Cause and Effect Software Titles

What are they?

Cause and effect software programs, often called early learning software, are programs that produce an attractive event when a single action is generated by a child.

What do they do?

 Cause and effect software programs are designed to teach children to understand the power that they have to control at least one part of their environment.

How do they help?

 Once a child understands that touching a key on a keyboard, or a switch, or a picture on an alternative keyboard can create a desired outcome, that knowledge can be used to teach the child an incredible number of things. When a child understands cause and effect, he or she can truly begin to explore the environment to answer his or her own questions.

What kinds are there?

There are software programs made for very young children who are just learning to use the computer, as well as programs designed specifically for children with special needs.

Image source: stickybear.com, Optimum Resource,Inc.

 Cause and Effect Software Titles Chart

Product Name	Intellipics	101 Animations	Stickybear Early Learning
Manufacturer	Intellitools, Inc.	R. J. Cooper and Associates	Optimum Resource, Inc.
Address	1720 Corporate Circle, Petaluma, CA 94954	27601 Forbes Rd. Suite 39 Laguna Niguel, CA 92677	18 Hunter Rd., Hilton Head Island, SC 29926
Phone	800-899-6687 (USA and Canada) Phone: 707-773-2000	800-RJCooper (800-752-6673) or dial direct 949-582-2749	888-784-2592
Fax	707-773-2001 ( 24 hours a day)	949-582-3169	843-689-8008
URL	www.intellitools.com Info@intellitools.com	www.rjcooper.com	www.stickybear.com stickyb@stickybear.com
Cost	Macintosh CD-ROM IP-M $99.95 $299.00 $50.00 each Windows CD-ROM IP-W $99.95 $299.00 $50.00 each	SM-19 $99.00	$59.95 Home Version $99.95 School Version (2 copies) $269.95 Lab Pack (6 copies) $699.95 Site License (30 CDs or unlimited disks at Site) CALL District License
Features	Create multi-media activities and presentationsIntelliPics brings magic into your classroom. Use it to create interactive, animated activities with pictures from the IntelliTools Picture Library or graphics from other programs. Appropriate for all ages Activities made with IntelliPics work for the youngest child as well as higher cognitive adults. A young child can touch pictures on IntelliKeys to bring up animated graphics. An older student can give a full multimedia presentation simply by pressing keys on an overlay. Customize Activities Activities can be personalized by using photos and a recording of the student Once you create an activity, you can easily modify it to make it simpler or more complex. Unlimited Application IntelliPics is ideal for accessing scanned books or other printed material. Students can sequence through the steps in a recipe, a story, or an experiment by pressing keys on their overlay. IntelliPics also has a built-in quiz feature that enables you to turn any activity into an interactive quiz. Making your own customized learning activities is quick and easy. * Start with a concept such as counting, animals, foods or vehicles. * Select the graphics you would like to use for your activity from the IntelliTools Picture Library, or any graphic you can paste onto a clipboard. * Add a caption, a recorded message or sound, and a movement to each picture. IntelliPics automatically generates the keys for making an overlay for your activity.(Note: You will need Overlay Maker to edit and print your overlay for use with IntelliKeys)	Here's a simple cause and effect activity that simply puts a large and loud animation (non-age- specific cartoon) on the screen with every switch activation. How many animations? 101, of course! Works with: mouseclick, switch, touchscreen, or spacebar.	Colorful, entertaining, and effective skill-building fun for preschoolers! The award-winning Stickybear's Early Learning Activities program features six bilingual learning activities which provide colorful, motivating skills practice for children ages 2 - 6. Children learn the alphabet, counting, grouping, shapes, opposites and colors while they prepare for later success. Two modes of play, structured and non-structured, allow youngsters to learn through prompted direction or by the discovery method. Lively animation and sound keep attention levels high and Stickybear's Early Learning Activities is bilingual, so youngsters can build skills in both English and Spanish. Children are introduced to the fun and adventure of learning with Alphabet, which provides a word, letter and animation for every letter of the alphabet. Users may freely toggle between English and Spanish at any time. A great vocabulary builder! In Counting, animated objects along with audio prompts help children master the numbers zero through nine while they discover the effect of adding and taking away, a great start to addition and subtraction! The Grouping activity builds on counting skills and introduces children to group concepts. In Shapes, children identify basic shapes found in everyday scenes and are rewarded with funny animations. The Opposites activity builds word recognition and vocabulary skills while Colors allows children to identify and name the colors found in playful scenes. An effective, engaging and useful program for young children, Stickybear's Early Learning Activities was created for their varied learning needs.
Related Products
Specifications	Macintosh: Any Macintosh with a hard drive and System 6.07 and higher and a CD-ROM drive. Requires 7 MB hard drive space and a least 4 MB RAM for System 6.0.7 and 8 MB RAM for System 7 or higher . Windows: PC with 486 or better. Windows 95 with 28 MB hard drive space and at least 8 MB RAM. Windows 98 with 28 MB hard drive space and at least 16 MB RAM. VGA monitor (SVGA recommended). CD-ROM Drive. Windows compatible sound card. If using IntelliKeys, Overlay Maker is required.		Early Learning Activities is provided on a Tribrid CD-ROM and will work on Windows 95, Windows 3.1 and Macintosh platforms. The program is also available on 3.5" diskettes, in either Windows or Macintosh format, please specify. Windows: 486SX/25MHz, SVGA, 4MB RAM, Windows compatible sound card recommended. MSCDEX 2.2 or later and CD-ROM drive (for CD-ROM). Macintosh: 2MB RAM for System 6.07, 4MB RAM for System 7 or greater. 256 colors. CD-ROM drive (for CD-ROM). Stickybear's Early Learning Activities $41.95 Price ($US) Everyday Low Price: $41.95 Media: CD-Rom(s); System Requirements: Windows: 3.1/95; Requires: 486SX/25MHz or greater, 4MB RAM, 10MB HD; Current Release: Home; Macintosh: OS 6.07; Requires: 68030 or greater, 4MB RAM, 10MB HD; Current Release: Home; Requires also: 4x CD-ROM recommended
Item Code	Macintosh CD-ROM IP-M $99.95 $299.00 $50.00 each Windows CD-ROM IP-W $99.95 $299.00 $50.00 each	SM-19 $99.00	Mfr Part No.: 56200 UPC Code: 03141156200

