This activity card tells you how to bring text into your multimedia project, either from an online reference work or from a text file.

 

 

 

1. Open the online encyclopedia or other online reference work that you want to use - for example, you might want to use TIME Magazine Multimedia Almanac or Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.

 

2. Search and browse until you find the text you want.

 

3. Use the built-in search tools to help you.

 

4. Select the text you want and copy it to the Clipboard.

 

5. Import the text into your project.

 

6. Open your multimedia project.

 

7. Go to the slide or card where you want to insert text.

 

8. If you're using HyperCard or HyperStudio, click in a text field.

 

9. Choose Paste from the Edit menu to paste the text from the Clipboard. If you saved your clippings in a file on the desktop, use the instructions in the next section, "Using Your Own Text," to insert each text file into your multimedia project.

 

10. Cite the source - Since you did not write the text, give credit to the source &emdash; including the author and work in which it appeared.

 

 

Using your own text in a project is easy&emdash; you can type directly in the project itself. Another option, if you want to do your writing while a classmate is using the authoring tool&emdash; or if you have a lot of text to write and edit&emdash; is to use the following procedure.

 

1. Write the text.

 

2. Use a word processor or a text editor such as SimpleText to write and edit the text for your multimedia project.

 

3. Choose Save As and save the document in Text format.

 

4. Import the text into your project.

 

5. Open your text document and select the text you want.

 

6. Choose Copy from the Edit menu to copy the text to the Clipboard.

 

7. Open your multimedia project.

 

8. Go to the slide or card where you want to insert text.

 

9. With your cursor on the card, choose Paste from the Edit menu to paste the text from the Clipboard.

Return to Ideas for Using Technology in the Classroom