SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

COURSE MODULE COURSE UNIT WEEK

6 1 13-15
Microsoft Publisher AND Computer Assisted Instruction

Technology for Teaching and Learning in Elementary Grades

STUDY GUIDE
MICROSOFT PUBLISHER
 Microsoft Publisher is an entry-level graphic design program included in some versions of Microsoft
Office. It is considered ideal for small business because it is user friendly and does not demand prior
knowledge about the application or graphic design in general. Publisher includes templates for many
types of common business needs, such as business cards, brochures, address labels and calendars.
Microsoft offers the options to directly mail the file, export it as another file type or upload it to the
cloud and publish online.
 Microsoft Publisher lets you work as easily as you do in Microsoft Word, but instead of using tools
for text, you’ll be using tools for editing page layouts and visual content.
 Things you can do in Microsoft Publisher
o Personalized birthday cards
o Event posters
o Newsletters for small businesses and organizations
o Professional business cards
o Flyers and programs
o Postcards and brochures

HOW TO CONVERT PDF TO PUB?

 The beauty of the latter is that if you have legacy content in the PDF format which you need to use or
update, you can convert PDF to PUB with Able2Extract PDF converter first. 
o Open your PDF in Able2Extract
o Select the content you wish to convert
o Click on the Convert to Publisher command on the toolbar
 o Save your new .pub file to your computer

MICROSOFT PUBLISHER TEMPLATES

 On top of helping you work with your original PDF content, Microsoft Publisher also comes
equipped with hundreds of premade layouts and cookie cutter templates you can use for guidance,
ideas or inspiration.
o Click on File > New
 Then, you can either: Select one of the Featured templates, and click Create, Choose Built-in and
scroll to select a category and choose a template, and click on Create to use it, or Use the Search
functionality for online templates to find the kind of template that you need.
o Once the template is open in Publisher, you can start formatting and editing it
GETTING STARTED WITH MICROSOFT PUBLISHER.
 Before you start getting your hands dirty, there are a few basics you need to know. Because MS
Publisher deals with all kinds of layouts, objects, formats and content, it doesn’t work exactly like
you’re used to in MS Word. Below is a quick guide on how to go about the basic stuff.

WORKING WITH OBJECTS

o You’ll notice that in Publisher, everything will be formatted into movable “boxes”. These are
known as objects, and are outlined with a border with four white circles and four white squares.
o This may seem weird at first, but these frame-like boxes allow you to group, edit, manipulate
and move content around on the page more easily. Here are some ways you’ll be working with
objects frequently:
o Adding text – To add text to your project, you work within the text boxes and can edit the text
within the object directly. You can also add your own by going to the Insert tab and clicking on
the Draw Text Box command, which lets you click and drag to create your own text object where
you want it.
 o Most of the templates in Publisher will offer up pre-made boxes and objects, so getting familiar
with these is necessary. 
o These boxes usually contain dummy text which you can easily double click and edit,
customizing the font, size, and color.
o Adding pictures – Adding pictures to your content is as easy as clicking on Home > Pictures. 
You’ll have options to insert pictures from a file, OneDrive or from a search on Bing. In addition,
you have a number of options to format your picture in your publication.

o Just head over to the Format tab when your picture is selected and you can start tailoring your
images. To learn more about working with images, you can read Microsoft’s tips on working with
images in Microsoft Publisher.

USING BUILDING BLOCKS

o Building blocks make it easier for you to build and customize your publication by giving you
pre-made elements. You can find these under the Insert tab on the ribbon:
o

o By exploring a few customizations, you can easily select an element you want and then click and
drag to reposition and resize the element accordingly. It’s an easy way to apply and manipulate
reusable pieces of content.
 o You’ll find this coming in handy when you want to add headings, borders, sections, accents, and
advertisements. Microsoft Publisher has these building blocks built right in, but you can also create
your own.

