How Technology can Help Struggling Readers and Writers
Children and Youth Institute, Michigan State University Extension
Cindy Okolo, Okolo@msu.edu, 9/25/2013 (all links active on 6/1/13)
Accessible Instructional Materials
Best site for information: National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials:
http://aim.cast.org/about_aim_ctr
Sources of Digital Books
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LibriVox: http://librivox.org/
Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/
Literature Network: http://www.online-literature.com/
ManyBooks: http://manybooks.net/
University of Virginia E-book Library: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/
Fordham University History Sourcebooks: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/
University of Pennsylvania Online Books
Page: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu
Digital Text meta-site: http://www.ditext.com/etexts.html
Open Library: http://openlibrary.org/subjects/accessible_book
Unite for Literacy: http://library.uniteforliteracy.com/
Google Books: http://books.google.com
Thirteen websites that offer free e-books for
teachers: http://www.goedonline.com/13-websites-that-offer-free-ebooksfor-teachers
CC Prose: http://www.ccprose.com/
International Children’s Digital Library (also has an iPhone
app): http://www.icdlbooks.org/
Digital Books on Mobile Devices
Amazon’s Kindle (https://kindle.amazon.com/) and Barnes and Noble’s Nook
(http://www.barnesandnoble.comoble.com) are popular examples of mobile
devices that are dedicated e-text readers. Additionally, e-reader software and
applications such as Blio (https://www.blio.com/blio/screens/homepage.jsp#) and
iBook (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooks/id364709193?mt=8), have been
developed to provide digital books (with and without audio) on iOS, Windows, and
Android mobile devices.
Audio Books
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The following providers (Accessible Materials Providers, or AMPS) provide audio
versions of books for eligible students.
American Printing House for the Blind: http://www.aph.org/
Bookshare: https://www.bookshare.org/
Learning Ally: https://www.learningally.org/
Commercial sites such as Audible (audible.com), AudioEditions (AudioEditions.com),
and iTunes (apple.com).
There are also many sources for free audiobooks for students who do not qualify for
AIM. The following is a partial list:
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LoudLit: http://loudlit.org
LibriVox: http://librivox.org
Free Classic Audiobooks: http://freeclassicaudiobooks.com
Learn OutLoud: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-AudioVideo#director
YAKiToMe: htpp://www.yakitome.com/
Audio Stories for Children: http://lightupyourbrain.com/
Audioliterate: http://audioliterate.com/
Browser-based text to speech applications
SpeakIt: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/speakit/pgeolalilifpodheeocd
mbhehgnkkbak;
Select and Speak:https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/select-andspeak/gfjopfpjmkcfgjpogepmdjmcnihfpokn
Reference Tools
Dictionary: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7869. You can select
any word on a web page, right click, and find the definition of the word on a webbased dictionary site. Having a dictionary that you can access from within the
browser is advantageous because you don't have to pull up a separate web page to
obtain the meaning of a word.
Thesaurus: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12354. Click on a
word to access synonyms and antonyms.
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Liquid: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/liquid-words-interactive/obgbmbflfhnmlelipecbkedechpjeibc. Select any text and choose from
options that include search, reference, copy, share, convert, and translate.
Language Packs: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:3. Do you
have students who speak a language other than English? This set of add-ons allows
you to add dictionaries in over 50 languages to your web browser.
Collections of text comprehension tools: You probably already use bookmarks, but
have you thought about creating bookmark collections that your students can
access, from the toolbar, that offer a collection of tools to support text
comprehension? Add-ons exist
for Delicious (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/delicious-bookmarkbar-sy/agabedjjbijfpccchcmpfpcdfnlpjkoj) and Google
Bookmarks (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/googlebookmarks/nfieeekinhmpmgnonkgbmklfdheojoni).
Diigo includes highlighting, notetaking tools, annotation (via tags), archiving,
searching, among other
features, https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/diigo-bookmark-archivehi/oojbgadfejifecebmdnhhkbhdjaphole
Evernote includes highlighting, notetaking, annotation (via tags), web clipping,
archiving, searching, among other features
(https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/evernote-webclipper/pioclpoplcdbaefihamjohnefbikjilc).
Search the site, Add-Ons for Firefox (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/),
and you'll find many tools to support students that operate with the FireFox
browser. Similar tools are available in the Chrome Store for the Google Chrome
browser (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions).
Writing Tools
Spelling Checker: Ghotit: with corpus of common misspellings of poor writers:
Ghotit, http://www.ghotit.com/,
Grammar and Spelling Checker: Ginger: Spelling and grammar checker with more
context-sensitive feedback and audio feedback,
http://www.gingersoftware.com/solutions/ld_professionals.html
Word Prediction Software: CoWriter: http://donjohnston.com/cowriter/
Speech Recognition: The most widely used program is Dragon Dictate.
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Macintosh, http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/dragonfor-mac/dragon-dictate/index.htm
Windows, http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/dragon-forpc/index.htm.
Dictation for Chrome: works online and offline (haven’t tested it offline):
http://ctrlq.org/dictation/
Concept Mapping Tools
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Inspiration, Kidspiration, and Webspiration,www.inspiration.com. Most well
known and well-supported, but not free.
Text2MindMap, http://www.text2mindmap.com/, is a highly visual concept
mapping system.
IMindMap is another concept-mapping tool that creates 3D mind
maps: http://www.thinkbuzan.com/us/
Aspire is a mapping tool specifically for the Mac operating
system: http://www.unifiq.com/aspire/
Popplet is a concept-mapping and organizing tool that permits students to
use both text and images in their concept maps. http://popplet.com/
The following site, Kathy Schrock’s guide to concept
mapping, http://www.schrockguide.net/concept-mapping.html, describes these
tools and many others. It also describes some helpful ideas for using concept
mapping in the classroom. This
site, http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/graphic/graphic.htm, provides an
extensive collection of free graphic organizers.
Toolbar Literacy Support
My StudyBar. http://eduapps.org/?page_id=7
CAST Strategy Tutor: http://www.cast.org/learningtools/strategy_tutor/
Comprehensive Literacy Software Programs (commercial software/apps, not
free)
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WYNN: http://www.freedomscientific.com/LSG/products/WYNN.asp
Kurzweil 3000: http://www.kurzweiledu.com/
SOLO literacy suite: http://www.donjohnston.com/products/solo/
Read & Write Gold:
http://www.synapseadaptive.com/textHELP/read&write_gold/read&write_
gold_default.htm
WordQ and SpeakQ: http://wordq.com
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WriteOnline: http://www.cricksoft.com/uk/writeonline/
Videos of program use in schools:
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Kurzweil 3000: More than text to
speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcuhJVtQ4iM
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Kurzweil 3000: How Blake Middle School Uses Kurzweil 3000 in the
Classroom http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3KSTxDShZo
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How to use a pre-made outline template in Read:Outloud
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJLwpHbAwHk
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Read&Write Gold: Fact
Mapper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW0UzBk3Sa8
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Wynn Wizard
Demonstration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d1wCzBPf7k
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Clicker 6 at Highfields
School: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATZeQI8khFw (note: Clicker 6 is
a product created by a British company)
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