CEDO515 - Week Four

The video I viewed was titled Assistive Technology in the Writing Process. Students in this class were using the Internet to research an assigned/teacher-approved topic and then used computer software to create graphic organizers, outlines, and the assistance of word prediction and spell-check software as well. Computer speech capabilities are also used to assist in the proofreading process. Watching this take place was interesting, and I say that for the fact that we have been exploring the use of a guided writing program for student papers from one of our textbook companies. I can see where items like this can be useful. It allows students the opportunity to be creative, and still stick to a template to be successful. My concerns are that sometimes, it is necessary for students to proofread on their own, or read their papers aloud in order to see the value of finding one's own mistakes and making those corrections on one's own. I have mixed feelings about this, and will probably be spending more time exploring such software before I come to a conclusion.