USING THE DESIGN CHECKER IN PUBLISHER

o This is another feature you’ll want to use when you’re done putting your publication content
together. The Design Checker is accessible via File>Info>Design Checker. It’s a tool that reviews
your final content for layout or design problems and it appears on the right hand side of the
interface.

o Think of this tool like your everyday spell checker, but for your publication content instead of
textual typos.
o The Design Checker reviews your content for a variety of design and layout problems, allowing
you to catch and fix them before you finalize a print job
o And don’t worry if you aren’t a designer, the tool will provide you with explanations and
suggestions on how to fix the problems it detects.
o You can also specify the types of problems the tool will look for by clicking on the Design
Checker Options dialog box. 
PRINTING UP YOUR PROJECT
o As an application geared towards creating digital content meant to be printed up, this will be
another basic task you’ll need to be familiar with. To print up your project, Microsoft Publisher has
a few methods to help print your content. 
o There’s the standard method that uses the Printer functionality which you’re familiar with if
you’re printing a publication on your desktop printer. The only thing you’ll need to do is ensure that
you have the settings adjusted to print your content correctly on the size and type of paper you
need. Do remember to save your project first, though, before you print!
o In addition to your usual PDF and common file types, there is also the Pack and Go Wizard
via File>Export>Pack and Go.
o This method will give you options on how to save your file for different printing purposes –
even for a commercial printer – so you don’t have to worry about the technical details of formatting
and settings. The Wizard will do that for you. You simply decide which option is best for your
needs:
 o Knowing how to work your way around with the above basics will let you work easily with any
type of layout or project you’re working on. 

MICROSOFT PUBLISHER BASICS: PUBLISHER RIBBONS

o The current MS Office suite programs, which include Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher, etc.,
use what are termed "Ribbons".  These Ribbons take the place of what used to be called menus in
the previous iterations of the various MS Office programs.  Each Ribbon has a range of functions,
which again are similar to the menus used in many different software applications.  To use MS
Publisher successfully you need to understand the various Ribbons and what their functions are.

o Home-This is the default ribbon in Publisher and the one that you will use most of the time.
You can see that most of the basic text editing tools such as Bold, Italics, alignment, indenting,
fonts, etc., are displayed here.  You alos have limited control over objects that you can click on in
the publication layout.  This Ribbon is very similar to the one used in Microsoft Word.

o Insert-Any time that you would like to add content to your publication then the Insert Ribbon is
the one most likey to be used.  There are features here for adding pictures, shapes, calendars,
borders, hyperlinks, and more.  The first time that you insert an image Publisher will ask you for
the location of the images on your system and from that point forward it will display the available
images when function is used subsequently
o Page Design-This Ribbon allows users to change the color of their publication, template, fonts,
etc.,, without having to go back to the start and creating a new publication.  It is strongly advised
that you save your publication before using the features in this Ribbon and then only save again
once you are satisfied with the changes.

o Mailings-Probably the least used of the Publisher Ribbons.  There are tools here to enable users
to mail merge their publication and send it out, usually through MS Outlook or other email
programs.

o Review-Another lesser used Ribbon that as its name suggests, allows the user to review the
publication, including spelling errors, language translation, and the use of a thesaurus for
words/phrases.

o View-This Ribbon allows the user to view the publication while working on it in a variety of
ways.  There are functions here for single or two page spreads, adding guides and rulers, cascading
windows, and more.  It is a good idea to experiment with these functions to determine the easiest
view for working on your publication.
o Microsoft Publisher has several unique ribbons, which includes the Drawing and Text Box
Tools.  There is also the Picture Tools Ribbon which adds image editing features to the MS
Publisher program.  To be successful with MS Publisher you will need to use these Ribbons to edit
a wide variety of what are termed objects in Publisher
o Picture Tools-Every time an image is clicked on in the publication layout this Ribbon will open,
even though it is not usually displayed with the standard Ribbons. With this Ribbon you can add
borders to an image, various effects, and even captions.  This Ribbon also contains some basic
image editing tools such as re-coloring, corrections, and cropping.  Anything beyond basic editing
should be done in an actual image editing program such as Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop or
GImp 2, then use the Publisher tools for any final touch up or size issues.  It is also important to
note the Bring Forward, Send Backward, and Align tools that are used with images.  Publisher can
"stack" objects, such as image on top of a colored shape which itself is on top of a text box.  In this
case the position of each obkject is very important and these tools can control their position in the
stack

o Drawing Tools-Another Ribbon that only appears when certain objects are selected.  This
Ribbon allows the user to select from a wide variety of shapes, borders, text wrapping, alignment,
and rotation tools.  Users can add borders to text boxes, effects, color fills for shapes, and much
more.  It is highly recommeded that users experiement with the various tools in this Ribbon by
creating shapes, effects, changing colors, and using the Arrange tools

