Introduction to Kurzweil 3000 Version 9

Transcription

1 Introduction to Kurzweil 3000 Version 9 Hands-on Workshop Booklet Kurzweil 3000 is a comprehensive program incorporating many features that support students with reading, writing, studying and test-taking. This booklet introductuces some of the main features of Kurzweil Ph: (07) Fax: (07) Emal: mail@spectronicsinoz.com om Web:

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3 Feature Contents Page No. Introduction... 4 Starting Kurzweil The Toolbars... 5 Reading a document... 6 Document types... 6 ~ Image documents... 7 ~ Text documents... 7 Dual highlighting... 7 Changing the reading settings for the Reading Toolbar... 8 Magnifying spoken words... 8 Changing the voice settings... 9 Reference Tools definitions and synonyms...9 Defi nitions and synonyms... 9 Looking up a word you type The picture dictionary Looking up words in Encarta Online reference lookup Syllables, pronunciations and spell aloud features Reading information from the web...13 Installing and using Mozilla Firefox web browser Reading e-books...14 e-book sites Audio books School text books Information on copyright Scanning...15 What sort of documents can you scan? Scanning a document Using the Zone Editor Editing the text on a scanned page Writing Tools...18 Creating a text document Hearing the words as you type Using Word Prediction ~ Homophones and confusables ~ Topic or vocabulary lists ~ Using vocabulary lists ~ Learning new words ~ Training selected words or sentences ~ Making a vocabulary list for writing Reading back your writing Finding a suitable word Spell checking ~ Using the spell check ~ More spell check options Study Skills Tools...24 Toolbars The Study Skills toolbar Using the highlighting feature ~ Undoing highlighted text ~ Reading highlights ~ Extracting the main points and details ~ Creating a vocabulary list of theme related words Working with Notes ~ Sticky notes ~ Text notes ~ Footnotes ~ Voice notes ~ Bubble notes * Bookmarks Completing a test or worksheet on the computer...33 Using text notes Using voice notes

4 Introduction to Kurzweil 3000 Version 9, Colour Professional Version Kurzweil 3000 is a comprehensive program that integrates many features to support students with reading, writing, studying and test-taking. These features provide strategies to help students become independent and active learners. They include: Reading text aloud, including web pages The ability to scan a piece of text and save it in electronic format for reading Reference tools such as talking dictionaries (built-in or online) and thesaurus to assist with reading comprehension and vocabulary development Foreign language support Online access to electronic books and encyclopaedias A suite of study tools to assist creating outlines for writing, developing word lists, taking notes, answering comprehension questions Writing tools to support spelling and proofreading Test-taking tools that enable struggling students to gain more confi dence, active participation in and success during assessments. Kurzweil is a versatile tool for educators too: Educators can prepare documents for reading for individuals or the entire class Highlighting tools will help with the quick preparation of vocabulary lists, outlines for writing and tests about current topics Pre-reading instructional notes and comprehension questions can be embedded into reading tasks in many of the study tools Tests can be prepared so students complete assessments on the computer with minimum support. This booklet is meant to be a quick introduction to some of the main features of Kurzweil 3000 Colour Professional Version. For a comparison between Kurzweil 3000 Professional Colour, Black and White and LearnStation, see this article on the Spectronics website at For tutorials and detailed descriptions of Kurzweil 3000 features, refer to these booklets that accompany the purchased software: Kurzweil 3000 for Windows Tutorial Version 9 Kurzweil 3000 for Windows User s Guide Version 9 Kurzweil 3000 for Window Version 9 Quick Reference Study Skills Guide by Joan Sedita. 4

5 Starting Kurzweil 3000 There are two ways of starting the program: 1. From the Start menu, click Start from the taskbar. Go to Programs or All Programs Go to Kurzweil Educational Systems Click Kurzweil or 2. Double click the Kurzweil 3000 icon on the desktop. Please Note: If Kurzweil is set up to ask for users at start up, then a window will be displayed and the student may be required to add their user name before the program will open. What you will see on your screen... You will see menu items, several toolbars and a document area. The Toolbars Kurzweil 3000 has a number of toolbars that can be selected to suit the particular activity the student is doing. First let s open a fi le ready to use. 1. Click on Open on the toolbar to open a document. 2. A window will open that displays sample fi les loaded with Kurzweil Double click on Sample Documents and open TimeTravel. Documents in this folder have been provided with Kurzweil 3000 so you can practise using some of the many features of the program. Your screen should look like this: 5

6 The menu at the top should look like this: 1. The menu at the top of the screen is called the Main Menu Bar. 2. The toolbar underneath this with a number of icons is called the Main Toolbar. From here you can access frequently used functions. There are other toolbars that are designed to support different tasks. 3. The Reading Toolbar. This toolbar gives you easy access to a range of functions you may need when reading a document. To see other Main Toolbar sets, right click your mouse over the toolbar, select Apply Toolbar Set, then select one of the listed toolbars already prepared. There are many sample toolbars to choose from. Now open the Content Reading toolbar. This toolbar contains tools that let you read aloud text, zoom, change the way the text is read and give you access to the reference tools that help with comprehension. Now try opening the Study Skills Training toolbar. This toolbar contains the notes and outlining tools as well as other read aloud features. You can easily individualise the toolbar to suit any task (see Customising Toolbars in the Kurzweil 3000 for Windows User Guide Version 9, page 216 for more details). Reading a document With Kurzweil 3000, you can open and read text in just about any document, whether it be scanned, a Word document, an or information from the web. Document Types There are two main types of documents that are referred to in the Kurzweil manuals; image and text documents. 6

