CoWriter

=Co:Writer=

Britany Miller
=Co:Writer 6 is an Assistive technology word prediction software. It helps students by predicting their sentence pattern. It can hugely strengthen a students' writing. Check out these before and after samples!=

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 * Manufacturer:** Don Johnston Incorporated
 * URL:** http://www.donjohnston.com/
 * Price:** Single Computer License- $325.00 each
 * Telephone:** 800.999.4660  begin_of_the_skype_highlighting   800.999.4660  end_of_the_skype_highlighting    begin_of_the_skype_highlighting  800.999.4660   end_of_the_skype_highlighting
 * Address:**


 * __GENERAL DESCRIPTION__**
 * Program features:** Co:Writer 6 is a word prediction program that helps students write with correct grammar and spelling. It can be used for really any disability, but is especially good for students who have illegible handwriting, difficulty with phonetic and inventive spelling, any physical disability that makes writing and typing difficult, and students who have trouble putting their thoughts into words. The program predicts students’ writing and word choice. It can be changed to different word prediction lists to better help the student.

It is also awesome because it reduces the number of keystrokes needed for a student to type. Students who have physical disabilities may have a very difficult time typing, so it is great that using the drop down lists or word clouds provided by Co:Writer, the student is able to do more of a point and click than a lot of fine motor movements. There are many keyboard shortcuts so the student has to do even less.
 * Strengths:** Co:Writer 6 can be used in any word processor, browser or anything that manipulates text on the computer. With a variety of vocabulary lists and ways to set them, its prediction system is quite good. It is also one of the best programs available that allows for and corrects inventive spelling. This program has also been proven to benefit students and teachers alike. It makes the student’s work much more neat and understandable. Beyond that, Co:Writer also has a speech function that helps students hear their sentences back to make sure that they are correct.

I don’t know how much of a weakness this is, but Co:Writer’s program is not that visually stimulating. There are no pictures that go along with it, and it is not very exciting to use. This might be a problem with students who need the inventive spelling correction or help to make their paper neat but are simply not engaged by the presentation.
 * Weaknesses:** Co:Writer 6 has a training manual for teachers that claims to teach it in 30 minutes. It took me probably 45 or so to get through, and I know that I would have to refer to the manual a lot. It is a rather complicated program, and I can see the student needing a lot of training to use it.

One of the greatest features is the inventive spelling correction. Many times students will opt to use words that they know for sure how to spell, but with Co:Writer, they are able to be brave about using words that they can try to sound out. Co:Writer tries to match the inventive spelling and provide a list of possibilities of what the word really could be.
 * Application in Education:** It is great for general or special education because it can be used for almost any disability that is affected. It is great for learning disabilities because it can correct grammar and spelling while it is also great for physical disabilities because it is easier to just type a bit and click. It makes work much neater and clearer to understand so in that respect it eases the workload of the teacher. One is able to simply grade on content without being distracted by the condition of the assignment. Some people might say that the word prediction software is doing the student’s job for him or her, but really, they have to choose what they want from lists, so it is still all in the hands of the student.


 * Ease of Use:** Honestly, Co:Writer 6 is not the easiest thing to use. During the training that I did, I got frustrated sometimes. After finishing the training, I was really kind of questioning how in the world the student would be able to pick it up quickly, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it would probably take some time and patience. If a student and teacher could both be dedicated to learning how to use Co:Writer, it would be a very valuable resource.

[[file:cowriterhandout.docx]]
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