MacDirectory 143
FEATURE REVIEW
Read national education articles, and the
information is troubling. Middle school
students struggle with reading and
literature comprehension. Only 52 percent
of our nation's high school students
graduate and receive a diploma. When
"Johnny" spends five hours playing a
computer RPG or strategy game, instead
of one hour completing algebra, how can
our nation's lecture-based school system
engage middle to high school students
that thrive in a visual, digital world?
As students leave the nurturing
environment of elementary school and
enter middle school, many struggle to
meet teacher and parent expectations.
Here are selected software and online
programs that can assist students to
succeed, rather than struggle for simple
understanding. All software programs and
online subscription services operate on a
Mac OS X system.
Reading and Writing
Staring at a computer screen or blank
piece of paper will not enable it to
magically "morph" into a completed
product. These powerful software
products can assist struggling writers to
develop organized papers, plus build self-
confidence in reading.
Inspiration 8 by Inspiration Software
Inc. aids visual learners to write concise
and detailed papers (and many students
fit into this category). Inspiration 8
takes the simple web or
bubble outlining process to a higher level.
With writing, the hardest part can be just
organizing random thoughts and ideas.
With a visual map, it's easy to see how
one idea can relate to another. Inspiration
uses Diagram View or Outline View,
allowing students to track their written
thoughts. Various forms of mapping
(concept, web, idea, storyboard)
graphically organize or map out concepts
and ideas. After students create a
diagram outline, Inspiration 8 transforms it
into a written outline, which can be
launched into a Word document. Priced
at $69, Inspiration 8 is easy to use, it
works and it's fun.
Office:Mac 2008 Home & Student
Edition has a wide variety of student
positive features. Students like to finish
their documents quickly and with flair.
Each document contains the expandable
tool bar. Click on the table button, and
slide the cursor over the empty spaces.
Table columns and rows are automatically
selected. No longer will students struggle
with citations. In the Toolbox menu,
students can select the citations and
bibliography tool, insert information into a
data entry form, which is then recorded in
MLA, APA, Chicago or Turabian format.
Just above the margin rule bar, students
can open Documents Elements (providing
multiple front page templates), Quick
Tables, Charts, SmartArt Graphics and
WordArt to enhance their data displays.
PowerPoint offers a wide choice to
visually enhance presentations. Excel
offers preset ledger, lists, and formulas.
Entourage offers My Day, a desktop
reminder to help organize daily activities.
The tool Projects allows individuals to
share information with other working
partners, make data changes and control
what material is shared with others.
Subtle, but powerful tools make
Office:Mac a student's friend in
developing Word documents, Power Point
presentations and spreadsheets. Various
retailers market Office:Mac 2008 Home &
Student Edition from $119.99 to $149.99.
SOLO Literacy Suite by Don Johnston is
an extensive software program that
incorporates four separate programs --
READ: OutLoud, Draft:Builder, WRITE:
OutLoud, and CO: Writer. SOLO packages
the programs together, yet each software
program can be purchased separately
. With READ:
OutLoud, a public teacher, home school
teacher or parent can utilize sample
templates to create his or her own
information templates, which helps
students learn how to collect, organize
and outline information. As students type
in material, words are read out loud, giving
direct feedback to sentence structure,
word choice and word tense. Understan-
ding the basic steps toward outlining a
paper is not an innate process, but SOLO
simplifies this beginning writing process
into easy, manageable steps. Draft:Builder
assists students to create an organized
outline, paragraph structure, how to
include notes and develop a first draft.
WRITE: OutLoud aids in polishing the
rough draft by adding text, pictures,
checking spelling and sentence structure.
EDUCATION REVIEW > SOFTWARE AND ONLINE PROGRAMS
FOR STRUGGLING STUDENTS
WORDS BY LISA P. HILL
INSPIRATION 8