7 Image Documents are those that have been scanned into the computer opened from the fi le system (tiff, pdf, jpeg, bmp etc.) opened into Kurzweil 3000 from another application using the Kesi Virtual Printer The Kesi Virtual Printer is actually a print driver. It creates a Kurzweil image fi le instead of printing the fi le. Once brought into the program, these fi les become Kurzweil documents with the fi le extension kes. Image documents actually consist of two parts, what you see (the image of the page which might contain pictures and text for example) and underlying text (that is the words that Kurzweil 3000 reads). Words in image documents cannot be edited as they can in text documents. However, the way the text is read in image documents can be altered, by using the Edit Underlying Text option (explained in the section on scanning on page 15). Text from image documents can be selected and copied into other documents or used to create an outline of main points. Text Documents can be created in Kurzweil 3000 or imported. With text documents you can edit and apply formatting using the writing toolbar. Text documents may have fi le extensions like rtf and txt. When you create a text document in Kurzweil 3000, the default format is rtf. Text fi les brought in from other applications like Microsoft Word can retain their formatting. Here are some of Kurzweil 3000 s read aloud features using the image document called Time Travel. 1. Select Open from the toolbar, then double-click on Sample Documents (making sure you have the Classic toolbar open, as illustrated on page 6). 2. Click the cursor at the beginning of the document next to the title and select Read from the toolbar. Click Pause to stop reading at any time. Other read aloud features can be selected to re-read passages or read ahead. It is possible to have the text highlighted as you read without the text spoken aloud by selecting Audible on the toolbar. This will set reading to be silent. Dual Highlighting Kurzweil 3000 reads text with dual highlighting. That means a word, sentence or paragraph is highlighted in one colour then the words being spoken aloud are highlighted in another. Having text highlighted may focus the reader on a small section of text, reducing the distractability of having a whole page of text displayed. It may make the text easier to see on the page for those with visual diffi culties. To change the colours used for highlighting 1. Go to Tools from the main menu 2. Select Options 3. Choose Text or Image depending on the type of document you are reading and the colours you require for the background, text, highlight and caret colours. Try experimenting with different colour combinations and then reading sections of text. 7

8 Example of dual highlighting: Changing the reading settings from the Reading Toolbar It is possible to change the way text is read to suit individual preferences and tasks. 1. Reading mode Change the reading mode to continuous, self-paced or word-by-word from the Reading Toolbar. 2. Reading Unit Kurzweil 3000 can read and highlight different units of text. 3. Size of display (zoom level) Adjust the size of the display if you wish by clicking the up or down arrow on the reading toolbar. 4. Reading Speed You can adjust the speed of reading by altering the words per minute from the reading toolbar. 5. Navigating through pages Click the up or down arrow key to move easily from one page to another in your document. Magnifying Spoken Words From the Main Menu Bar select View, then Magnify Spoken Word. (You can also access this feature with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + K.) 8

9 Now click the cursor where you want to start reading in the document and select Read the toolbar. from Note: To close the magnifying window, click on the X in the top right hand corner of the magnifi cation window. Changing the voice settings 1. From the Main Menu go to Tools and Options (or Ctrl F1). 2. Select Reading. 3. Click on the down arrow next to Speaker. You will see an array of voices that are available for use with Kurzweil The naturally sounding voices you may like to try are Paul and Kate. 4. Click on Test Speech to hear the voice you have selected. 5. Change the speed of the voice by sliding the bar situated under the heading Speed. 6. Click Apply then OK. Reference Tools definitions and synonyms The following reference tools are part of the suite of Kurzweil 3000 s supportive features. They include: Dictionary defi nitions Synonym lists (Thesaurus) Syllable and pronunciation display Spelling tool Encarta lookup Online reference lookup using the internet. Definitions and Synonyms When we are reading, we often come across words we do not understand. Finding and speaking aloud word defi nitions can aid comprehension and help the reader learn new words at the same time. Using the synonym feature also enables the reader to learn new words with similar meanings. Kurzweil allows you to look up word defi nitions from dictionaries included with the program, from the thesaurus or from online sources. 9

10 To fi nd word defi nitions and synonyms in a document, fi rst open the TimeTravel document from the Sample Documents. Check that you have the Classic toolbar displayed. To choose a dictionary: 1. Go to the Main Menu, choose Reference, then select Dictionary Click the mouse next to the Concise Oxford Dictionary. This dictionary will provide you with the English rather than US spelling of words. You will also notice some foreign language dictionaries. Kurzweil supports French, German, Spanish, Italian and English. It is possible to look up words in one of these languages and obtain an English dictionary defi nition. Alternatively, an English word can have its defi nition displayed in one of the other languages Kurzweil supports. To view a defi nition: 1. Click the mouse cursor next to the word principle in the fi rst paragraph under the heading Time and Speed in the TimeTravel document. You can highlight the word by double-clicking on it. 2. Now click on the dictionary defi nition icon on the toolbar. 3. A defi nition will open: 4. To hear the defi nition read aloud, place the cursor where you want to start reading and select Read from the toolbar. Press Pause to stop reading as required. Close the defi nition window when fi nished. 5. To see and read aloud synonyms for the same word, select Synonym from the toolbar. Again a window will be displayed with similar words. To hear the text spoken, select Read from the toolbar again. 6. Close the TimeTravel document when fi nished. For a more detailed overview of using the reference tools, see page 64 of the Kurzweil 3000 for Windows User Guide. Looking up a word you type You can type in a word then look up its defi nition by doing the following: 1. Go to Reference from the Main Menu 2. Select Look Up Word I Type 3. Type your word, then select the option you would like (dictionary defi nition, synonym, syllables or picture). 10

