on to the next question.

The IntelliTools( Activity Exchange )

When participants have completed this tutorial, they will have explored the main features of IntelliPics for Windows. To help get a better understanding of how to use IntelliPics in the classroom, participants will receive a CD-ROM with over 100 IntelliPics activities. These activities were taken from the IntelliTools Activity Exchange on the World Wide Web. New activities are continually being added to the Exchange. With the knowledge gained from this tutorial, participants will be able to modify these activities to meet the special needs of the students with whom they work.