o Text Box Tools-After the Home Ribbon, this is the next most popular Ribbon in Publisher.
From this Ribbon you can control the appearance of any text in your publication.  The features
include font, font size, alignment, WordArt, text fills, effects, and more.  Like the Drawing Tools
Ribbon users should feel free to experimet with this Ribbon before starting an actual publication to
see how text works and what is possible by using these tools.
COMPUTER ASSISTED INSTRUCTION
 Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) has been defined as a systematic approach to developing
students’ knowledge and/or skills that uses a computer as a central feature to support instruction
via activities including, but not limited to, presenting materials, assessing progress, and guiding
activities (Anohina 2005). CAI is a subset of technology-aided instruction, and is distinct from
online, Internet, or other network learning in that CAI implies the software is local to the computer,
not accessed via the Internet.
 Technology has transformed everyday life for many people in the twenty-first century. From its
infancy in the form of teaching machines (Pressey 1926; Skinner 1958) to the wide forms and
platforms that are ever evolving (Stephenson and Limbrick 2015), instructors and researchers have
evaluated the usefulness of technology as the central feature of an intervention to increase
academic skills. The current application of CAI originates from the work of psychologists in the
early twentieth century.
 Sidney Pressey was the first to experiment with teaching machines. He defined the teaching
machine as an automatic or self-controlling device that presented a unit of information, provided
some means for the learner to respond to the information, and provided feedback about the
correctness of the learner’s responses (Pressey 1926). Approximately 30 years later, B. F. Skinner
(1958) published descriptions of his own teaching machines, which were capable of requiring
constructed responses. Skinner attributed the lack of professional enthusiasm and adoption of
Pressey’s machines to cultural inertia, in that there was not a need for instruction to be automated
when there was an abundance of teachers. However, there was an increased interest in teaching
machines in the 1950s and 1960s when the baby boom led to a shortage of teachers. The promise
of teaching machines was that they provided a solution to the problem of insufficient teacher
attention to address all students varying needs. It was presumed that the teaching machine could
replace some functions the teacher was currently providing. There were, however, criticisms of
teaching machines in the late 1960s, including being unnecessary for presentation of programmed
materials, being too expensive, and individuals’ doubts about the extent to which the teaching
machines could teach (Benjamin 1988).
 The teaching machines developed by Skinner and others, such as the  AutoTutor (Crowder 1962),
were based on the principles of programmed instruction (Molenda 2008). Programmed instruction
was described by Bijou et al. (1966) as the process of systematically and effectively arranging and
rearranging an environment to elicit a change in a targeted behavior. The intent of programmed
instruction is to make the teaching-learning process effective and customized to meet individual
needs (Molenda 2008). Skinner’s early work in programmed instruction focused on content that
was arranged in small chunks of information that built upon each other. In a forward-chaining
procedure, the student did not progress forward to a new “chunk” of information until the previous
had been mastered. In this form of programmed instruction, learners progressed at an individual
pace. The use of reinforcement in the form of knowledge of a correct response increased the
likelihood of future correct responding. Programmed instruction was incorporated into textbooks as
well, relieving the necessity for hardware. Research using teaching machines to deliver
 programmed instruction led Skinner to refer to the use the term technology of
teaching (Skinner 1968).
 The evidence-base of CAI to teach academics to students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
goes back over three decades. Panyan (1984) was one of the first to make the argument for the
incorporation of computers into the education of students with disabilities in her review of
literature on the use of computers with individuals with ASD. She concluded her review by
proposing several distinct benefits computers may offer. These included consistency of instruction,
the potential to facilitate generalization, and the inclusion of preferred sensory stimuli into
instruction.
 As technology has rapidly changed in format and capabilities since Panyan’s initial review, the
field of special education has followed with empirical evaluations on how this may enhance the
lives of individuals with ASD. Because educators of students with ASD are responsible for
providing access to and ensuring progress in the general curriculum (Browder et al.  2007), a
specific focus has been on how to effectively use technology to teach academics to students with
ASD. Empirical investigations and periodic reviews of research are critical to fulfilling this
responsibility because they identify which uses of technology are actually effective, and when
educators use practices that are supported by scientific evidence, student outcomes improve (Cook
et al. 2008, 2012).
