Firefly by Kurzweil Firefly by Kurzweil can be accessed two ways on a device such as a chrome book, laptop, or desktop via the website www.fireflybykurzweil.com OR on an Apple device such as an ipad by downloading the Firefly app through the Apple app store. A login and password are necessary to gain access to this tool and each school has its own login and password that students and teachers can use. Once you are logged into Firefly by Kurzweil, you have access to the PEI School System universal library. All the textbooks and novels that have been digitized for access within Kurzweil are available in this library.
How the Universal Library is Organized The main folder of our Universal Library is called PEI School System. Within this folder is a folder called Public and in the Public folder are all the grade level folders that contain any of the curriculum textbooks and novels that we have digitized for Kurzweil. Shared Collections The Universal Library also contains electronic files that are accessible and shareable. It currently includes the following shared collections: Classic Literature collection. Nonfiction Bookbag with content for Grade Levels 3-8 since this has been added by Kurzweil, it is American content.
In addition to reading books from the PEI School System Folder, you can add files to your school s folder for reading and editing. firefly supports KES, TXT, DOC, DOCX, RTF, EPUB, BKS, and PDF files. You can open files from other sources for reading and editing. Notice the four buttons, Google Drive, Bookshare, Computer, and Upload. Google Drive allows you to log in to your Google Drive, select documents from your Google Drive, and open in firefly to read. Bookshare Bookshare does have some free titles, but many of the books they have in their collection require a subscription. Anyone with a documented Print Disability can receive a free membership to Bookshare - https://www.bookshare.org/cms/bookshare-me/who-qualifies Opening Files From Your Google Drive If you have files in your Google Drive that aren t in the Universal Library, you can open these files in firefly by Kurzweil. Log in and click the Google Drive button. (Note that you can also log out of Google Drive by clicking the link beneath the Google Drive button.) 1. If you aren t already logged into your Google account, log in using the Google Login pop-up window that opens.
2. Your Google Drive opens a Select a file window. If you have organized your files in folders, you will see your folders. Open the folder or select the file that you want to open. 3. Click the Select button. The file opens in firefly. 4. If you close a file and want to reopen it, you will find it in the recently_opened_local_files folder that is in the folder named by your school. Opening Local Files From Your Computer You may have files on your computer (G: drive, or the shared Teacher and Student drive) that aren t in the Universal Library. You can open these files in the firefly. firefly supports several file formats: KES, TXT, DOC, DOCX, RTF, EPUB, BKS, and PDF files. 1. Log in and click the Computer button. The File Upload window opens. 2. Navigate to the file on your computer that you want to open and click Open. 3. If you close a file and want to reopen it, you will find it in the recently_opened_local_files folder.
The firefly reader toolbar When the document opens, the firefly reader toolbar appears at the top of the open document, containing buttons and drop-down menus. The buttons shown will depend on the type of document. The buttons shown below are for documents that can t be edited PDF, EPUB, BKS and KES image files. They are: 1. Main menu. 2. Audio Options menu. 3-5. Reading navigation buttons. 6. Audible Reading toggle. 7. Highlight menu. 8. Zoom menu. 9. Notes menu. 10. References menu.
firefly Main drop-down menu The firefly Main drop-down menu lets you move to Your Universal Library, Your Account destinations, and the Help topics. Audio Options drop-down menu To change reading settings, click the Audio Options button. Set options for: Voice: Use the drop-down menu to select a voice, many languages are available, including French. Reading Speed: Faster, Slower.
Unit: Word, Line, Sentence, and Paragraph. Mode: Continuous, Self-Paced, and Word-by-Word. Reading Click the Play/Pause toggle to read using dual highlighting. firefly highlights each word and Reading unit in two different colors. firefly moves the cursor forward by the Reading Unit option selected. By default, the Reading unit is set to sentence. Click the double arrows on the left of the Play/ Pause button to go back to Previous Reading Unit; click the double arrows to the right of the Play/Pause button to advance to the Next Reading Unit. Click the Audible Reading toggle button to turn the sound on or off. Highlight drop-down menu Use the highlighters to highlight selected text. In addition to the colors, you can also circle and cross out text. Use the eraser to erase the highlights, circles, and cross-out marks. To highlight text in a document: 1. Hover over the Highlighters button and select a color pen, a circle tool, or the cross-out tool from the list. 2. In the document, drag-select the text you want to highlight, circle, or cross out.