11 You can also bring up the dictionary lookup window by right-clicking the mouse button in the open document to bring up this menu: The Picture Dictionary To further support language learning and comprehension, a picture can be displayed along with the word. This can be especially helpful for those students learning English as a second language. Kurzweil 3000 provides samples from Mayer-Johnson PCS Library. It is possible to incorporate other picture libraries (clipart and image fi les) into Kurzweil (To add a collection of pictures, see page 347 of the Kurzweil 3000 for Windows User Guide). You can also fi nd a picture to demonstrate the meaning of a word. First make sure you have the PCS samples installed. 1. Go to the Reference from the Main Menu 2. Select Dictionary 3. Go to Picture Dictionary 4. Choose Setup 5. Click on Install Mayer-Johnson PCS Samples 6. A sample document with highlighted text should open. To fi nd a picture to match a word: 1. Click in a word that is highlighted (for example picture.) 2. Go to Reference, choose Selected Word and then Picture to see the words as well as the picture displayed in a separate window. (You can add the Picture Dictionary icon to any toolbar for quick and easy access to this feature while you are reading.) Looking up words in Encarta You can look up selected words in Microsoft Encarta directly from Kurzweil 3000; however, to use this feature, you must have the program (versions 1999 through to 2005 Deluxe) on your computer. Kurzweil 3000 does not come with this program. Online reference lookup The simplest way to fi nd information about a word or phrase is to use the Online Reference Lookup. This gives you access to online dictionaries and encyclopaedias. (You need to be connected to the internet to use this feature.) To look up a word or phrase in a document: 1. Open the sample document TimeTravel 2. Highlight the words virtual reality in the paragraph that accompanies the document heading 3. From the Main Menu bar, select Online 11

12 4. Next, select Online Reference Lookup 5. You will see this window 6. Click on the drop down arrow next to Search Site to view and select a list of websites from which you can search for information. Some of these sites require subscription 7. Now choose Search 8. Kurzweil then opens and displays a document you can now read aloud 9. Kurzweil may also show a list of related topics from which to choose. Note: Kurzweil keeps track of previous information obtained during an online reference lookup. To view this: 1. Go to Online from the Main Menu 2. Next choose Online Reference History 3. Click on Go To, to have the information displayed. Syllables, pronunciations and spell aloud features Being able to view a word broken into syllables and its phonetic spelling as well as hear the word spelled out improves language learning and vocabulary development. 1. Select a word in a document (double-click on it to highlight or click next to it) 2. Click on the Syllables icon on the toolbar to see the word broken into syllables 3. Select Pronounce to hear the word spoken To hear a word spelled out: 1. Highlight a word in a document 2. Select Spell from the toolbar 3. Select Spell to hear the word spelled aloud again with dual highlighting. 12

13 Reading information from the web Kurzweil will read contents of a web page. You can use internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox as a browser. Mozilla Firefox is recommended because it provides the best performance when reading information from the web. It also lets you choose to read alternative text that may be used for graphics on the web. This can be important for students with visual diffi culties. Installing and using Mozilla Firefox web browser Chances are your computer has internet Explorer as its default web browser. From within your Kurzweil 3000 you can open the Help Menu to: 1. Find out how to install Mozilla Firefox 2. Select Mozilla Firefox as your default web browser 3. Install Kesi Reader extension that enables the Read the Web feature in Kurzweil to work with Mozilla Firefox. If you want to use Mozilla Firefox, you will need to download it. The URL for the Firefox download page is refox/ 1. Make sure your computer is connected to the internet. 2. Select the browser you want to use by going to Tools, from the main menu then Options (Ctrl F1). Then choose the browser you want to use. Select OK. 3. From the main menu, select Read, and then Read the Web. 4. Your screen should look like this, if you are using the Mozilla Firefox browser: 13

14 With either internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, an additional toolbar with options positioned at the bottom of the screen will be added for reading text aloud. It is possible to magnify the words, look up a defi nition or synonym and alter the way the text is read. Reading e-books E-books or e-texts are digital fi les of complete books. Being able to download and open an e-text fi le will save you time scanning an entire book. Using Kurzweil 3000, you can download books from a range of websites and have them read aloud. The Classic Literature CD that comes with the program provides many more classic titles for reading. There are a number of websites listed in the Online search window that allow you to download books. Most of these sites require you to subscribe and receive a password before you can download. 1. Make sure you are connected to the internet then go to Online in the main menu. 2. Choose Search for Books. 3. Type in the author s name or the title of the book. 4. You may be shown a window that asks for a password (eg to the Accessible Book Collection). If you do not have a subscription, then you may not download books. If you want to look in the Classic Literature CD collection, make sure it is in the CD drive of your computer and click Cancel. 5. Kurzweil will search for the book. 6. If found, then click next to the title s name, then select OK to start downloading. 7. When complete, click Open on the toolbar. Click Yes to open the last downloaded fi le. You can use the read aloud tools on your toolbar to read and highlight the text and navigate easily through the pages. E-Book sites A comprehensive list of free e-book sites can be viewed from Free Books: Here are a few other sources. Both have links within Kurzweil These require membership (see notes overpage). People with learning disabilities are eligible to join. 14

