There are a lot of really great note-taking and word processing apps available for the iPad. These apps are great, but they work best for students who are already proficient at writing. What I feel has been missing from my iPad experience up to this point is a solid app that helps students with the complex and sometimes difficult task of written composition. To my delight, I recently learned about a great writing app for the iPad called Abilipad. This app has a lot of great features that make it a very nice adaptive writing tool for struggling or emerging writers. Those features include:
-word prediction (does a nice job with creative spelling!)
-auditory feedback (can be set to read aloud each letter, word, sentence, or paragraph as you type. Will also read your entire passage back to you. )
-easy and intuitive file management system.
-(perhaps my favorite feature) the ability to create and download custom keyboards with letters, words, phrases, or pictures!
All of these features make the writing process accessible for all developing writers. With the ability to make custom keyboards, complete with pre-made word, phrase, and picture buttons, you could even use this app with emerging scribblers. Also, the developers of the app have created a way to download and share custom keyboards made by other users from the Abilipad online keyboard library. I checked out the library, and found something for everyone, even OT's and SLP's!
The variety and quality of features available in this app really makes it a stellar writing tool for anyone working with struggling or emerging writers. I would really encourage you to check it out on the App Store. It costs $19.99. For a more detailed explanation of the app, and to see examples of how it has impacted student progress, check out this great blog post.
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