Item: Read&Write
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Read&Write myself and I set it up on my students' laptops too. Many of our students have dyslexia, ADHD, ADD etc which can make educational things harder. Read&Write offers so many adaptable learning strategies and my students have given incredibly positive feedback with how it helps them. The features that are highly used are the dictionary, and picture dictionary, the highlighters, and the computer reading options. Many of my students find the screen masking option incredibly helpful in lessons or doing work at home. We have about 30-50 students using this software so far and we hope more students will be able to use it next year.

Pros and Cons

Allows easy access to things like dictionary and picture dictionary, so students are able to quickly find meanings of words out instead of asking the teacher which some people struggle to do or find it embarrassing.
Students are able to use the read aloud setting in classes with using headphones. This has helped increase focus for some students and also has helped them keep up with the speed of the class.
The highlighter part of Read&Write has been really useful for revision purposes and for students to whittle down large chunks of text. Leaving the student less overwhelmed which is amazing.

The talk to type feature lags and sometimes does not hear large chunks of sentences which becomes difficult to edit and remember what you were saying.
The screenshot reader sometimes doesn't work too well. Especially if the words are from a table or diagram.
I think it would work better if you were able to just highlight words or sentences and then click the Play button for it to be read aloud instead of having to use a PDF or starting from the very top of the page, especially when students just need one or two words read out.

Return on Investment

Read&Write has helped boost confidence in the students that use it.
Students have been more engaged in their lessons and feel more independent with their learning.

Platforms and Devices

It is really important for the students to feel like they have the support they need and feel comfortable to ask for further help if needs be. Read&Write is great because they can use it in class and at home which makes things like homework easier and more accessible, especially if they are used to having a TA in college.

Key Insights

Do you think Read&Write delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Read&Write's feature set?

Yes

Did Read&Write live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Read&Write go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Read&Write again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

I use Read&Write every day at work. I constantly have the Screen Masking feature on as this helps relieve/prevent migraines. As my job involves a lot of reading, I find it better to have the computer read it out and I think it's great that you can change the speed and voice to suit you. My students find Read&Write so helpful in classes and when preparing assignments or for exams. Overall, I always recommend this software because it makes such a difference for staff and students. One thing that does need to change is that it doesn't work on the more affordable laptops like Chromebook. A lot of our students have this laptop due to the affordability.

Helpful, wonderful software

Overall Satisfaction with Read&Write