PowerPoint®: Interactive text boxes
Why
use interactive text boxes?
Interactive text boxes allow a viewer of a PowerPoint® presentation to interact and enter text directly onto a slide even when in slideshow format.
The amount of text and flow of text within the on-screen box is restricted, therefore controls need to be made to allow text wrap and a larger amount of text entry. However for this example the student only has to enter one letter but the instructions below show how to make the changes to the text box controls.
How to create a PowerPoint® presentation
with interactive text boxes
The following instructions will help you amend
an existing presentation to insert an interactive
text box.
- Open the PowerPoint® file
named Farm
animals
(Browse
your E-Guides USB memory stick: Content
creation > Activity
files > farm animals.ppt.)
- Add the following text beneath the title:
Listen to each sound clip then type the correct letter beneath each animal.
Open
the Control Toolbox toolbar
(View > Toolbars > Control
Toolbox).
- Click on the Text Box button
on the Control Toolbox then
click and drag
to create a text box beneath the picture of the pig.
Click
on the Properties button
on the Control Toolbox to
open a
Properties dialogue box.
- Make the following changes to the settings:
EnterKeyBehavior – change to True. (Click on drop down arrow in right hand column to see the options.)
Multiline – change to True. (Click on drop down arrow in right hand column to see the options.)
These two changes will allow word-wrap to happen automatically when you reach the edge of the text box.
- Add text boxes beneath
each picture and set the properties for each
box.
- Save the changes you have made to the presentation.
- Preview the Slideshow by selecting Slide Show > View Show or by pressing the F5 key on the keyboard. Click into a text box and type the letter of the correct sound clip.
To
change the background colour of the interactive
text box, click on the word BackColor.
Click on the drop down arrow and
a box will appear with two tabs: System and Palette. Select Palette and
choose your colour.
To change the font, click on the item Font and then the button with the three dots at the end of that row. Select the font and size required.
Suggestions for use
The following are examples of learning materials produced using Microsoft® PowerPoint® and controls within PowerPoint.
Further resources:
