Keep in mind that the activities from Annie’s Resource Attic were created in various multimedia programs, so look first at the help files and manuals for those applications. If a problem is caused by a bug or glitch in one of those applications, the excellent technical help people for that application can probably come up with a work-around. Here are some links for online support :
- Crick Software® (US)
Crick Software® (UK)
Crick Software® (Others)
IntelliTools®
Microsoft® PowerPoint®
SoftTouch®
About Downloads
As soon as you click a download link, the activity or other resource should begin to go to your computer. Where it goes depends on the destination you have set in your browser. You may get a dialog asking if you want to save or open the file. Choose SAVE. Be sure to note the exact file name, so you can search for it after the download if necessary. For a detailed guide to downloading, saving, and importing things from Annie’s Resource Attic, click the link at the bottom of this page.
About PDF Files
Many activities and how-to’s are in PDF format. If you have trouble opening them, you may need an updated version of Acrobat Reader®. You can download it free from the Adobe® web site. There is also a plug-in for Acrobat Reader that may be installed in your browser. If so, when you click a link to download a PDF file, it may open in your browser. This does not necessarily mean it’s been saved, however. Look for a way to save as a PDF, usually a floppy disk icon (now there’s an antique!) in the upper left. If there is no plug-in, then you will get a dialog asking if you want to save or open the file. Since you want to keep this file for later use, choose Save.
About ZIP Files
Many activities and other resources are compressed as zip files to save download time. You will need to decompress these to use them. Exception: IntelliTools Classroom Suite® can import zip files. For details, download the guide at the bottom of this page.
Importing Files
Be sure to import activities and other resources into the appropriate application. Double-clicking a file is not a good way to open it. Moving individual files out of folders may break links. For details, download the complete guide from the bottom of this page.
Application Version
Check the system requirements for the activities you download. If you have a very old application version, you may need to update. In addition, many of the activities include movies. If you have a very old computer, with an early version video card, it may not be able to play these movies. I’ve tried to have a still picture on the page with movies where possible, so that you won’t see a blank page.
Videos in Clicker 5 and Cloze Pro
You will notice that I have a Mac and a Windows version of these activities, even though both applications are cross platform. The reason is the videos. Clicker 5 and Cloze Pro Mac can run QuickTime. Clicker 5 and Cloze Pro Windows cannot run QuickTime, but can run most AVI’s. The only compression type that runs in both results in a large file for each video, and some of these activities have many videos. My solution is to use QuickTime movies in the Mac-optimized activity version, and Indeo avi in the Windows version because these give the best trade-off of file size to quality.
However, you may need to download an add-on codec in order to see videos in Clicker 5 Win. clicker 5 relies on whatever codecs happen to be installed in your Windows operating system. I believe that Windows XP usually has the Indeo codec, so you may have no problem. But if you aren’t seeing video, download and install the codec you find when you click this link. This is the solution I received from Crick Software tech help. You can download the codec here
SoftTouch Applications
I’ve found My Own Bookshelf runs very slowly on Mac, especially loading, and especially with newer MAC OS. I know SoftTouch is aware of this, and plans to update its applications so that they run better on Mac. For now, there is no easy solution. I’ve also seen Test Me Score Me intermittently fail to read out the entire answer, once a student chooses it. It seems to be a timing problem, in that the application doesn’t finish the task of reading out before going onward. Again, hopefully this will be solved in an update. The results for Test Me Score Me are accurate, even if the answer is not read out.
PowerPoint
I’m experimenting with PowerPoint, so try at your own risk. Feedback welcome! I’ve posted two versions, one that should work with PowerPoint 2003 on Windows and 2004 on Mac. The movies are in the same folder, and it’s best to leave them there. I’m not certain the links will hold. If not, you may need to re-insert the movies. I think you can tell by inspection where they go. There is a picture on each page, so that the activity will still be usable even if the movies do not work. The second version, a PowerPoint Package, is supposed to export movies and all as one folder, thus keeping the links, but may need PowerPoint 2007 to run. Try it!
About Special Needs Access
See the Special Needs Access section of the System Reqs page. I’m not an expert on alternative access, but I’ve put a link there to a document with switch and interface setting by people who are experts. If you’re having a problem accessing any of the activities, see the manuals for the application first. Then try the links to Dr. Caroline Musselwhite, Linda Burkhart, or Susan Norwell under the People links. They may have the answer posted, or you can ask them for help.
DOWNLOAD
DownloadSaveImport.pdf (900 KB) A complete guide to downloading, decompressing, and importing files from Annie’s Resource Attic.