How do you find good software titles / a good fit for your student's needs and abilities?

 Doing research to find good software titles can be a lot of work! Consider using these resources.

1. Ask other educators you know for recommendations. You can't always believe the ads!

2. If you know parents who are using software titles at home, ask how successful that is and get their feedback

3. Use the Internet (see below)

4. See if you can try-out the software before you purchase. Many companies offer feature or time limited demos

Consider the following criteria when making software selections:

• How is the navigation around the program. Is it intuitive?
• Are the screen images clear or cluttered? Simple is better!
• Are the activities presented motivating for the student? Individual differences/interests become a factor.
• Is there decent documentation, online help, or an 800 number for support?
• Does the program have "longevity" or will the student tire of the activies in a week?
• Is the program content appropriate for the student's current level of functioning (developmentally appropriate)?
• Is the program's content well presented / laid out?
• Does the program teach skills in sequence? This is difficult to find. Often the teacher will need to fill in gaps with other activities.
• Many commercial early-learning software titles have Some activities that are appropriate for students with cognitive disabilities, however navigating to that particular activity may have to be done by the teacher or other capable peer. This teacher has used some acitvities from the Jump Start Kindergarten and 1st Grade Series successfully in this regard.
• It is helpful to read reviews of educational software. There are some links to reviews in the Links section. Some computer radio shows and computer magazines also give reviews.

Finding Recommendations / Reviews of Software on the Internet

To help computer "Newbies" do purchasing research, let me recommend the following procedures. This advice covers research on any subject using the Internet.

First Try "Expert" Sites---those sites that cater specifically to working with students with disabilities. See the general sites listed under the Links section. Then EXPLORE their Links pages for products that might be helpful.

Reviews of commercial educational software can be found in the Links section.

You might want to try "directories/Portals" such as Yahoo.com, Looksmart.com, or About.com and look at educational software areas or disabilities areas.

Use a search engine such as www.google.com (my favorite), www.excite.com, www.altavista.com, or a meta site such as www.metor.com. Use of the proper "search paramaters" may help you allievate receiving thousands of unrelavant results. Type your requested search "parameters" (words that you are seeking) in the search window and press return or click the search button for that search engine. For more relevant results try the following:

• Use the AND operator (you need to capitalize it) to find every desired term on a webpage IE: software AND disability AND review
• Use quotes around phrases such as "cognitive delay"
• Do NOT capitalize words, uncapitalized words will find all variations so "cerebral palsy" entered as a search string will find:CEREBRAL PALSY, Cerebral Palsy, and Cerebral PaLSY in websites.
• Use synonyms or similar words : So if "cognitive delay" doesn't yeild good results, try "developmentally delayed", cognitive impairment, "special needs" etc.
• The more general the terms, the more results, so : disability AND software will yield a lot more results than dyslexia AND software

May your search results be fruitful!!!

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