 CAI practices are constantly evolving, and as a result educators may find it challenging to keep
pace. Classrooms no longer maintain previous staple items such as chalkboards and overhead
projectors, which have given way to items such as SMARTboards and portable tablets. This new
technology and the practices associated with them reflect an expansion of the definition of
technology interventions for students with ASD (Wong et al.  2015). Additionally, assistive
technology tools, devices, software, and services are increasingly interwoven into the fabric of all
settings (e.g., general education, resource, separate), changing the dynamics of today’s classrooms.
As such, additional research is needed to keep pace with the rapid advances in technology.
 First, research into content areas beyond literacy remains a need for students with ASD, as
nonliteracy areas can have meaningful impact on students’ postsecondary success (Wei et
al. 2017). Students with disabilities, including students with ASD, are increasingly being included
within the general education classroom for all subject areas. As a result, it is important for future
experimental studies to target core content academic skills such as inquiry-based science, and
mathematical problem-solving. Current technology can be used to modify content for accessibility,
to align content to state standards, and to address the individual needs of students with ASD.
 Second, the majority of the research has taken place within separate settings. More and more
students with ASD are being educated within less restrictive settings, and CAI can serve as the
catalyst to provide access to general education for students with ASD. Therefore, it is important for
the context of research to expand beyond the special education classroom and investigate the
effects of CAI to teach academics to students with ASD within general education settings as well.
Future research should include treatment packages that look to academics for students with ASD
through the use of combining CAI and behavior analytic approaches to instruction
 Third, the results of the analysis of instructional materials and methods of high and adequate
quality studies may be of interest in future research using CAI. Instructional materials are no
longer limited to consumable worksheets; they now include devices, software, assistive technology
tools and services to deliver CAI to students with ASD. Looking to future trends in CAI, some of
the technology listed should be considered for future research:
o Websites: Although there are many websites available for teachers to use in academic
instruction, there is limited experimental support (Bouck et al.  2014). As a result, expanded
research using materials available on the Internet is warranted
o Mobile devices (cell phones): What was once “smart” is now “cognitive.” Smart devices such
as meters, lighting, or machines evolve with artificial intelligence enhancements that provide
more sensory, context-aware, and complex capabilities. Cognitive technology is modeled on the
human brain and has potential to have self-learning abilities. As our mobile devices evolve,
research must keep pace with the effects of these devices on student academic progress and how
they can best be used within educational environments
o Projection apps: First introduced for mobile devices, projection apps now work specifically
with portable tablets to increase engagement and collaboration. The projection app will allow
teachers and students to wirelessly display content from portable tablets on attached projectors.
Using the app’s Moderator function, educators can create a collaborative classroom by displaying
up to four different portable devices simultaneously, with a maximum of 50 devices connected.
Using the app, students and educators also can connect to mobile devices anywhere with wireless
connection, making it useful for a one-to-one classroom context. Research is warranted on how to
do this effectively
o Virtual reality (VR): VR is beginning to be used in business communications, retail,
entertainment, sports, health, and other industries. Makers of VR have claimed that VR has the
potential to completely change how we work, shop, play, and consume media. Future research
should include using VR to teach academics to students with and without ASD
o Voice control to sentient: Voice control software has moved from simply voice-to-text to
now include such skills as Internet searches, making phone calls, turning lights on/off, and
interfacing with devices that are embedded into our environment (e.g., mobile devices). Sentient
tools are aware of their context, environment, and social interactions. As technologies such as
cloud-based artificial intelligence, collaborative robots, and ever-more sophisticated machine-
learning algorithms begin to converge, we will start to see the emergence of these capabilities in
smart cars, homes, manufacturing, and education. Thus, research is needed for how to use this
technology to improve education for students with ASD
o Artificial intelligence personal assistants, chatbots, and conversational
interfaces: Advances in machine learning and natural language processing have already made
conversational mediators possible. As they grow in sophistication, they look to move from the
fringe and become a primary interface for Internet of Things devices and networks. Research is
warranted on how the use of AI can enhance or impede educational and functional skills for
students with and without ASD