Information Technology – some new ideas

18 January 2010

I went to the BETT (technology in education) exhibition last week and had the opportunity to try out some new software and see what updates had been added to old favourites.

I thought I would select my top 3 things, but even that is difficult as there was so much to choose from. So, in no particular order …

Ginger Software – a add-on spellcheck for your existing word processing software. Rather than just look at the individual word, it checks the entire sentence and ensures that all the words are viable in terms of both meaning and grammar. You can get a 14-day trial copy from http://www.gingersoftware.com/

ClaroReadv5, a text-to-speech programme (standard version only) which is runs directly from a USB stick so you can take it with you and use it on any computer. www.clarosoftware.com

Mantra Lingua TalkingPEN This recorder pen can be used to listen to books and record your own stories. It also lets you create audio files on sticky labels which you can then add into your documents and listen back to them later. Fantastic for making an audio mind-map! The labels are re-recordable and re-usable. There are lots of ‘sound enabled’ books (suitable for ages 2 to 9) that can be used with the pen too. The link to the Mantra catalogue is here.