3. To highlight in a different color, click the Select button to end highlighting in the first color, and then repeat step 1. 4. When you are done, click the Select button to end highlighting. To erase highlighting: 1. Hover over the Highlighter button and click the Erase button. 2. In the document, drag-select the highlighted (or crossed out) text you want to erase. 3. When you are done, click the Select button to end the erase function. To save highlights: After highlighting, navigate to another page or click the Back to Library button. If you close the browser or leave the firefly website, you may lose the highlights for the session. Zoom drop-down menu To change the zoom setting, click the Zoom button. Choose a range from 100 to 300% or check the Fit to Width option to fit the document to the browser window width. The zoom doesn't go less than 100, so if you want to be able to see more of the page, you can hold down the CTRL key and hit the - (minus) key at the same time to zoom out to a fuller page view. Holding down CTRL and the + (plus) key will bring you back to normal. You can also use the shortcut Key F11 on a laptop for Full Screen mode. On a Chrome Book you can get into fullscreen mode by holding down the shift key and maximize-window-key. This can also be used again to promptly leave fullscreen mode.
Notes drop-down menu The Notes drop-down menu on the firefly toolbar displays the Notes options. firefly supports adding, editing, viewing, deleting, and reading two note styles: Text Notes and Sticky Notes. Select: Click to end a note selection, such as Delete. Add Sticky Note: Click to create a new Sticky Note, and then click on the document where you want the note placed. Click in another spot to add another sticky note or click the Select button to end the Add Sticky Note option. Add Text Note: Click to create a new Text Note, and then click on the document where you want the note placed. You can click in another spot to add another Text Note or click the Select button to end the Add Text Note option. Delete Note: Click Delete Note, then click anywhere in the Sticky note or Text note to delete it. Click the Select button to stop the Delete Note option. Show: Check to show Sticky Note and/or Text Note; uncheck if you do not want to show notes. You can edit notes. Notes that you add or edit in firefly will also be displayed in Kurzweil 3000 and the firefly ipad application. If you upload a KES document that contains either type of notes, and you check both of the Notes Display options, they will be visible in firefly on the web. In example shown above, the Notes Display options are set to display both Text Notes and Sticky Notes. If you add any notes to a document the notes will be saved in a copy of the document found in the recnetly_opened_files which is a folder inside the folder named by your school. See the next section for more information on this.
Saving the Notes you add to a document : If a student is using Kurzweil to have a test read aloud to them, they can type their answers to the test questions by adding Text notes anywhere they need to make a response. If you have created the test in MS Word, one way to share this file with your student is to save it as a PDF file, upload it to your Google Drive and then share this document with your student through the Google Apps sharing feature. If you create the test in Google Docs, it is still optimal to give the student the file in PDF format. To do this in Google Docs, you need to select the option Download as a PDF under the File menu in Google Docs. This will download (ie. save a copy) your document in PDF format wherever you specify. You woud then have to upload this PDF version back to your Google Drive to share it with your student. Once the student can open the test in Firefly by Kurzweil, they can then use the text note feature to make a response anywhere on the document. If the student has opened a pdf file (from either their Google Drive or from a location on their computer), Kurzweil will automatically save a copy in.kes format in the recently_opened_local_files folder that is found in the folder named by your school. Before the student adds any text notes to this file, they should open the version of the file that is in the recently_opened_local_files folder. They can do this by clicking on the Main Menu button and choosing Library, click on the folder named by your school and then recently_opened_local_files. In here they will see a copy of the file they just opened. They can click on it to open and now any text notes or highlights that they add will automatically be saved to this copy of the file in the recently_opened_local_files folder.
Reading Notes If you click on a note you can read the contents of that note. They are not read as part of the page, so you must explicitly click on them and use the Read / Pause button in the toolbar to hear their contents. If the note has a scroll bar, you can use it to scroll through the contents of the note. Moving Notes To move a note, click any edge of the note (top, side, or bottom) and drag the note to the location you want to move the note to, then release the cursor. The note will remain in the new location. Only one note can be selected at a time. Resizing Notes You can resize the note by grabbing the triangle in the lower right corner and dragging it to the desired shape.
References drop-down menu The References drop-down menu allows you to look up a selected word (Dictionary) and translate selected text (Translation). Looking Up Words To look up a word, select a word, then click the References button then select Dictionary. In the Definition Window that opens, select a dictionary (Fifth Edition, Children s or College). To hear the definition, use the Play / Pause on the toolbar.
Translating Text 1. To find a translation, select a word or text, then click the References button and select Translation. Choose a language from the drop-down menu. Languages listed in bold have an associated voice. 2. Click Translate. 3. If the translation is in a language with a voice (shown in bold), click the Play / Pause button on the Toolbar to hear the translation.
Navigating Pages To navigate to the Previous page or Next page, click the large Left Arrow or Right Arrow button on either side of the page display. To go to a specific page, enter the page number in the Go to page box at the bottom left of the firefly window, and then click the Go button or press Enter. Back to Library The Library button in the firefly Navigation drop-down menu takes you back to your Universal Library folder.