Graphics libraries, PCS Symbols, Animations and Clicker 5

Clicker 5 HELP SHEET Graphics libraries, PCS Symbols, Animations and Clicker 5 In response to many queries about how to use PCS symbols and/or animated graphics in Clicker 5 grids, here is a handy help sheet that will hopefully clarify the options for those of you keen to customise your learning activities. Items covered in this help sheet are as follows: What graphics are available in Clicker 5? - Adding your own picture libraries to Clicker 5 - Registering a new picture library Using PCS symbols - what are my options? - PCS Metafiles Deluxe - Do I get Australian symbols with the PCS Metafile Deluxe CD? - Using metafiles installed with Writing with Symbols 2000 - Addendum Libraries for Boardmaker Using moving pictures in Clicker 5 - Clicker Animations - PCS animations Other sources of images and animations Find out more about Clicker 5 What graphics are available in Clicker 5? Clicker 5 comes with its own library (Crick Picture Library 2) of high quality graphics included to illustrate common words and phrases, over 2000 in all. If you have the newest version of Clicker 5, the Australian and New Zealand version, you will have an extra 125 country specific images included. Clicker 5 contains a small number of digitized images in the categories City, Coasts and Mountains. You can use these pictures in grid cells as you type, in Clicker Writer and text boxes in the child friendly spell checker to further aid learners in the selection of correct words during editing For some words, the Crick Picture Library 2 has a number of alternative pictures. Here are a number of pictures for the word man. 1

To find the most suitable picture for your activity, use the F12 key to scroll through the picture options for Clicker Writer documents and text boxes. Adding your own picture libraries to Clicker 5 Most of us like to collect and use a range of picture resources for our customized learning activities such as digitized photographs, pictures from the web, pictures from other symbol libraries or pictures from clip art collections. Clicker 5 accepts picture files with these extensions: png, gif, emf, jpg, jpeg, wmf, tif, tiff, bmp. It is possible to use animated pictures and video in Clicker 5 as well. More on animations later in the article! Registering a new picture library One way of searching for and placing pictures in a grid cell is to drag and drop the picture you want, when in Edit Mode, from the Picture Palette. To make available saved pictures you may have stored in folders on your computer within Clicker, you need to register picture folders so they can easily be seen from the Picture Palette. 1. Go to File, Settings, Picture and Sound Libraries, Instant Picture and Library Settings or alternatively open the Picture Palette from the editing toolbar in Edit Mode. 2. Select Register a New Library. 3. A window will be displayed that gives you the option of choosing a permanent or temporary library.

[Note: the grid set that is open should be saved if you want to be able to allocate the library to temporary status.] 4. Choose the library type. Select Custom if you are registering a library of your own collection. Type in a name for the library in the box beside Name. 5. Select Next.

6. Browse to the folder on your hard drive where your pictures are. 7. Choose a library identifier and select Next. Clicker will look for part of the name of the graphics library you previously added. You can alter the name if required.

8. From this window you are given the options of having pictures and sounds embedded in the grid set you are creating and always using the picture library when using instant pictures in cells. 9. Select Finish. Your new library will now be displayed in the Picture and Sound libraries window, next time you go to the Picture Palette to search for pictures. Using Picture Communication Symbols (PCS) - what are my options? A common question we are often asked at Spectronics is: I have Boardmaker so can I just use the PCS symbols from there in Clicker 5? Unfortunately the answer is no. All the symbols used in Boardmaker are stored in a way that does not allow you to register and use picture libraries in Clicker. PCS Metafiles Deluxe (http:www.spectronicsinoz.com/product.asp?product=18391) The preferred option for using PCS with Clicker 5 is to purchase the PCS Metafiles Deluxe CD. (Cost: $299 single user)

