Cloning a Program – Overview
The DT trainer is a very robust program with a large set of content, and it will also allow you to create your own programs through a process called “cloning” a program. Cloning allows you to use previously created content programs as templates for your own content and drastically simplifies the process. This process requires an intermediate to advanced knowledge of computers, as you will need to supply your own images and audio.
To create your own content:
- Acquire pictures of all your stimuli in JPG format.
- Create two audio files for your stimuli in WAV format:
- One with normal voice inflection as when you deliver an SD.
- The other with rising intonation, as though you were indicating a correct response.
- Name all three files (1 image/2 audio) with an identical name. Put a “^” after the name of the praise sound file (eg. apple.jpg, apple.wav, apple^.wav).
- Open DT Trainer Administration.
- Select the “Common Administration” tab.
- Check the “Activate Development Features” box.
- Click the “Programs” button.
- Browse existing programs and find one that most closely matches the program you want to create. There will be a number of ways an SD is delivered, as well as praise. Depending upon the program the grammatical structure of the SD and praise may not be correct.
- Select a similar program, then click the “Options” button to view/hear current verbal SDs for that program. Select each item listed under the “Verbal SD” tab, then click the “Preview” button to hear it. Take note of which items are appropriate for the program you intend to create. Once you have listened to each SD, close the options window.
- Click the “Clone” button. The name of the program will pop up with “USER-“ preceding the name. Re-name your program, leaving “USER-“ at the beginning.
- When asked if you want to clone the entire program (including images and audio) or just the program structure, click “No” to clone just the structure.
- Now your program will appear in main list of content programs. Select your program and click the “Options” button to adjust which SDs are used.
- To disable an SD, select it in the list and click the blue “-“ button.
- To activate an SD, select it in the list and click the green check mark button.
- To make an SD the default, click the green “*” button.
- Once you have adjusted the SDs, close the options window. Next, click the “Praise” button to adjust the praise that is used. Click the “Toggle Active” button to activate or deactivate each praise item.
- Pressing the “Ctrl” and “Shift” buttons will allow you to select multiple praise items at once. Praise is grouped somewhat by grammatical structure, so if you do not want the article “the” in the praise (eg. “Great, you touched the apple”) then deactivate all praise with “the” in the description.
- Now you need to add your image and audio files to the program. This will be done manually by navigating to your DT Trainer installation using the windows file browser.
- Click the “My Computer” (or just “Computer” in Windows Vista) and locate your DT Trainer installation. By default, the location is “C:\Program Files\DT Trainer”.
- Open the “Programs” folder and find the name of the program you created (USER-…). Copy and paste all your images into that folder.
- Go back to the main DT Trainer folder, then open “Speakers”, “Stephanie” and finally the “Programs” folder. Again, find the name of the program you created (USER-…). Copy and paste all your audio files into that folder.
- Return to the DT Trainer Administration and select the “Common Administration” tab (make sure the “Activate Development Features” box is checked).
- Click the “Programs” button, then select your new program.
- Click the “Options” button and then the “Development” tab.
- Uncheck “Lock Design” to be able to make changes. After changes are saved, you may want to re-check “Lock Design.”
- You may need to alter the check boxes in “Item Audio Files”. For a basic program only “Word” and “Inflected Word” need be checked.
- Click the “Done” button.
- Click the “Items” button, and then the “Development” tab.
You will need to repeat the following instructions for each item in your program (each set of image/audio files).
- Click the “New Item” button.
- Enter a name for the item (should match image/audio files)
- Open the drop down window for “Word File” and select the appropriate audio file you created (you can preview the audio files with the two buttons to the right, “Word” and “Inflected”).
- Click the “Add” button under the “Target Image” tab and select the picture for the item (note: you can select more than one image file – this allows you to have multiple examples of the same item).
- Click the “Done” button.
- Select the “Basic” tab, then click the “Preview” button to preview your items.
- If you need to delete a program you created, you must do it manually. There are 3 folders in the DT Trainer directory that need to be deleted:
- “Programs\(the name of the programs you created)”
- “Speakers\Stephanie\Programs\(the name of the programs you created)”
- “Students\ModelStudent\Programs\(the name of the programs you created)”