ELR-News

December 2011

Newsletter of ELR Software Pty Ltd

ABN 67 090 738 702
http://www.elr.com.au
news@elr.com.au

ELR Software produces a range of computer programs designed by speech pathologists for speech, language & literacy intervention. Our programs may be used interactively within therapy sessions, to increase efficiency in service delivery, and to improve access to the Internet for people with special needs. We are also available as consultants to clinicians and research projects in the fields of literacy and accessibility issues associated with the Internet.

The aim of this newsletter is to inform you of developments and changes to our major products eLr (Extra Language Resources), Build-a-Sentence, Word Meanings, Rude Readers and EIA (Enhancing Internet Access). We welcome the opportunity for feedback and questions, and will be pleased to consider including reader contributions and announcements.

This Newsletter (and previous editions) as well as a "print-ready" PDF version of the current edition is available online at www.elr.com.au/news. An email version is also sent monthly to members of our mailing list (See Subscribing/Unsubscribing).

In this issue -

  1. New eLr Materials
  2. Fixes needed for eLr-Offline
  3. Other Independent Developers
  4. Free Downloads
  5. ELR 2011 Calendar

  1. New eLr Materials

    There are 47 new tasks in "Phonology - Later Sounds - Phonemic awareness for this sound" in the subsections for /th/, /s/ blends, /l/ blends and /r/ blends.

    The addition of phonemic awareness activities in the Phonology sections has been occurring over the past few editions. It is supported by research that has shown that therapy targeting phonological and phonemic awareness for children with speech sound disorders is effective in improving the literacy outcomes for those children (Gillon 2002).

    The models used in these new sections are: Pic sound buttons which encourages development of the ability to break words into sounds and increases knowledge of letter-sound relationships, MultiPic Slideshow which provides material to encourage the child to identify which word starts or ends with the target sound, and SpinPics and LadderPics which are both game formats targeting the ability to identify words that start or end with the target sound.

    The role of the clinician or helper is critical in all of these tasks to deliver the verbal stimuli, provide feedback, and encourage strategies to increase auditory processing skills.

    Gillon, G.T., "Follow-up study investigating the benefits of phonological awareness intervention for children with spoken language impairment", Int. J. Lang. Comm. Dis, 2002, Vol 37, No 4, 381 - 400.

  2. Fixes needed for eLr-Offline

    In the past few months there've been considerable internal changes in eLr as we continue to refine the program for Mac and iPad browsers and also prepare an iPad version of eLr-Offline. Unfortunately this has sometimes led to coding oversights which may interfere with some functions. In particular we have been made aware of malfunctions the SmileyMan tasks, the word games in the "Activity toolbox", and the Session Planner - Goals Editor. There were also a number of incorrect titles in some of the recent Phonology tasks.

    We apologize if any of these errors has caused inconvenience and we're grateful to those of you who bring them to our attention. Generally "fixes" can be made within 24 hours and the updated content is placed on the website so that all users will quickly get these corrections.

    eL-Offline is a different matter. This is the version of eLr which can be installed onto your computer to allow you to use the materials without needing an internet connection. Although these same "fixes" will be applied to the next monthly version, some people will be continuing to use an older version which will not be fixed until their next 6-month updated CD.

    We'd encourage all users to regularly update your version of eLr-Offline directly from our website. The simplest way is to use the automatic update process built into the program. Make sure your computer is connected to the web, then start your existing eLr-Offline as usual. Open the "Help" menu (at the top of the screen) and click on the item "Check for updates". The program will check whether a newer edition is available, you'll see a confirmation box, then follow the prompts and the newest edition will be automatically retrieved and installed for you. It should only take a couple of minutes.

    If you are using Windows Vista/7 you may find that the process doesn't seem to work. In which case try running eLr-Offline with "administrator rights". You can always open a (any) shortcut as administrator by right-clicking on it and selecting "Run as administrator", but if you want to have it always launched as administrator, do this simple change:

    1. Right-click on the shortcut and select "Properties"
    2. In the "Shortcut" tab, click the "Advanced" button
    3. Check the box for "Run as administrator"
    4. Click "OK" to apply your changes

    Please contact us with your number and convenient time if you'd like us to phone and talk you through these processes.

  3. Other Independent Developers

    As an occasional feature of this Newsletter, we include simple, unpaid announcements of products developed by other small, independent developers, who, like ourselves, are practising clinicians who have put their ideas and experience into resource materials for general distribution. Links and brief information about these sites may be found at www.elr.com.au/links/developers.htm. To date we have listed -

    If you would like your materials listed on this page (at no charge), please contact us.

  4. Free Downloads

    ELR has a number of free or evaluation files available for downloading directly from our website. Please see www.elr.com.au/downloads.htm for specific details. For other supporting materials and documents available for free download, please see www.elr.com.au/support.htm.


     
  5. ELR 2011 Calendar

    ELR Software is now able to offer eLr support and short tutorials over the web. We can provide this sort of support to individuals, or to groups who would like to have an overview of eLr. Please contact us for details.



Subscribing/Unsubscribing to this Newsletter

You are receiving ELR-News because you are an eLr subscriber, or have expressed an interest in either eLr, Rude Readers, Word Meanings, Build-a-Sentence or EIA. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail with details to news@elr.com.au

Copyright ©2011 ELR Software Pty Ltd

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