INTERACTIVE LEARNING IN THE EARLY PHASE - I SPY DIGITAL COLLAGE MAKING
MAKE YOUR OWN INTERACTIVE DIGITAL COLLAGE
WITH MICROSOFT POWERPOINT
In this tutorial, you will create your own interactive ‘I Spy’
style digital collage using Microsoft PowerPoint. This collage will
have sounds attached to it. When users click on elements of the
collage, they will hear the sound file you have recorded. Your
completed collage can form part of an E-Book or can be a
stand-alone resource for use with an interactive whiteboard.
Examples of both of these uses are available online at our
Interactive Learning in the Early Phase website at
www.earlyphaseicts.com.
What you will need to complete this tutorial
To complete this tutorial, you will need:
• a collection of objects that you can use to create
your own collage with;
• a digital camera;
• a microphone;
• Microsoft PowerPoint.
Creating digital collages with Early Phase learners
Texts such as the ‘I Spy’ and ‘Spot What’ books are highly engaging to Early Phase
learners. Early Phase students enjoy the challenge of trying to spot certain objects
within a collage and become highly engaged when they are given the chance to create
their own collage from a collection of materials. They particularly enjoy selecting the
objects that will be ‘hidden’ in the collage for the reader to spy and enjoy seeing their
peers, teacher and family members interacting with their own creation. Students can
create interactive collages based on a range of topics and concepts. Popular collage
themes include:
- Letters and Sounds
Students create a collage on a letter, initial sound or blend.
- Concrete, Verbal and Symbolic Representation of Numbers
Students create a collage on a particular number. For example, if they have the number 4, they
may include a plasticine number 4, a square because it has four sides, a car with four wheels and
four counters.
- Shapes
Students create a collage containing objects of a chosen 2D or 3D shape.
- Places and Environments
Students create collages relating to a particular place or environment. For example, if a class is
undertaking a unit on marine environments, as part of the orientating phase of the unit, each
student may be asked to bring in an item that relates to the sea to create a whole class collage.
- Science-based concepts
Students classify objects based on observable features and properties. Collages could be based
on a range of things such as how they move, whether they float or sink and features they have
in common.
- All about me
Students create a collage about themselves.
This collage can include photographs of themselves
Interactive Learning in the Early Phase — www.earlyphaseicts.com
Tutorial by Kristine Kopelke - Email [email protected] - Page 1 of 6
INTERACTIVE LEARNING IN THE EARLY PHASE - I SPY DIGITAL COLLAGE MAKING
By this stage, you should have an idea for your collage. This tutorial will now take you
step-by-step through the process of turning your idea into an interactive digital collage
that you can use with your students.
Step 1.
Putting your collage together
The process begins with the creation of your collage. Whilst your collage can be made
out of any objects. Popular objects for use in the classroom include:
- classroom manipulatives (blocks, counters, 2D and 3D shape models, MAB blocks,
dominos, dice, cards, beads, magnetic letters and numbers and puzzle pieces;
- consumables (coloured paper, foam or felt shapes, paddlepop sticks, match sticks,
ribbons, pipe cleaners etc);
- food (in particular parts of or whole fruit and vegetables);
- non-valuable objects brought in by students from home.
When assembling your digital collage, it is a good idea to use a lid of a box or a piece of
cardboard or craft paper to place your objects on. Try to leave a couple of centimeters
between your objects and the edge of the box or cardboard. This will make it easier
when you crop and resize your collage in a future step.
Step 2.
Taking your digital photographs
Once you have your collage made, it’s time to take some photographs of it. Take atleast
four shots of your collage and always preview them before dismantling your collage.
When taking your shots try to take a couple with the flash on and the flash off. This will
provide you with a different look to choose from.
Step 3.
Copying your digital photographs to a folder on your computer.
Use the memory stick in the camera or the USB cable to download your photographs to
your computer. Create a folder on your computer or network called ‘Digital Collage’ and
place your photographs in your folder.
Step 4.
Setting up your slide in Microsoft PowerPoint
1.
Open up Microsoft PowerPoint on your computer.
2.
Select Insert > Picture > From File from the
menu at the top and then locate the folder on your
computer or network.
3.
Select the best photograph
of your collage and select
Insert. You should now be able
to see it on your PowerPoint slide.
4.
Do a visual check of your screen to
see if your Picture Toolbar is visible.
If you can’t see it, select View >
Toolbars > Picture from the top
menu.
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INTERACTIVE LEARNING IN THE EARLY PHASE - I SPY DIGITAL COLLAGE MAKING
5.
Now that you have your toolbar visible, it’s time to crop and resize your image.
- To resize your image, click on your image and then position your
mouse over one of the circle handles that appears. You should see
an arrow with two points appear. Click and drag your photograph
until it is the size you want.
- To crop your image, select your image and then select the crop
button from the Picture Toolbar. Once this is selected, click on one
of the black lines or corners that appears on the sides and
corners of your image and move the line in until you have the
required area. Repeat this process until you have removed
any unwanted parts of the photo.
You may need to revisit these steps until you have the image
at the size and position you require.
6.
It’s now time to add a background colour for your slide.
To do this, select Format > Background from the top
menu and select the colour of your choice.
7.
We’ll also now add the riddle or text you have developed
to accompany your collage. To do this, select the
Text Box button from the Draw toolbar at the
bottom of the screen.
