Many readers will have heard of this Éinput deviceæ, as it is widely used in schools throughout the country but, rather than repeat its virtues once more (or indeed run through all the features that current software has added to its use!), I thought Iæd put pen to paper to share some hints and tips on its use. If itæs all second nature to you, I apologise, but speaking to parents and teachers, it seems that even simple things can make all the difference between getting good use out of it and not!
What is it?
If youæve not come across one, a concept keyboard is a flat A3 or A4 sized, pressure sensitive pad. Depending on the model, it can have either 256 or 4096 little areas that can all be made to respond differently to presses. For those of you wondering what it might be useful for, there are three major areas:
Å As a visual aid to add words to word processing
Å Instead of using the QWERTY keyboard to control a program
Å As an exploratory medium, where the computer gives information in response to childrenæs presses
Although these are all major areas, I know that enterprising folk across the country have found many more!
The CK in use
To use the board, it is usual to put a paper Éoverlayæ on its surface to guide children as to which part of the board to press. Overlays are quite common around schools and, if you are a parent, it could be that your childæs school will share their copies of overlays with you. Three obvious things to consider when photocopying concept keyboard overlays are:
Å Some photocopiers tend to Épush overæ copies by a few mm. If you are copying a friend of a friendæs, friendæs copy, it could be quite a long way out and the areas wonæt line up anymore! Try and get access to an original.
Å Enlargement of A4 overlays to A3 (and vice versa) doesnæt work either, as the areas are not squares
Å Coloured paper (such as pink) might look very pretty but it doesnæt photocopy at all well!
Now a couple of more general hints:
Å Make sure itæs on a flat solid surface, otherwise key presses are much harder to get
Å Try to have enough room so that children can use the board and do other activities around it (e.g. writing or using the main keyboard).
DIY overlays
Making your own overlay is a worthwhile pursuit because, although the commercial efforts represent brilliant art and cunning illustrations, they are often not what you, or your children actually need. The first thing I would recommend you to do is roughly sketch out what words, keypresses or stimulus art youæd like on the overlay. Of course, if you have a scanner, you can use illustrations from workbooks to liven up your overlays, or use anyone with artistic talents to help.
Unfortunately, from a copyright point of view, you are entering a minefield. For instance, all characters (e.g. Chip, Floppy, etc, from the Oxford Reading books) are not only banned from being copied but also (I believe) from being represented in a recognisable form on paper. If youære making a school or home resource, itæs likely that the copyright holder wonæt mind (assuming youæve already bought into their scheme through other resources), but watch out if you want to distribute the materials outside your own four walls!
Plan your overlay
If youære going to run a program from the board, itæs a very good idea to go through it deciding exactly what keys you do use! Itæs amazing how many overlays Iæve made, only to find that Iæve forgotten to add a ÉReturnæ key!
If you are now in the position of wanting to create your masterpiece, complete with all the keys and artwork, do think about the following:
Å Are the areas far enough apart from each other? Childrenæs little fingers do tend to stray.
Å Are you sure that youæve got all the key presses youæll need on it? (I sometimes put a Ésecretæ square for Éprintingæ.)
Å Is the overlay consistent with others that are in use? It is very frustrating to have ÉReturnæ marked as ÉReturnæ on one overlay at the top right hand corner, and as an arrow symbol at the bottom left on the next one!
Å Is it clear and readable?
Å Is it better by being on a concept keyboard? There are many products that just put words on the screen; some read them; some combine them with pictures. If your overlay is simply a list of words with no visual clues, wouldnæt it be easier using one of these other software titles?! The concept keyboard triumphs by being highly visual and tactile. Donæt be afraid to use real objects, like coins or things to count if the overlay is for maths, or textures if it is for science. You can put three-dimensional models on it for History and Geography. but remember to make sure that presses can get to the board. You can even make it play sound samples with the right software so that it can become a composition tool.
If you are using a 256 square board, and want to have the squares lining up, without having the grid left on the paper, you can always turn the Éready griddedæ paper over. The lines are often bold enough to show through without back-lighting them Ö if necessary, you can hold the paper up to a window.
Draw on the overlay paper, colour it, test it and then cover it. You will find that children can add their own thumb and finger prints to your overlay within an hour or so, especially in Épopularæ areas such as the full stop or the word Étheæ.
An alternative to covering every single overlay is to have a clear plastic top over the paper overlay. This has some disadvantages with children as it can slide around the place but is far quicker than the alternative. ÉBlu Tacæ is a great help in holding overlays and their covers in place. If you have a heat sealing machine in your establishment, you could use this. To conserve resources, why not put two overlays back to back during sealing Ö but donæt be tempted to cut the edges off, split them in half and use them separately, as the sealing causes them to roll up horribly.
One last piece of essential information for the paper overlay is the program it has been designed for and the filename to use it on the disc. Donæt be afraid to use the same overlay in several programs if it fits.
The actual making of the electronic overlay will differ, depending on which software and board you are using, but it is usually achieved by either pressing the areas on your board or pointing at the corresponding squares on the screen with a mouse. If anyone wants a comparative review of the different products, please ask.
Finally, overlays are often quite time-consuming to make and design. As a partial solution (and to get the best from your work), a concept keyboard exchange scheme has been set up by Chris Abbotts at Kings College in London. If youæd like to have your work distributed to a wider audience or even try out some of the materials that others have made, do get in contact with him directly.
If you can think of other things to do with concept keyboards that you öwish somebody had told youò, why not drop me a line c/o the Archive office?áuá
