Scenario 3 - Adjusting the computer desktop

The screen below shows the desktop of a computer set up in a small class of children aged from five to seven. The children span a range of abilities and are divided into three groups, which we have imaginatively called the Red, Blue and Green groups. The computer is mainly used for literacy work.

At the moment, Red group is working on letters, phonics and word blending tasks. They are using Sherston’s Rhyme and Analogy CD, Widgit’s First Keys, some Clicker grids, and some TextEase activity templates set up by the teacher.

Appendix 1 gives information on how these adjustments are made.

Key skills and equipment

The key skills for the above example are the ability to:

• categorize and group the programs and activities the pupils are undertaking on the computer
• understand the terms ‘application’, ‘document’, ‘template’ and ‘shortcut’
• adjust the display settings using the Mac or Windows Control Panels
• re-name icons and folders
• create new desktop folders and delete unwanted ones
• create new short cuts and delete unwanted ones

The key equipment is:

• a Windows or Macintosh computer with ‘standard’ front-end
  (If you have an RM Window Box the desktop has already been organised for you. However, you may wish to try out these skills. To do so you will need to log on to the Window Box as Manager - you will need to know the password - and this will give you access to the standard desktop.)
• appropriate programs for your pupils

User profiles

A further refinement of this is to create User Profiles for each pupil. With Windows 95 or later, and MacOS 9, the user profile can hold particular keyboard, mouse and display settings, and what appears in the Start menu and on the desktop. When the pupil ‘logs on’ with his or her name, the personalized settings are loaded and the desktop only shows the required short cuts and folders. Some applications get around these management issues to some extent by automatically asking the pupil to choose his or her name from a list when the program is first started.

Scenario 4 - Making use of the user profiles

In this scenario, one of the children, Sarah, in Red group has a visual impairment. She prefers a large font, with white text on a black background. She uses a rollerball and prefers an enlarged pointer, with ‘trails’. She is left-handed, so the rollerball buttons have been swapped from left to right. When Sarah uses the computer, the rollerball is moved over to the left side of the keyboard.

The user profile is set up so that when Sarah logs on (or someone does it for her), her particular desktop and mouse settings are loaded.

User profiles have also been set up for other children, and for the staff. In the pupils’ profiles, the Windows Control Panels have been taken out of the Start Menu, as well as access to some of the programs. The class teacher has her own profile and passwords with all the Start Menu items available so that settings can be changed and all the applications are available.

The Appendices give details of how to alter these settings for mouse and display, and save them as a profile.

Key skills and equipment

The key skills for the above example are the ability to:

• use the Accessibility Options to set a high-contrast display
• use the Mouse Control Panel to adjust the mouse buttons and pointer
• create user profiles.

• a PC with Windows 95 or later – a Macintosh with MacOS 9 also has the facility to save settings for multiple users

Desktop management programs

Front end programs offer a simplified desktop and password entry to the pupils, and also prevent them changing settings, installing software and altering important files and programs. This allows the computer to be set up for individuals, groups, classes or stages with access to only the programs you wish them to use.

The simplified desktop gives quick single-click access to the programs required, and may also prevent the user accessing settings, or installing their own software. Macintoshes come with the Launcher application that can be easily customized for the user. For Windows, the RM Window Box machines come with ClassMate, while WinSuite is another popular front-end program for other Windows PCs.

Individualized resources

Most of your students will require special equipment and adaptations to computer hardware or software; so organizing your ICT resources to meet these individual needs is important. This Unit covers the basics of a ‘standard’ workstation or equipment: see the specialist Units for more about particular keyboards, switches or software.

Individual resources

All pupils with severe and profound special educational needs use personal items of equipment during their school day: a wheelchair or sloping table-top tray; symbol boards and charts; standing frames and special seats; switches, toys and appliances; communication aids; and so on. Organizing these devices is largely a matter of common sense and storage, which need not be addressed here. The key considerations are to ensure that:

• the equipment has a place, and is put back there after use
• staff know how, when and why to use the equipment (through training, and resources such as laminated ‘crib sheets’ that are stored with the equipment)

Keyboard, mice and peripherals

Many pupils will also use special keyboards, pointing devices, switches or other equipment. If the computer is shared between several children (and most are) these devices must be stored so that they are easily accessible, and so that the all-important adaptors and leads do not get lost. Ideally, all devices should be left permanently connected to the computer and Velcroed in the correct location so that it takes as little time as possible to get going. If different peripherals are used by different pupils, arrange them so they can be easily lifted out of the way when not required. It is a good idea to colour code leads and connections so they are easy to match up, and to stick labels on them to say what the particular item is and to what it connects.

With Macintoshes, several keyboards and mice can be plugged in at the same time and connected and disconnected without having to restart. With PCs, you may need a suitable interface to attach two keyboards at once (see Appendix 5) and you generally want to connect them all up before you switch on.

If an individual pupil requires a particular set-up, create a short ‘crib sheet’ with the relevant details – which keyboard or input device, where it is located, and how it is plugged in – so that staff and pupils can quickly get connected. Add photographs of switches and controls if necessary. Crib sheets should be permanently attached beside the computer or other equipment and, ideally, laminated. The crib sheets should cover software settings as well as hardware devices – see below.

Crib sheets are not useful just for computers: they should be used for all ICT resources used by pupils: whether simple technology such as single message communication aids, switches and toys, or sophisticated communication aids.

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