ATIA 2012 Followup

Just got back from attending and working with Ginger Software on the Exhibitor floor of the ATIA 2012 Conference in Orlando, Florida. It is always so exciting to be able to attend this conference which is packed with passionate educators who are looking for the newest tools and strategies to assist their students. As much as I love walking the Exhibit floor looking for new products it is reconnecting with my fellow assistive technology colleagues that makes this conference very special. Having the time after hours to share ideas, resources and experiences is a great way to learn and expand on your skills.

While I was at the ATIA 2012 Conference I had was in the Ginger Software Booth demoing the latest version of Ginger which is the leading spelling and grammar correction tool for students. When Ginger is analyzing the errors it is taking into account the context of the words in the sentence so that when it makes it suggestions it is right on target. Ginger is a great tool for both students with writing disabilities as well as for student where English may not be their native spoken language. Ginger software can provide students with high quality text to speech support so that students can hear the suggestions that are being recommended. Students will love the fact that Ginger is able to make all of the changes to the sentence with a click on the Approve button. Ginger is available to schools for a starting price of $190 dollars which includes 10 licenses which also extend to home use. Ginger can track student errors and provide teachers with prescriptive grammar and spelling lessons based on the student's error patterns. Now students can also continue to use Ginger at home when they are doing their written work.Consumers can download a free version of Ginger which can provide spelling and grammar checking but lacks the text to speech component. Ginger is available for the Windows platform. If you would like a web based demo please contact me.

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Ginger Spell -New Writing Software

While doing some searches for new writing software a couple of months ago, I came across a rather interesting web site from Ginger Software. The company was tauting a new software application called Ginger Spell that works within Microsoft Word to provide students with writing disabilities support in the area of spelling and grammar. At the present time Ginger Spell beta does not include grammar support but will be added when the applications ships. Ginger Spell is unique in that it assist students in producing error free text right within Microsoft Word using very sophisticated algorithms. Ginger Spell installs within Microsoft Word 2003 and Word 2007 and provides a window that allows students to view the suggested corrections. As much as I am a big fan of word prediction there are a number of students with writing disabilities that do not do well with the tool- here is where Ginger Spell comes in. Students can write within Microsoft Word as they always do and once they are done can utilize the power of Ginger Spell to process their writing. Ginger Spell has the uncanny ability to make the right correction and produce an error free finished product- which is ideal for students with writing disabilities. I have had a chance to beta test Ginger Spell and am very impressed with the underlying technology. To use Ginger Spell you will need to be running Windows and have access to Microsoft Word 2003 or 2007 along with a connection to the internet.

I like the post processing features and I believe that many students will find this a more natural way for them to check their work. At the present time, Ginger Spell does not support text to speech but this something that the developer will be adding when it is officially released. I found the user interface very intuitive and rather straightforward. Making changes to the text was very easy and Ginger Spell in 90% of the cases made the right suggestion without me having to make any changes. Give it a try by downloading the beta now of Ginger Spell.

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