ELR-News

February 2002

Newsletter of ELR Software Pty Ltd

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

ELR Software Pty Ltd combines the skills of speech pathology and computer programming. We produce software in the fields of Internet access for people with disabilities, and specific speech pathology resource material. We have also been involved in consultancy to clinicians and research projects in the fields of literacy and accessibility issues with the Internet.

The aim of this newsletter is to inform you of developments and changes to our major products eLr (Extra Language Resources) 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) is available online at http://www.elr.com.au/news and an email version is sent monthly to members of our mailing list (See Subscribing/Unsubscribing).

In this issue -

  1. New eLr Materials
  2. eLr Changes and Revisions
  3. eLr Printable Directory - revisited
  4. Free Downloads
  5. ELR 2002 Calendar

  1. New eLr Materials

    We have added a powerful new model (or activity type), and a total of 165 new tasks this month.

    WordSearch Model
    This model was designed primarily for the Reading and Spelling section. It presents as an interactive word search puzzle, such as you would find in the games section of a newspaper or in paper based spelling activities. The list of target words appears on the left side of the screen, the puzzle grid is in the middle, and as words are solved (by clicking on the matching letters) they are listed on the right side of the screen - reinforcing visual recognition of the word.
    Additional features enable the clinician to modify difficulty level, and encourage active engagement for the client.

    1. The difficulty of the puzzle may be adjusted using different selections of the Fill letters (eg random letters (a-z), letters which are used in the target words, letters which have not been used in the target words, or no letters). The most difficult presentation would be "letters which have been used in target words", and the easiest would be "none" (colons appear instead of letters, as the "fill").
    2. By clicking the "VCR Control" right arrow, the solution to the puzzle is revealed, and the left arrow returns the puzzle to its unsolved presentation. Clicking the "double back arrow" shuffles the words, so that the same group of words can be practiced again using a new grid layout.
    3. If a hint on a word is required (rather than revealing the total solution), the user can click the listed word, and that word is underlined within the puzzle.
    4. Lower case letters are used in the default setting. By clicking "Uppercase", the puzzle is presented with upper case letters.

    Seventy eight WordSearch tasks have been added to Reading and Spelling in Three letter words, Four letter words, The "e" rule, Consonant Blends, and in Demon Words. In the next couple of months the model will be included in many other sections.

    Other new tasks
    As a result of a review (see below) new tasks have been added to replace existing ones in Consonant Blends in Reading and Spelling .

    • 9 tasks using the "List matching" model
    • 18 using "Word sound buttons" model
    • 18 using "Sentence completion"
    • 20 using "ClueWords"
    • 18 using "Typing with words"
    And in Phonology - Sound by Sound
    • 3 "TicTacPics" added to "r", "s" initial, and "s" blends
    • 1 "CluePics" added to "consonant +s" in the final position of words

  2. eLr Changes and Revisions

    Review of Consonant Blends in Reading and Spelling
    This section was reviewed because since the initial development, we have produced a greater range of models, some of which are more suitable to the Reading and Spelling sections. In the Consonant Blends section, certain tasks using models which were more applicable to Phonology have been replaced with new tasks.
    Review of the content in the "Typing with words" model

    The content of all tasks was reviewed so that there is more consistency across sentences, ie the sentence structure is more predictable (eg subject + verb + one or two phrases).

    This has proved to be an excellent model for a range of ages. Most children who are working on literacy enjoy the challenge of the model, and the ability to make as many strange sentences as possible. For clients with acquired language and processing disorders, it provides materials to strengthen processing and reasoning skills.

  3. eLr Printable Directory - revisited

    A reminder - the new printable (PDF) version of the Directory (announced last month) is available in 2 forms on both the Web site and in eLr-Offline.

    1. The full eLr Directory - available only to subscribers (approx 500k).
      It contains all the section and sub-section headings, individual task titles and task numbers. Log in as a Registered User as usual and download it from the link to the Printable Directory at the bottom of the eLr - Loader page. Acrobat will open the file in a new window - be patient - it does take some time to download.
    2. A Summary version - available to everyone (approx 65k).
      It contains all the classification information but no listing of actual tasks and task numbers. Look for the link to "elrdir" on the support page http://www.elr.com.au/support.htm#elrdir.

  4. Free Downloads

    For other supporting materials and documents available for free download, please see http://www.elr.com.au/support.htm.

  5. ELR 2002 Calendar



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Copyright ©2002 ELR Software Pty Ltd

Postal ELR Software Pty Ltd
PO Box 1456
Bairnsdale
VIC 3875, Australia
Phone
International
(03) 5156 8309
+61 3 5156 8309
Fax
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