15 Bookshare.org: (Please note: Requires membership. A form needs to be fi lled out by a teacher, therapist or doctor. The fee for membership which allows you to download copyright books is USD $25 joining fee and $50 annual fee. You can download as many as you want for the annual fee). Accessible Book Collection: (Please note: Requires membership. A form needs to be fi lled out by a teacher, therapist or doctor.) Audio books There are many sites where audio fi les (mp3) of books can be downloaded. These can be loaded onto an mp3 player so the student can listen at their leisure. This is a useful tool for revision. Audible.com: This is a site to download audio fi les of books. School text books Some school textbooks are available in pdf format. That means that they are documents that are meant for reading and not editing. These fi les are opened using Acrobat Reader. Kurzweil 3000 Professional Version (Colour or Black and White) will open pdf fi les. To obtain books in pdf format, individuals or schools should fi rst contact publishers to check if the particular book is available in alternative formats. Information on copyright For information on copyright guidelines for parents, students and educational facilities wanting to access and use books in electronic format, go to the following website: Scanning Scanning is a process that involves transforming printed material into electronic format. This is a very powerful resource for educators wanting to make reading material accessible to all the students in their class. A scanned document in Kurzweil 3000 is called an image document. The student or teacher can utilize Kurzweil s many supportive features with this document to assist reading, writing and study skills. To create an image document, you need to use a scanner. It is possible to use a low-cost, portable fl atbed scanner to successfully produce quality image documents for reading aloud in Kurzweil. Facilities such as TAFE colleges and Universities often use more expensive scanning equipment that allow many pages to be scanned in one session. A comprehensive list of suitable scanners for use with Kurzweil 3000 can be found on their website at: What sort of documents can you scan? You can scan just about anything you want your students to be able to read, extract information from or add notes to. This includes pages from: 1. text books 2. novels 3. magazines 4. worksheets 5. brochures 6. tests and more... Documents you want to scan need to be clear and of good quality. Poor quality photocopies for example, will cause recognition errors. It s also better to have a single piece of paper rather than a whole book as it is diffi cult to lay a book fl at on a scanner. Consequently you will spend precious time trying to correct the errors before the student gets to use it. 15

16 Documents with graphics, columns and even tables can be scanned and used with Kurzweil s many supportive features. Kurzweil 3000 has three different Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engines available for scanning text for reading. There are a number of settings within Options (Ctrl F1) that can help produce more accurate scans. Scanning a document 1. Make sure you have your scanner plugged in 2. Put the fi rst page you want to scan face-down onto the scanner. Start with a single piece of paper 3. Click the Scan button on the main toolbar. If you want to scan the document in colour, then select colour scanning from the Scan Toolbar on the Main Menu 4. If you want to cancel scanning at any time during the process, click on Cancel on the toolbar 5. Try scanning a second page. You should now have pages 1 and 2 6. Save your page. Other scanning options to try, include: rescanning a page using image fi ll to tidy up a scanned page inserting a page deleting a page scanning multiple pages joining scanned pages together from separate fi les. To try other scanning features, see Chapter 2, Document Preparation in Kurzweil 3000 for Windows Tutorial. Using the Zone Editor When scanning in Kurzweil, it recognises chunks of text and other features on the page including pictures. Using a tool called the Zone Editor, you can: change the reading order of sections of text delete sections of text that are not relevant to the reading task. 1. Put a page on your scanner. 2. Select Scan from the main toolbar. 3. When scan is completed, then change the toolbar to Document Preparation (right-click on the toolbar to see more toolbars to choose from) You can also go direct to Zone Editor from the Scan option in the main menu (or Ctrl F5) 4. From the Document Preparation Toolbar, select Zone Edit from the toolbar. You should see blocks of text highlighted in yellow and possibly green as well. You will also see that the areas of text are numbered. This follows the sequence they will be read. 16

17 5. To reorder these areas, click on an area to highlight it and then right-click to see a list of options. 6. Click on Properties, then change the number next to Reading Order. This will set the zones (chunks of information) to be read in a different order. Click OK. Now change the order back to its original setting. Save changes and return to document. Note: You can set the zone or section of text to be organised as Primary Text, Secondary Text or Graphics. Primary Text is yellow and is read left to right and down the page. Secondary Text is green and will only be read if the reader clicks on it. Kurzweil treats graphics as art and will not try to read it. Editing the text on a scanned page Sometimes, when pages are scanned, there may be words or characters on a page that are not recognised accurately, and you may even see odd characters instead of the correct spelling of a word. As part of the document preparation process, students and educators need to read through scanned text to check for errors, and then use Kurzweil s special features to make necessary corrections. These features are called Change Underlying Word and Edit Underlying Text. Here is an example of what a scanned document looks like when you have selected the feature Edit Underlying Text. The scanned page is shown along with a window (the underlying text). You will notice that some of the underlying text is not the same as what is on the page. The underlying text is what Kurzweil 3000 reads aloud. It is possible to edit a page (that is edit the underlying text) to correct recognition errors and make sure that words are read correctly. Let s take a look at this feature! 1. With a scanned document open, and the Document Preparation toolbar displayed, select Edit Text from the toolbar. 2. You should see a separate window showing the underlying text under the picture of the page you scanned. 17

