Portable Devices
An electronic dictionary is an in-expensive, portable tool for checking spelling, e.g. Franklin Spellmaster or Collins Electronic Dictionary and Thesaurus. As long as the individual can make a reasonable phonetic attempt, there is a good chance that the correct spelling can be identified. Some electronic dictionaries also have a thesaurus feature which can help with expanding vocabulary.
For those students whose reading is reasonably competent, but where they come across occasional words that they cannot identify, a reading pen is a good solution, e.g. the Quicktionary Reading Pen. These are hand held pens containing OCR software which enables them to scan and read words and phrases; they also include a dictionary to explain what a word means.
A portable durable word processor can be a good introduction to computing for younger children. The Neo2 produced by Alphasmart is a robust basic digital notebook or writing tool which can be used in school by all ages. Netbooks and tablet computers such as the iPad are making computers and technology truly portable and accessible in all locations. Modern mobile phones also enable access to a huge range of applications.
Electronic readers such as Kindle, Sony eReader and others have opened up the world of digital books. Some are more basic than others. Some have basic text-to-speech options.
The Intel Reader is a new portable device which captures an image of a page of text, displays it on screen, and then reads it for the individual.
Mobile versions of software are also now available. Some software can be purchased as a USB key, meaning that the software travels with you and you can use it on any computer, at home, work or in the library, rather than just having your software on one machine in one location.
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