Create Your Own Educational Software

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Technical Tips:
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Have you found that even after discovering a good piece of software, material is never presented exactly the way you would like? If you have an interest in computers and a desire to tailor software specifically to what you are teaching in the classroom, here are some options available to you.

Multimedia Authoring Programs

Multimedia authoring programs allow people who aren't computer programmers to create multimedia programs or presentations that run on a computer. Authoring programs are not for the faint of heart though; a high level of comfort with computers and a large time commitment are required. You also need to have fairly deep pockets. One of the most popular multimedia authoring program, Macromedia Director, costs approximately $900.

Now before you scrap this option altogether, some software companies have recognized a niche market among educators and they have started developing authoring software specifically geared to this market. These authoring programs are not as complex nor as costly as high end authoring programs. They also often include templates for different educational activities such as multiple choice questions, fill in the blank questions, matching, etc.; and sample graphics, sounds, and videos. Hyperstudio is one such program that was created by Robert Wagner, a former teacher. (For more information about this software visit http://www.hyperstudio.com or call 1 800-545-7677). Hotpotatoes, referred to in Volume 3, Issue 5, is a similar program that helps people create educational activities for the Web. Pierian Springs Software Co. produces Digital Chisel 3.0, another Web authoring tool for educators. Digital Chisel 2.0 by the same company is a general educational authoring tool for Macintosh users. (Pierian Springs Software Co. can be contacted at 1-800-472-8578 or http://www.pierian.com

Adding Your Exercises to Existing Educational Software

If creating your own software from scratch is more than you would like to tackle, consider adding your own material to your favourite educational computer program. Many educational programs come with an authoring tool that allows you to add your own content. This authoring tool may be part of the main program or come as an accompanying program. For example, an editing program called Perfect Copy comes with a management program that allows you to add your own articles for students to edit. This way you can tailor the types of errors and the reading level of the articles to your students. (See Volume 1, Issue 1 for more information about Perfect Copy.) Because the authoring tool comes with the program, no extra costs are involved. It also does not require as much time as creating your own software from scratch. You should realize though, that if you are working with software that is installed on several computers in a lab, you will need to add your material to each computer. If the program is running from a server then you will only need to do this once.

Creating Your Own Activities Using Common Applications

If you don't have a large selection of educational programs, there are many things you can do with common applications that come with most new computers. Presentation programs, database programs and word processing programs can be used to create activities that look a lot like those found in educational software. For example, you can use a word processing program or a database program to create a spelling dictation on the computer. You can also use macros in word processing programs to create automated writing activities and you can use presentation programs to create interactive slide show presentations. These presentations can act like flashcards where the students are presented with information they can look at or listen to.

In this project, students click on the speaker to hear a word Then they click on the first letter of the word. Only the correct letter causes the project to switch to the next slide.

They can also become interactive multiple choice activities by creating a slide show that only progresses when the student clicks on the correct answer. The possibilities are endless when you use multimedia presentation programs like PowerPoint. In these programs the slides can include text, pictures and sound.

Here are step by step instructions for creating an interactive slide show using Microsoft PowerPoint. This activity could also be created using other presentation programs such as WordPerfect Presentations.

1. Start a new, blank PowerPoint presentation.
2. Place buttons at the bottom of the slide to allow students to navigate through the presentation.
   1. Click on AutoShapes, Action Buttons.
   2. Draw a Next Slide button.
   3. Choose Hyperlink to Next Slide.
   4. Repeat 1-3 for a Previous Slide button, a First Slide button and an End Show button.
3. Make sure the slide show won't advance if a student clicks anywhere on the screen.
   1. Go to the Slide Show menu and click on Slide Transition.
   2. Remove the checkmark beside Advance on Mouse click.
   3. Click on Apply to All Slides.
4. This slide is now your master. Make as many copies of it as you need.
   1. Go to the Insert menu and choose Duplicate Slide.
5. Enter the pictures, sounds and text you want to appear on the slide.
6. If you have typed a question, you should provide students with possible answers. You then should link the correct answer to the next slide. The slide show will only advance if the student clicks on the correct answer. (If you are going to do this you may want to remove the Next Slide button from the bottom of the page.)
   1. Highlight the correct answer.
   2. Right click and click on Action Settings.
   3. Choose Hyperlink to Next Slide.
7. You'll notice that the correct answer will appear underlined and in a different colour. You can get around this by underlining all the answers. You will also need to change the hyperlink colours to black or whatever colour the other answers appear in.
   1. Go to the Format menu and choose Slide Colour Scheme.
   2. Click on Custom, and "hyperlink".
   3. Click on Change Colour and choose black (or the colour of the other answers).
   4. Repeat for "followed hyperlink".
   5. Click on Apply to All.
8. When you're finished, save the presentation as a PowerPoint Show.
   1. Go to the File Menu and choose Save.
   2. Change the File Type to PowerPoint Show.
   3. Change the name so it doesn't overwrite the original presentation.
   4. Click on Save. When students doubleclick on this file the slide show will start.