18 3. If there are any words that do not look right or if you see strange characters, then delete them or type in the correct word where the word is highlighted. 4. Click on Edit Text and save any changes. Now you are ready to use the page for reading or study. Note: A very good example of how the Edit Underlying Text can be useful is when a student is completing a math worksheet or assessment where calculation of a complex equation is required. As it is written, a math equation may sound like gobbeldygook when spoken aloud using text-to-speech. Using Edit Underlying Text the educator can type in how they want Kurzweil to read out the equation, making the whole exercise much easier for the student. Writing Tools Kurzweil 3000 has a number of strategies to assist with writing, proof-reading and self-correction. They include: speak as you type read aloud features creating an outline or summary from reading material as a starting point for writing. (Using outlining tools will be covered in the section on Study Skills Tools.) word prediction identifi cation of homophones and confusable words synonym lists to help fi nd alternative words talking spell check For more information, see Writing and Self-Correction Tools found on page 125 of Kurzweil 3000 for Windows Tutorial. Create a text document First create a text document by clicking on New from the toolbar. If your toolbar set does not contain this icon, simply go to File then New and select Text File. You can begin typing as you would in any word processor. Hearing the words as you type This feature helps the writer listen for any mistakes as they are typing. They may help them edit as they go. 1. Open a new text document 2. Open Tools from the Main Menu and choose Options(Ctrl F1). 3. From the window displayed, select General. 4. Select the options you want under Speak as Typing (whole words, whole sentences or all characters) 5. Start typing. Using Word Prediction Word prediction helps you complete a word as you type and choose from a list of possible words that may come next in the sentence. As you type, guesses based on initial letters are presented in a window with numbers next to the words. Word prediction helps with spelling as well as speeding up typing. 18

19 How it works First make sure the Writing Toolbar is visible on the toolbar. 1. Right click on the toolbar to see a popup window. Click on Writing. 2. You should now see a small additional toolbar added to the other toolbars. 3. Click on the Word Prediction icon. You should see this window: 4. Click on the Thumbtack to set the word prediction window to move as you write or to remain stationary. 5. Type the following sentence Yesterday there was a huge storm in the afternoon. As you type you will notice that words are displayed in the window. If you see the word you want to use in your writing, click on the number next to it or press Ctrl and the corresponding number from the keyboard. Click on any word in the prediction window to hear that word spoken. Homophones and Confusables If any of the words in the prediction window happen to be homophones or words that are possibly confusable (like were and where), then they will be highlighted in yellow (homophones) or green (confusables). Double click on one of the coloured words to display a defi nition of the words. Have a word spelled out and then the defi nition read and highlighted. 19

20 Topic or vocabulary lists To make sure words related to the topic you are writing about appear in the word prediction window, it is useful to create and use topic lists. Kurzweil 3000 already contains some lists of homophones and confusables as well as a sample topic list called Dinosaur. Let s choose the dinosaur list: 1. Choose Tools from Main Menu 2. Next select Vocabulary Lists 3. To see the word list, highlight it then select Options. From here you can add these words to the general word prediction list, specify if you want them to be highlighted, delete some words, etc. 4. Click OK to go back to the previous window then click in the box next to the Dinosaurs list to add a tick. Click OK. These words will now be available in the word prediction window as you type. Using vocabulary lists 1. Open a new (text) document (Ctrl + N) 2. From the Writing Tools menu, click on the 1 case Crystal Ball (word prediction feature) 3. Type this sentence: The tyrannosaurus rex was a carnivorous dinosaur that is now extinct but was brought to life in the fi lm Jurassic Park. Tyrannosaurus Rex should have been displayed in the prediction window after two entries, saving many keystrokes and helping with spelling. 20

21 Learning new words You may have noticed that not all words typed were offered in the prediction window. There are several ways to ensure that topic words or new words are saved so they are displayed in the word prediction window next time you type them. To have new words learned as they are typed, go through these steps: 1. From the Tools menu, select Options (Ctrl + F1) 2. From the Options window, choose Word Prediction 3. Make sure the relevant options are checked. Training selected words or sentences To quickly save words as you are typing, click on the word Train in your Word Prediction window. This will save that word to your general prediction list. Try typing a sentence that includes a word you saved to see if Kurzweil has learned it. The new word should be displayed after several letter entries in the prediction window. Making a vocabulary list for writing You can quickly and easily create a topic list for writing with word prediction in a number of ways: 1. From words being typed 2. From a list of words typed into a document 3. From highlighted words only in a document 4. From all words in a currently open document. Let s create a list from highlighted words in an existing document and presume that the task for the student involves reading a document, then writing a recount of its contents in their own words. 1. Open the Content Reading or Study Skills toolbar. There will be highlighter tools available on either of these. 2. Open the sample document TimeTravel 3. Highlight the words displayed in this illustration: robots virtual reality future airplane Imagine, rocket physicist Albert Einstein 4. Now go to Tools, then Vocabulary Lists and select New. Make sure you select Create Vocabulary List from TimeTravel.kes 21

22 5. Choose Extract highlighted words only then click Next 6. You will see a display of the words extracted. From here you can delete any unwanted words. Click Next 7. Now name and save the list. 22

