Animals

This program uses animal names and pictures to help the student to learn listening, identifying, and naming skills. There are nine sub-programs.

Select a program by clicking on the option and then click the “Enter” button to open the program.

Help	Click on the “Help” button to view the help contents. The help file opens in a separate window.
About	Click on the “About” button to view the profile of this company.
Enter	After selecting a sub-program, click on the “Enter” button to open the program.
Exit	To close this “Actions” program, click on the “Exit” button.

Note: In most of our matching and activity programs, the student must wait until the command voice has finished before he/she clicks on the object. For instance, the voice must finish “Match catching” before the student clicks on the catching picture. (If the student clicks on the catching picture before the voice command is finished, nothing will happen.) Therefore the teacher/parent needs to instruct the student to wait for the voice command to finish.

These sub-programs are:

1. Animal Matrix

Select the option “Animal Matrix” and click on the “Enter” button to open this program. Animals are shown here in a two-row, two-column matrix. When the mouse pointer moves over the picture of an animal, an animation related to the animal plays on the box on right side of the screen. There are, in this program, two pictures and animations for each animal. Click on the picture to view the next picture and animation.
>> and <<
	By clicking on “<<” or “>>” the student can view the next or the previous set of animals.
Auto Play
	Check this box to run the “Animal Matrix” program automatically; the student can just sit back and watch. To stop the automatic run, uncheck the box.
Sound
	This option is selected by default. When this box is checked, the program pronounces the name of the animal. If unchecked, it doesn’t say the name.
Label	This option is selected by default. When this box is checked, the name of the animal appears just below the picture. When unchecked, the word doesn’t appear.
Done	Click on the “Done” button to close “Animal Matrix” and return to the main program.

2. Animal Sound

Select the option “Animal Sound” and click on the “Enter” button to open this program. This program looks similar to “Animal Matrix” but focuses on the sounds made by the animals. When the mouse pointer moves over a picture, an animation related to the animal appears in the box on the right side of the screen, and the animal’s sound is heard. Settings are similar to those of “Animal Matrix“.
Descriptive Sound
	This option is selected by default. When this box is checked, the program pronounces name of the animal and its sound (for instance Cat says meow).
Done	Click on the “Done” button to close “Animal Sound” and return to the main program.

3. Progressive Method

Click on “Progressive Method” and then click the “Enter” button to open the setting dialog box. The setting dialog box offers four categories of choices. These categories are Mode, Settings, Distracters and Selection.
Mode
Training
	This option is selected by default. When this is selected, the program can be used to train the student.
Test	Select this option to measure the student’s progress. The “Report” button under “Test” mode is enabled. The “Prompt (Animation)” is disabled.
Report	This displays results of the “Test”. The report features are similar to those of “Matching Animals Using Picture”.
Settings
Prompt (Animation)
	This option is selected by default. When this is checked, the correct animal animates in ten seconds to help the student choose the correct answer. Uncheck this feature to disable it.
Command Text
	This option is selected by default. When this is checked, a short text appears at the bottom of the screen. It tells the student which items to identify. If unchecked, the text won’t be visible.
Distracter	A “Distracter” here means an incorrect choice.
	Animal This option is selected by default. When this is selected, distracters are all animals.
	Non-animal If this option is selected, distracters are not animals but some other items.
	Mixed Distracters are either animal or non-animal.
Selection	The first animal (Bear) is the default. Any animal can be selected from the list shown under “Selection”.
Ok	Click on the “Ok” button to open the program.
This method is designed to introduce the animals to the student one by one. This method allows the student to master the animal names progressively. This “ Progressive Method ” runs through seven stages:
Stage 1	Introduction. The selected animal moves from the left side to the center of the screen, and a character points to the animal and pronounces the name of the animal. This continues until the student clicks the “>>” button to move to the next stage.
Stage 2	Single Animal. In Stage 2, the student is asked to find the animal introduced in Stage1. When the student clicks on the animal, he/she is taken to the next stage.
Stage 3	One Distracter. The animal introduced in Stage 1 and another picture as distracter are shown, and the student is asked to find the animal. When the student clicks on the correct animal, the next “find” question comes up. As long as the student clicks on the correct animal, he/she stays in Stage 3. The student can move on to next stage by clicking the “>>” button. If the student clicks on the wrong animal, then the program returns the student to Stage 1, the Introduction Stage.
Stage 4	Two Distracters. In Stage 4, the animal introduced in Stage 1 and two other pictures as distracters are shown on the screen, and the student is asked to find the animal introduced in Stage 1. As long as the student clicks on the correct animal, the student remains in Stage 4. When the student clicks on a wrong animal, he/she is taken back to Stage 1. The student can move forward by clicking ‘>>’ button.
Stage 5	Three Distracters. The animal is shown with three other pictures as distracters. If the student clicks on the wrong animal, then the program returns the student to Stage 1, the Introduction Stage.
Stage 6	Combinations. The animal that the student identified in Stages 1 through 5 will appear as distracter or as the animal to be identified. Another animal, “Bear,” will also appear as a distracter or as the animal to be identified. If the student clicks on the wrong animal, then the program returns the student to Stage 1, the Introduction Stage.
Stage 7	This is the last stage. In this Stage, the student is asked to identify all the animals, he/she has learned so far. If the student clicks on the wrong animal, then the program takes the student to Stage 1, the Introduction Stage.
>>	When the student clicks on the “>>” button, the program introduces the next animal in the list.
<<	At any time the student can move backward by clicking the “<<” button when the button is visible.
Done	Click on the “Done” button to close the program.