Once selected, draw your
text box on the screen and add your text.
At this stage, your slide should look something like this.
8.
Save your PowerPoint presentation in the folder where you saved your digital
photos of your collage. To do this, select File > Save and give the file a name.
Interactive Learning in the Early Phase — www.earlyphaseicts.com
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INTERACTIVE LEARNING IN THE EARLY PHASE - I SPY DIGITAL COLLAGE MAKING
Step 5.
Recording the sounds for your collage.
It is now time to record the sounds for your collage. These sounds will include:
- the sound file that contains the riddle or text you have typed or
- a sound file for each object in your collage. This sound can be the name of the
object or even a description of the object.
You can record your sounds using a free program like Audacity that is available for
download on the web or by using the Sound Recorder application that comes free with
Windows. In this tutorial, we will record our sounds using the Sound Recorder. To do
this, follow these steps.
1. Select Start > All Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Sound Recorder.
2. Plug in your microphone and select your words by selecting the Red Record button.
3. Review the sound file and if you are happy with it, select File > Save and save your
file into your digital collage file.
4. Select File > New to record your next sound. Repeat this process until all of your
sound file are recorded and saved in your folder.
Step 6.
Adding the sound for your text to the PowerPoint slide
1.
Open your PowerPoint file again.
2.
Select Insert > Movies and Sounds >
Sound from File from the menu at the top.
3. Locate the sound file containing the recording
of the text or riddle. Select the file and
click OK.
4. The box to the right will appear. Select
Automatically so that the text is read to
the viewer as soon as the slide is opened.
5. The sound icon will appear on your
slide. You can drag this and place
it off the edge of your slide so it
can’t be seen. The sound will still play when the slide is opened. Alternatively, you
can position it on the slide near the text so that the viewer can click on the sound
icon to hear the text again.
You’ve added the first sound to your slide. On the next page, you’ll learn how to add the
sounds that will play when the user clicks on the different items in the collage.
Interactive Learning in the Early Phase — www.earlyphaseicts.com
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INTERACTIVE LEARNING IN THE EARLY PHASE - I SPY DIGITAL COLLAGE MAKING
Step 7.
Adding the sounds to the items in your collage
In an earlier step, you recorded the sounds that you wanted the user to hear when they
clicked on individual items within the collage. We are now going to draw the areas that
the user can click on to make the sounds play, make these areas invisible to the user and
then add an action to make a sound play when each area is clicked. Let’s begin.
1.
Use the shape tools in the draw toolbar
at the bottom to draw a clickable region
over the top of each of the objects in your
collage. You can use standard shapes or
alternatively, you can select one of the
line tools to draw the outline of the shape.
This is particularly useful for objects that
have unusual shapes.
To use a line tool to draw around an object,
select Autoshapes > Lines > Freeform.
Draw around the edge of your object until
you reach the starting point of your line.
Double click to make it a closed shape.
Once you have drawn around or
placed a shape over each object,
your slide should look something
like this.
2.
We now need to remove the
outlines from the shapes we have
drawn. Press Ctrl + A on your
keyboard to select all of the
objects on your slide.
3.
Select the Line Color tool from
the Draw toolbar at the bottom
of the screen and select No Line.
All of the lines should now be
removed from your shapes.
4.
Click on a blank part of your slide to
deselect all of the shapes.
5.
Select one of the shapes you have drawn
and click on your right mouse button to
bring up the context menu. From this menu,
select Action Settings.
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INTERACTIVE LEARNING IN THE EARLY PHASE - I SPY DIGITAL COLLAGE MAKING
6. From the Action Settings panel that
appears, select Other Sound and then
find the sound you have recorded
for your selected object.
Notice that the tab that is selected at
the top of the Action Settings panel is
the Mouse Click tab. This means that the sound will play when the user clicks the
mouse on the shape.
7. Repeat this process until you have added a sound in the Action Settings for each of
the shapes in your collage.
8. Our final step in making our interactive collage is to make all of the shapes
transparent (invisible). We want them to still be there so that they can be clicked on,
however don’t want the user to see them.
To do this, hold down the Ctrl key on your
keyboard and click on all of the shapes you
have drawn. You will see the circles appear
on the edges of each shape that is selected.
Once they are all selected, click on the
Fill Colour tool in your Draw toolbar
and select More Fill Colours.
In the Colours panel that opens, change
the level of transparency at the bottom
of the panel to 100%. Click OK. This
will make all of your shapes invisible.
9. Save your work by selecting File > Save.
10. Your interactive digital collage should now be complete.
Select Slide Show > View Show to test your
interactive collage.
You have now finished your first interactive digital collage. If your collage is part of an
e-book, you can now add some more slides by selecting Insert > New Slide and
working through the same process you did to create your first slide.
Alternatively, if your collage is going to be a stand-alone resource for use on an
interactive whiteboard, select Save As and in the Save as type option at the bottom of
the panel, select PowerPoint Show (*.pps).
Congratulations!
You should now have your own interactive digital collage for use with your students.
Why not make some with your class or even visit our Interactive Learning in the Early
Phase website at www.earlyphaseicts.com to see ones created by students and teachers
in Queensland schools.
Interactive Learning in the Early Phase — www.earlyphaseicts.com
Tutorial by Kristine Kopelke - Email [email protected] - Page 6 of 6