23 To use the list when writing: 1. Go to Tools 2. Then Vocabulary Lists 3. Place a tick in the box next to the TimeTravel list you have just created and click OK 4. Select the word prediction icon from the toolbar and start writing 5. Try typing these sentences to see if your saved words now appear in the prediction window... Some time in the future we may see robots doing the chores that kids have to do around the home. Virtual reality games might be much more popular items in toy stores. Reading back your writing Reading back text you have written helps: check sentence structure identify incorrect tense errors identify incomplete sentences check whether words used sound appropriately. Finding a suitable word After reading the text aloud, students can use the Synonym existing word. lookup from the toolbar to replace an Spell Checking Kurzweil s spell check feature enables you to correct scanning errors in image documents as well as composition errors in text documents. With the spell check feature you can: Add and save words in a private spelling dictionary Choose whether to have an extensive list of spelling suggestions when checking your writing or limit the suggestions. This may be useful for those who fi nd a long list of choices distracting. Specify whether you want to use UK or US spelling Spell check texts based on the language you are reading in. Kurzweil 3000 supports languages in addition to English (French, German, Spanish, Italian). It also supports spell checking for several other languages if you have speech engines for them. Using the spell check Try typing the following text (including errors). On the weekend I reelly needed to use the fone but I found taht my mobil was not charjed. I manadged to yuz it four a short time only. I spoke one sentnece before I heard those familya beeps. Doesn t taht mak you mad! To use the spell check feature follow these steps: 1. From the Writing Toolbar, select the Spell Check icon to check your document (Right-click Main Toolbar, select Writing) 2. Right-click on the document you want to check. A small menu will appear. From this choose Spell Check. Kurzweil highlights any word it sees as an error and displays a window that offers spelling suggestions. You can choose to skip any identifi ed words, change it using one of the spelling suggestions or save it into a personal dictionary. On the weekend I reelly needed to use the fone but I found taht my mobil was not charjed. I manadged to yuz it four a short time only. I spoke one sentnece before I heard those familya beeps. Doesn t taht mak you mad! 23

24 3. Click on some of the words in the spelling suggestion list to hear them spoken. Then click on the correct spelling. 4. Choose Change. Kurzweil will correct the spelling then automatically go on to the next spelling error in the text. The spell check feature has the ability to pick up some phonetic spelling errors (eg. f and ph ) and display words starting with the appropriate letter combinations. You will notice that when the spell check gets to the word fone it will offer words starting with the prefi x ph as options in the spelling list. Once you have corrected an error, the program will move on to the next misspelling until the entire document has been corrected. More spell check options 1. Go to Tools + Options from the Main Menu (or Ctrl + F1) From here you can change whether you want the spelling suggestions limited to a smaller list, the entire list or to provide the option to the user within the spell check window. You can specify whether you want US or UK spelling. You can also edit the personal dictionary of new words that are not in the existing spell check database. Study Skills tools These Study Skills tools are built into Kurzweil 3000: highlighters notes (sticky notes, text notes, footnotes, voice notes, bookmarks and the new feature of bubble notes) the ability to create audio fi les from text. Study Skills tools are designed so that educators can easily prepare learning materials for struggling students. Educators can: specify which parts of a document will be read create vocabulary lists for language development and topic dictionaries create an outline or summary of main ideas from a document attach instructional notes, word defi nitions and comprehension questions to reading material transfer computer-based worksheets and assessments into electronic formats and make sure the method of completion suits student capabilities. Through using Study Skills tools, students learn strategies that promote independence and active participation as well as learning. Students can: create an outline of main ideas use outlines as a starting point for writing learn new vocabulary before and during reading take notes while reading revise notes away from the computer answer comprehension questions while reading independently proof-read their writing complete computer-based worksheets and assessments independently. 24

25 Toolbars When you look at some of the main toolbars, you will fi nd that some of them contain icons that provide access to selected Study Skills tools which may be required for a particular task. Take a look at the Content Reading toolbar, for example. (Right-click on the main toolbar, go to Apply Toolbar Set, then select toolbar). You will see that the highlighting tools are available so that the user can highlight main points in the text. Two colours only are available on this toolbar. The Study Skills toolbar If you want to have displayed the suite of Study Skills tools as well as the main toolbar set of your choice, then you can right-click on the Main toolbar and select Study Skills toolbar from the menu displayed. You have a choice of whether you want the tools displayed with large or small icons. The study Skills toolbar looks like this: Using the highlighting features Highlighting is a strategy to help readers identify main ideas and details in the document they are reading. This strategy can also improve comprehension. Many students who struggle with reading and writing fi nd memorising main ideas from large sections of text diffi cult. Using the highlighting tools, students can highlight then read back: headings main ideas important details words. It is possible for students to extract the highlighted text into a separate document for the creation of vocabulary lists or outlines to use as a starting point for writing. Educators can use the highlight and extract feature to quickly create test material for reviewing class work. Let s read a document, highlighting main points and details, then extracting the highlights. You will be using two highlight colours. (Make sure you have a main toolbar set as well as the Study Skills toolbar displayed at the top of the document). 1. First click on Open and select the document Condor from the Sample Documents folder 2. Read the fi rst paragraph under the author s name. (Click where you want to start reading and select Read from the toolbar.) 3. Click on the yellow highlighter from the Study Skills toolbar 4. Click and drag over the text It looked like extinction for the Californian Condor. 5. Keep reading the text, outlining in yellow only the main points 6. As you are reading each paragraph, select a different highlighting colour to choose details that fi t under each main idea. 25

26 Undoing highlighted text 1. Click on Erase from the Study Skills toolbar 2. Drag the cursor over the highlighted text. Reading highlights To review the highlighted sections at any time while you are reading the text, follow these steps: 1. From the toolbar, select the Reading unit (Highlight) 2. Now click at the beginning of the document and select Read from the toolbar. Only the highlights will be spoken. Extracting the main points and details 1. Go to File on the Main Menu 2. Select Extract. You will see this window: 3. Click next to Highlights, Including: and choose the highlight colours you used for main ideas and details 4. Place a tick next to Insert Blank Lines when Extracting Highlights. This will place spaces between the summary points, making it easy to read in the new document that will open. 5. To set indents to create a hierarchy of ideas, place a number in the indent section next to the relevant highlight colour. For example, you may want to indent the details or sub-points 3cm in from the margin. 26