4. Matching Animals Using Pictures

Click on “Matching Animals Using Pictures” and then click the “Enter” button to open this program. The default selections for this program are: Level 3, Training Mode, Animal Distracter, Command Text, Prompt with Blink, Congratulatory Animation, and Select All. Here an animal is shown at the top of the screen. The student is asked to click on the matching animal shown among others at the bottom of the screen.
Level 1	When this option is selected, one animal appears at the top of the screen. One animal picture is shown at the bottom of the screen to be matched with the one at the top, without any distracter.
Level 2	When this option is selected, one animal appears at the top of the screen. Two pictures are shown at the bottom of the screen to be matched with the one at the top of the screen. There is one correct choice and one distracter. You can choose an Animal or Non-animal distracter. “Mixed” gets disabled.
Level 3	This level is selected by default. One animal appears at the top of the screen. When this option is selected, three pictures are shown at the bottom of the screen to be matched with the one at the top of the screen. There is one correct choice and two distracters. You can choose an Animal, Non-animal, or Mixed distracter.
Training	The Training mode is selected by default. This program uses animal pictures to train listening and matching skills.
Test	Here, the student can test him/herself. “Prompt” and “Congratulatory Animation” are disabled. The test results are recorded and “Report” becomes enabled.
Report	Only under “Test” mode is “Report” enabled. After doing any number of test problems, you can click on “Done” to see the report. When you click on “Done” the settings screen appears. Click on the “Report” button under “Test” to see the test results. First the current test result will be shown with the date; starting time; end time; level of the test; and percentage of correct answers. There are also buttons for showing test results in different forms. “Report” allows the teachers/parents to measure the student’s progress. The following are available.
	Detailed Report This screen shows test results including the grade, object identified, distracters and time taken to finish the test.
	View Old Records If there are old test results, they will be shown on this screen. The current test result is always on top.
	Bar Chart If you wish to see test results on a bar chart, click this button.
		Overalls This button appears on the Bar Chart Screen. Here, the teachers/parents can see the average of all test results in last ten attempts. Written vertically on the bar are: overall percentage of correct answers and date and starting time of the tests. When there are any old results, they will be shown, left to right from oldest to latest.
		Right Arrow This changes the display to the next more recent set of test results. When the current test result is on the screen, this button is grayed.
		Left Arrow This changes the display to the previous set of test results. When this button is grayed, there is no earlier test to see.
		On the top left corner, the display indicates which record is being shown out of total records.
	Print When this button is clicked, the printer prints the current screen.
	Delete All existing records will be erased if this button is clicked. (But a warning message box pops up and asks for confirmation.).
	Done Click on this button to close the screen and return to the previous screen.
Distracter
	Animal This option is selected by default. When this option is selected, the distracters are animals. This option is disabled for Level 1 and available for Level 2 and Level 3.
	Non-animal When this option is selected, the distracters are some items other than animals. This option is disabled for Level 1 and available for Level 2 and Level 3.
	Mixed This option is available only for Level 3. When this is selected, one distracter is an animal and the other distracter is non-animal.
Command Text
	This is checked by default. When checked, a short command text is visible at the bottom of the screen. If unchecked, the command text will not be visible.
User Defined
	This feature allows the teacher/parent to customize the screen by selecting particular matching objects, and distracters and choosing their locations on the screen. When this box is checked, the next screen will be the “SELECTION” screen. This screen allows the teacher/parent to choose the matching object (Animal to be identified) and its location on the screen. It also allows the teacher/parent to choose the distracter/s. There are no distracters for Level 1. Therefore the teacher/parent should select only the matching animal. For Level 2 and Level 3, the teacher/parent has to select the matching animal, its location, and distracters from the User Defined “selection” screen before clicking the “OK” button. The picture-matching screen has a “Back” button. The student can return to the User Defined setting screen by clicking this button. Click the “Done” button to close the User Defined program.
Prompt	This is checked by default. If the student fails to match the correct animal picture within ten seconds, the program guides him/her to the correct animal picture. This is available for “Training” mode but disabled for “Test” mode.
	Uncheck this box if the prompt is not needed in “Training” mode.
	Prompt with Blink This option is selected by default. If the correct animal picture is not chosen after ten seconds, it blinks.
	Prompt with Label The names of the animals appear below the pictures.
	Prompt with Animation If the correct animal picture is not chosen after ten seconds, an animation appears (the correct animal moves).
Congratulatory Animation
	This box is checked by default. This is available only for the “Training” mode. When this is checked, clicking the correct animal invites a congratulatory animation. This animation runs for ten seconds. Click anywhere on the screen or press space bar to stop the congratulatory animation. Uncheck the box if the student doesn’t need congratulatory animation.

Selection	Click on the check box to select or deselect the animal.
Select All	Check this box to select all animals. Uncheck to deselect.
Ok	Click this button to open the program after choosing settings.
Done	Click this button to close the program and return to the main menu.

5. Matching Animals Using Similar Pictures

Click on “Matching Animals Using Similar Pictures” and then click the “Enter” button to open this program.

This program runs like “Matching Animals Using Pictures,” but the pictures shown are similar but not identical.