PCS Metafiles Deluxe is a collection of over 7,000 PCS for use with Windows compatible computers. This collection contains all of the PCS Metafiles as well as metafiles from all of the 1998-2004 Boardmaker Addendum Libraries. Each picture is a separate file with its own file name and may be imported into other programs which allow you to import pictures. This includes programs such as Clicker 5, Writing with Symbols 2000, ChooseIt!Maker2, PageMaker, Corel Draw, and many others. The symbols are simple, clear drawings that are easily recognised appropriate for all age levels divided into many categories of people, verbs, nouns, descriptive, social, etc. applicable to many types of learning activities in black & white and in colour. Do I get Australian symbols with the PCS Metafile Deluxe CD? The PCS Metafile Deluxe CD does not come with Australian symbols. The good news is that if you purchase this resource through Spectronics, you will receive a separate CD of 250+ Australian symbols plus a printed guide that displays them all for easy reference. A major advantage of using this collection with Clicker 5 is that you have at your fingertips 7000+ symbols as well as the 2000+ pictures that are bundled with Clicker 5. When making up your grid sets in Clicker 5 you can really make sure the right symbol is chosen for your learning activity. Using metafiles installed with Writing with Symbols 2000 (WWS 2000) If you have Writing with Symbols 2000 installed on your computer, then it is possible to use the PCS that are included with this program (UK and Australian symbols and 98 Addendum library). To do this, you simply register a new library within Clicker 5 (as mentioned previously in this help sheet) pointing to the PCS file in the WWS 2000 file structure. Addendum libraries for Boardmaker Many people purchase extra PCS for use with Boardmaker. These are called Addendum libraries and there are a number of different combinations of these. They come with an installer that allows you to add the extra symbols into Writing with Symbols 2000 as well. The Boardmaker Addendum Library Bundles contains over 4000 PCS. It is then possible to register the new library of symbols within Clicker 5 as mentioned previously.

Using moving pictures in Clicker 5 Why would I want to use moving pictures in my Clicker 5 activities? It s fun for learners to see pictures moving in their learning activities and writing! Animated or moving pictures provide motivating prompts for writing Using moving or animated pictures can be very motivating and can help attract and maintain attention. Using moving pictures may reinforce comprehension of concepts for some individuals. Action words are best illustrated by movement. Moving pictures can really bring talking books and multimedia presentations to life! Having a bank of animated graphics can save time. Files can quickly and easily be accessed if the picture library is registered in Clicker 5. You can use animations in cells or in Clicker Writer and text boxes. Clicker Animations The Clicker Animations CD-ROM (Cost: $59 ) has 100 original animations in the animations library, including verbs, concepts and emotions that are colourful and motivating. The CD also includes over 500 readymade animated grids based around six themes. Each theme includes an onscreen talking book, grids for sentence building, matching and spelling. The animations are stored as graphic (gif) files and are automatically registered as a graphics library within Clicker when you install the program. When you want to use the animations, either in a Clicker Grid or in Clicker Writer, just select the Crick Animations Library in your Instant Pictures and Libraries preferences. In Clicker 5, to activate the animation in a cell you simply right click on it, in much the same way as you do when you want the cell text to be spoken. Selecting a cell with an animated graphic in it sends it to Clicker Writer. The picture then animates in Clicker Writer.

PCS Animations volumes 1 and 2 http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/product.asp?product=14181 (Costs: Volume. 1 $159, Volume 2 $159, Volumes 1 and 2 bundle $219) These animation sets are specific PCS that have been animated to show a key movement associated with each symbol. It s easy to use these animations to help create learning activities for vocabulary development and verb meanings because they show each verb in action. You can illustrate basic concepts such as movement, chores, grooming, communication, location and more. The symbols are relevant to all age groups. The PCS animations are avi, mov, and gif files which can be imported into Clicker 5 and other programs such as: Boardmaker Plus and Boardmaker with Speaking Dynamically Pro Intellitools Classroom Suite My Own Bookshelf PowerPoint. A comprehensive printed User Guide is supplied with the CD of animations. The great news is that there are now 2 volumes: PCS Animations Volume I: Over 500 verbs from the PCS core vocabulary PCS Animations Volume II: over 880 verbs from the four Boardmaker Addendum Libraries and 17 prepositions from the PCS core vocabulary. Other sources of images and animations If you have access to a digital camera or are able to download pictures from the internet, you have an endless source of images for your Clicker activities. Videos can be saved and imported into cells within grids using a variety of methods, including web cams, cam corders and digital cameras. A kid friendly movie camera is the digital movie creator 2. It is portable, study and is suitable for use by younger learners and those with special needs. It is possible to convert movies to animated gif files that can then be played in cells and in Clicker writer and text boxes.

Find out more about Clicker 5 new reference Want to find out more about working with Clicker 5? The reference is called iclick for Clicker 5, by Dan Herlihy and Darlene Brodbeck. Those of you who attended the popular Spectronics Inclusive Learning Technologies Winter School in 2006 will remember Dan and his innovative hands on workshops. IClick for Clicker 5 contains heaps of ideas for regular education students, students with special needs, and you! Written to provide you with a balance of starting points to help you quickly understand and start creating activities with Clicker 5 as well as to take you beyond the basics. It comes with a CD of sample activities. Cost: $79 + gst.