ELR Software produces a range of computer programs designed by speech pathologists for speech, language & literacy intervention. Our programs may be used interactively within therapy sessions, to increase efficiency in service delivery, and to improve access to the Internet for people with special needs. We are also available as consultants to clinicians and research projects in the fields of literacy and accessibility issues associated with the Internet.
The aim of this newsletter is to inform you of developments and changes to our major products eLr (Extra Language Resources), Build-a-Sentence and Word Meanings. We welcome the opportunity for feedback and questions, and will be pleased to consider including reader contributions and announcements.
This Newsletter (and previous editions) as well as a "print-ready" PDF version of the current edition is available online at www.elr.com.au/news. An email version is also sent monthly to members of our mailing list (See Subscribing/Unsubscribing).
In this issue -
We are very excited that, through a collaboration with the Sydney based company Coviu, eLr subscribers are now able to deliver eLr based teletherapy to remote clients entirely through a shared browser or iPad screen. In addition to the usual "Skype type" audio-visual participation, a clinical session is able to include any of the more than 13,000 interactive eLr tasks. But this is not just screen sharing - every mouse action and screen response is synchronised, which means that you are able see and talk to each other while interacting with an eLr task as if you were using the same device.
Coviu have a particular interest in teletherapy in the healthcare environment, and we have been able to integrate eLr as an "Add-on" to Coviu's professional video consultation software. You can find more information about Coviu at www.coviu.com.
Whether your practice includes clients from remote Australian or global locations, or just in the next suburb separated from your clinic by traffic and scheduling hassles, we're sure you'll be interested to find out more about this new development. Please contact us for a demonstration or free trial of "eLr for Coviu".
Ninety new tasks have been added to "Reading and Spelling", in the "Consonant Sounds - Long consonant sounds" subsection targeting spelling options for the /s/ sound. Over the last few editions we have focused on developing materials which may be useful when teaching letter-sound relationships of the consonant sounds of English. Our strategy has been to start with the consonant sounds which have a number of spelling options. For example, the /k/ sounds may be spelled with "k" (kite), "c" (cup), "ck" (sock), "ch" (school), and "q" (quiet).
The new tasks are in the "/s/ sound" subsection and also have a number of spelling options. The /s/ sound (as in "Sue") is a long consonant sound (as opposed to short consonant sounds such as the /b/, or /t/sounds). It is a voiceless sound, ie no voice is used, in contrast to the /z/ sound (as in "zoo" which is produced with the same teeth, tongue and lip position, but with voice. Within the /s/ sound subsection, there are six subsections which contain materials to teach the main spelling patterns for the /s/ sound: "s" (soap), "ss" (grass", "se" (house), "c" (cent), and "ce" (fence).
Within each of the subsections, a range of tasks are used, which together, provide a variety of ways to reinforce both reading and spelling of target words. WordSound Buttons encourages the student to segment the word into sounds or syllables, WordSearch provides an opportunity to practice decoding and eventually automatic recognition of words, SmileyMan reinforces spelling, MemoryWords and ConnectWords are fun ways of encouraging formation of clear mental images of words to develop automatic recognition - sight words), and LookThenCover may be used to encourage the student to write the words and consolidate knowledge of spelling patterns.
As with all eLr tasks, the role of the instructor is to ensure that accurate decoding and reading has occurred, and to encourage the student to expand knowledge of word meanings (eg by talking about the meaning, and using the word in a range of sentences).
For additional information about the development of these tasks, please refer to the February edition of this newsletter in which outlines the rationale and evidence base for the speech-to-print approach to teaching early reading and spelling skills was discussed.
The SPA conference in Adelaide was a great success. Toni attended many of the sessions, and we enjoyed catching up with existing eLr subscribers and meeting speech pathologists who are new to our resources. It was especially interesting to share the stand with Coviu and meet clinicians interested in teletherapy solutions for speech pathologists. During conferences such as this, we appreciate getting your feedback as this enables us to continue to develop materials that support your needs - the ability to access a large range of activities that cover many speech, language and literacy targets, from wherever you may be operating. We look forward to talking with you during this year and to perhaps meeting you at next year's conference. You may also email us with your feedback and suggestions about existing material, ideas for new activities and target areas, and teletherapy with the new "eLr for Coviu" platform.
As an occasional feature of this Newsletter, we include simple, unpaid announcements of products developed by other small, independent developers, who, like ourselves, are practising clinicians who have put their ideas and experience into resource materials for general distribution. Links and brief information about these sites may be found at www.elr.com.au/links/developers.htm. To date we have listed -
If you would like your materials listed on this page (at no charge), please contact us.
ELR has a number of free or evaluation files available for downloading directly from our website. Please see www.elr.com.au/downloads.htm for specific details. For other supporting materials and documents available for free download, please see www.elr.com.au/support.htm.
ELR Software offers regular, free eLr tutorials over the web. We can provide this sort of support to individuals, or to groups who would like to have an overview of eLr. Please contact us for details.
You are receiving ELR-News because you are an eLr subscriber, or have expressed an interest in either eLr, Build-a-Sentence or Word Meanings. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail with details to news@elr.com.au
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