27 6. Select OK. A new document is displayed with the extracted highlights. Creating a vocabulary list of theme related words Go through the same process of highlighting and extracting text to create a word list to go with the Condor document used in the last activity. You will only need to use one highlighting colour. You will not need to use the indent feature for this task. Working with notes Notes in Kurzweil 3000 are useful tools for both students and educators. Notes can be embedded in a document to be read by a student or class. These can be: instructional notes to help students focus on specifi c information comprehension questions word defi nitions. Notes can also be used with scanned worksheets and assessment material. Students learn to read pre-instructional notes before they read the document to help them focus on a task. They can take notes as they read, then read the notes back or extract them into a new document as a starting point for written assignments. Students can become independent in test situations, completing test papers by typing in or even recording answers. There are fi ve types of notes available in Kurzweil 3000: Sticky notes available in image documents can be different colours can be extracted and printed separately from the document useful as a reminder (just like the paper version of a sticky note) or to make a list of important details in a document can be read aloud Follow these steps to add a sticky note to a document as you read: 1. Make sure you have the Study Skills toolbar displayed 2. Open the document Condor from Sample Documents 3. Read aloud the fi rst couple of paragraphs 4. Select the Sticky Notes icon from the toolbar 5. Click to the left-hand side of the sentence in paragraph 3 starting Scientists needed to move quickly... 27

28 6. Type inside the sticky note Scientists captured every condor left.. Right-click over the note to see a popup menu. from here you can specify the width, delete, move or resize the note. 7. By selecting Note Options, you can change a number of other display options. The reading order of the notes within the document can also be set. 8. Close the document. Do not save. Text notes are available in image documents have transparent backgrounds are sefull for fi ll in the blanks - type of activities (worksheets, tests) where students can type in answers can be read aloud. Follow the same procedure for adding a text note in a document as you did for sticky notes. You will notice that the window is transparent. To use a text note to complete a worksheet, follow these steps: 1. Go to Open from the Main Toolbar 2. Choose Sample Documents and Vocabulary Building 3. Double-click on Syllables Worksheet. You will see that in question one you are required to write in the space the appropriate one-syllable word. You should see a small orange box in the space where the answer is to go. (The text note has already been placed there.) 4. Click inside the fi rst orange answer box and type a word in to complete the task 5. Type in the other three answers for this question using the text notes 6. To answer question two, you are going to use the drag and drop method of answering a question which does not require you to type anything in the space. 7. Double-click to highlight one of the words that has two syllables in the word list at the top of the page 8. Click and drag the word to the blank space. Your word should be copied into the space 9. Continue adding answers by typing or dragging and dropping words into the spaces 10. Close the document. Do not save. Try scanning your own worksheet for fi lling in spaces, adding text notes to the page using the toolbar ready for use with your students. Note: The drag and drop method of answering questions in activities with fi ll-in-the-blanks formats is very useful for individuals using a mouse, joystick or trackball to access the computer. 28

29 Footnotes available in image and text documents are shown in a document by displaying a number anchored to the text associated with it are opened by clicking on the anchor number great for holding large amounts of information can be used to collect information from a document or include extra information students may need to refer to can be read aloud. To add a footnote to a document: 1. open Sample Documents, then the TimeTravel document 2. press PgDn on your keyboard to go to page 2. Alternatively, choose the page navigation arrows on the reading toolbar to move to the next page 3. highlight the following text and drag it down into the footnote window A stellar black hole is what a huge star (or sometimes a group of stars) becomes when it burns up. 4. Now type in to the footnote Look up Stellar black hole on the web and find out more information about it. 5. Go to the end of the page to view a web address displayed for the National Geographic website. Copy/type the web address into the footnote window. Now use the read aloud feature to read the content of your footnote. 6. Select the Close icon from the Study Skills toolbar to close the footnote. To re-open it again, simply double-click on the number in the document. You will notice that there is a number in the document that shows where your footnote is 7. Keep this document open for the next activity. Voice notes are available in image or text documents store and play-back recorded information possible to add content to the end of an existing voice note enable a student to record and answer rather than write it teachers can leave recorded instructional notes and reminders to students in a document they are reading. To add and then play-back a voice note, follow these steps: 1. With the TimeTravel document open, click on the Voice Note icon on the toolbar 2. Click the crosshair next to the text you want to anchor the voice note to 3. Click next to the main heading 4. You will see a popup window for recording messages 5. Select the microphone, speak the message Read the fi rst page. Highlight any words that you don t understand. Look up their meanings in the dictionary. 6. Select the stop button when you have fi nished recording 7. Select the green right arrow to replay your message 8. Now click OK to close the voice note 9. A speaker icon should now be visible next to the TimeTravel heading 10. To hear the voice note you can double-click on it to open and play it. 29

30 From the Options menu (Ctrl F1), you can specify whether the voice notes are to be read in place, or read only if you select them. Bubble notes Bubble notes are a new feature in Kurzweil 3000 Version 9. They are designed so that pre-reading instructional notes and comprehension questions can be embedded in reading material. Word defi nitions can be spoken about as students read the document. Words can also be spelled aloud. Bubble notes come in different formats: Multiple choice True/False Text answer Match pairs Why use bubble notes? The advantage of bubble notes over some of the other notes available in Kurzweil 3000 is that the notes are: interactive (students can respond to teacher questions) they don t take up much space they can appear automatically when reading they can contain a variety of content. It s very easy to get information on student progress using bubble notes to collect data on comprehension. Image documents are anchored to a word and displayed by a question mark. In Text documents, they are displayed by underlining the word they are anchored to. Here is a document that already has some bubble notes embedded in the text. First make sure you have these settings for reading text: Reading mode - continuous Reading unit - phrase, line, sentence or paragraph 30

