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The Little Dough Man Story Kit from Hands On Concepts

Little Dough Man from Hands On Concepts/ Inclusive Technology

This is one of four titles that are currently distributed through Inclusive Technologies and are available from Spectronics. They have been created and designed by Alison Jarred and Nadja Roelofs from Hands on Concepts, a company in Western Australia. The Little Dough Man Story Kit is packaged on a CD-ROM. You install the utility programs first (all from IntelliTools - IntelliPics Player, Overlay Printer and Overlay Sender). Other utility files are also installed including some powerful speech engines. These resources provide the necessary tools for running this delightful multimedia software program. Overlay Printer lets you print the packaged overlays (of which there are seven) and send them to IntelliKeys (sold separately). After re-booting, you are ready to interact with this engaging package.

The fairytale story of the traditional Gingerbread Man is re-versioned with the Little Dough Man as the central character. It is written in Australia. The program introduces Aussie bush animals in the story line. The little dough man encounters various bush creatures, including a bunyip, a koala, a wombat, a kangaroo, an emu, and a very hungry crocodile! The main story file has colourful graphics and background drawings. Each page has both text and speech, using a digitised male voice (with a well-articulated Australian accent!) to re-tell the story in short sentences. As it is an IntelliPics file, you can increase or decrease the font size, change the style, colour or font itself! In Activity Preferences, you can reveal or hide menu palettes, including the pictures, modifiers, numbers (range 1-20) and colours (12 from which to choose). You can tailor the program to suit individual access and learning needs. This is an inherent strength in all HOC products.

The human quality voice is clear and well-paced, with intonation and appropriate pauses. It can be accessed with mouse clicks, a trackball or touch window. The program has been especially designed to work with IntelliKeys with or without a switch. Scanning is built-in as well, so that EVERY child in the class can participate using their preferred access device. Therefore, this software is ideal as an inclusive solution in mainstream or as a dedicated package in a special setting. Children can work with a teacher aide, another child, in a group or as independent learners. It is also ideal for use at home as it represents a powerful leisure and reading activity. It includes a series of interactive learning activities for exploring word families - including 'un', 'ub' and 'ug' - using the Bunyip Wordstudy overlay.

There is a Dough Man Writing overlay. This has been specifically designed to use with your favourite word processor. Ideally IntelliTalk I or IntelliTalk II (when released) will be popular choices as this is a voiced word processor with numerous features. If used with other symbol processors such as Inclusive Writer or Writing With Symbols 2000, you can build upon rich multi sensory experiences using text, pictures, symbols and text-to-speech. Using tactile overlays will compliment the sensory approach with the added sense of touch. Toy figures of animals or objects can be placed on the board (using Softkeys (r)) or by using Velcro strips on customised printed overlays. It is up to your imagination and energy!

The story file also has a number of quizzes that are pre-programmed. They include two Quizzes in the Dough Man Story overlay. You use the overlays that come packaged with The Little Dough Man Story Kit. Children will thoroughly enjoy answering the questions that are voiced using a female synthesized voice (or you choose the voice you prefer). Appropriate responses have been created to provide users with sympathetic and accurate feedback.

Another file, Dough Man Activities, has three (3) activity quizzes. They are interactive questions and responses and are used with the IntelliKeys overlay file that accompanies the program. The other IntelliPics file is the Dough Man Word Study. It has two quizzes. You use this file with the Bunyip Wordstudy overlay. The activities have been designed with a sense of fun and the captivating graphics cater to young children. They are drawn in cartoon style and are suitable for older students who have special learning needs. The files are all available to use with or without an IntelliKeys board but the package really comes to life and is so easy to use when used with this unique programmable keyboard. The CD includes extra overlays for you to print out (in colour or in black and white). Your students can colour them in, or cut and paste onto card or make posters and mobiles with them if you wish. They don't have to be just overlays! The Teacher's Guide provides you with many useful and innovative ideas for use with this package as well as promoting further activities with related topics and themes.

The Little Dough Man Story Kit is a well designed package that affords so many possibilities for story writing, poetry, developing themes on friendship, Australian bush animals and exploration of the bunyip story. Children will delight in the wonderful colour graphics and have fun choosing from the many different voices, fonts and colours that they can choose when using IntelliPics and their overlays. If you have Overlay Maker (r), you could make your own as a class!