31 1. Click Open from your toolbar 2. From the Sample Documents folder choose Horse s Tale Bubble Notes 3. Click at the beginning of the document. Select Read from the toolbar You will notice that some bubble notes will automatically open as you are reading. Others may require you to manually open them by double-clicking on the question mark. To stop Kurzweil reading contents of bubble notes at any time, select the F3 key. Edit a bubble note 1. Go to page 2 of the Horse s Tale Bubble Notes document 2. Click once on the 1st bubble note near the top of the page. It should change colour to red 3. Go to Tools, select Note and then Edit Bubble Note Take note of the options available for bubble notes within the window that is displayed. 4. Change the appearance of the bubble note to a cloud by clicking the down arrow next to Balloon 5. Change the size to large 6. Now look at the Open Options. Leave the selection on Open while reading and then click the radio button next to Open when word is read 7. For the Question Options, select Multiple Choice, as we will change the method of answering from writing the answer to selecting from a list of existing words 8. Now select Checkbox 9. Click the down arrow next to Multiple Choice and set the number of answer options you want displayed to four 10. Now change the instructions to Soldier Boy describes himself as being reliable. What words in the text make you think this? 11. Now add these words to the answer spaces big best-educated horse carried Buffalo Bill 1,000s of miles travel 50 miles a day 12. Select Preview to see what the changes look like 13. Select OK. Read aloud the text just before the bubble note. It should open when the nearest word is read. Practise editing the bubble note to create different formats. 31

32 Adding a bubble note To make a bubble note that spells aloud a word in the text: 1. Click next to the word slouch on the fi rst page of the Horse s Tale document 2. Go to Tools, Notes, Add Bubble Notes 3. You should see this window: 4. Select the size and shape of the note from Appearance 5. Select Open while reading, Open when word is read 6. Now select Read note on open, Spell keyword 7. Type the word slouch in the space at the top of the displayed bubble note 8. To see your creation choose Preview 9. Select OK. Your bubble note should now be anchored to the word slouch in the document and will appear after the word is read. Extracting and printing bubble notes You can extract and then print bubble notes. This is useful for teachers who need to collect answers to comprehension questions for student assessment. 1. Go to Extract in the File menu 2. Select Notes Only then OK 3. You should now see a new document with all the bubble notes printed in it. Deleting a bubble note 1. Click once on bubble note to highlight it 2. Go to Tools, Notes and Delete Note 32

33 Bookmarks Bookmarks are a good way to mark important places in both image and text documents. They are especially useful when reading long documents that contain many pages. 1. Make sure you have the Study Skills toolbar displayed 2. Open a document of your choice from the Sample Documents 3. Click where you want to put the bookmark 4. Click the bookmark button from the toolbar 5. A dialogue window will be displayed. Type a description for the bookmark 6. Click Add 7. A bookmark icon will appear in the document if it is an image fi le. (If it is a text fi le, then it will change the colour of the word nearest the bookmark.) 8. Go ahead and place several other bookmarks next to the paragraph beginnings 9. To go to particular bookmarks, click on the bookmark icon on the toolbar to see a window displaying lists. Click on the descriptors to hear them spoken 10. Choose Go To, to jump to that bookmark and continue reading 11. Close the document when fi nished. Do not save. Saving documents as audio files for revision You can save text or image documents as wav or mp3 fi les so you can listen to documents using an mp3 player or other device. To create an audio fi le, follow these steps: 1. Open a document from Sample Documents 2. Go to File and Create Audio File 3. Specify the options, including how much of the document you want to include (selected text, page or whole document). The reading voice and speed, format and quality. 4. Click OK to create the audio fi le 5. Go to the folder on your desktop Output Audio and you should see the newly created audio fi le. You can now open and listen to it using Windows Media Player. Completing a test or worksheet on the computer With Kurzweil 3000, teachers can prepare tests for students to complete on the computer. Instructions and questions can be read to students. Tests can be completed using the array of Study Skills tools including highlighting, voice notes, text notes and dragging and dropping answers into a space. Here s a review of how to use text and voice notes: 33

34 Using text notes You will be using a document that uses a fi ll-in-the-blanks format. 1. Go to Open on the toolbar 2. Select the fi le called TimeTravel Quiz from Sample Documents 3. Make sure you have the Study Skills toolbar displayed 4. To fi ll in the blanks with a text answer, fi rst select Text from the toolbar 5. Click in the space on the worksheet where the answer is to be placed 6. Type your answer. When you press space your text will be spoken. Using voice notes Make sure you have connected your microphone 1. Use the Reading Tools from the toolbar to read selected parts of the question you are answering. You may want to change the reading mode to self-paced when reading text in the test 2. Choose Voice from the toolbar 3. Click in the space where the answer is to go. The following window will appear: 4. To record your answer, click on the picture of the microphone, record your answer, then select the green arrow to replay your answer 5. Click OK 6. The speaker icon is now shown in the document Once the fi le is saved, answers can be played back by double-clicking on the speaker to hear the answers. Complete the fi rst page of the test using the highlighter tool to select from multiple choice answers. 34