Read&Write vs. WhiteSmoke

I like how diverse the tools are and that they can target specific needs while also being broad enough to be used by everyone. I have students who use the Co-Writer tool to write emails to their teachers. I have students who get tired from reading on their own and will use the text to speech aspect of it. I do have students who have cerebral palsy and it is hard for the program to understand their voice, so they have a hard time using the speech to text part.

Incentivized

WhiteSmoke provides a plagiarism checker to aid in data processing with other online databases that may have similar content. WhiteSmoke supports the use of a style checker that includes grammar, punctuation, and other aspects that work together to create a grammar checker.

Incentivized

• Creates vocabulary lists for students that include symbols, definitions, and space to add additional notes or images (a staff favorite)
• Intuitive word prediction that supports spelling, grammar, and reduces the number of keystrokes needed
• Text-to-speech on any digital text using the regular reader or screenshot reader, making almost any content accessible

Incentivized

• Detection and correction of the misspelled word, as well as the correct word but with an incorrect context.
• Its grammar checker will make your writing free of awkward grammar mistakes.
• Your copyeditor will improve the quality and impression of your writing, which will be widely accepted by your writing.
• It also serves as a plagiarism checker.
• It can translate up to 50 languages, etc.

Incentivized

• Setting the speech to text up on different devices that do not have the internet speed to function smoothly or if it is in Exam mode and the user is not constantly using the speech to text mode.
• Grouping the voices on their style such as harsh, clipped or soft would enable to pick their preference quicker rather than going through all of the different countries.

Incentivized

• The WhiteSmoke Windows application is limited to 10,000 characters at a time. That is not 10,000 words. It's 10,000 characters, which means each letter, punctuation mark, and space. However, this problem does not apply to your web-based application.
• No free version.
• Slow customer service.
• The lowest price level only works within the browser.
• Provides some false positives.
• You need internet access to work.
• The translator function uses Google Translate.

Incentivized

I'm just really impressed with the software and the access it gives to learners who are used to coming up against barriers in education. It's a quick-fix for a learner - something they can access usefully and productively with very little training. I also love that learners can access Read&Write on their devices at home - that really is a game changer.

Incentivized

I am giving this an 9. Not a perfect score because working on PDFs is better but not yet as easy as I need for it to be. Working with many students who have executive function challenges, I need a smooth simplistic access method. We are not quite there yet for writing on PDFs. Overall the toolbar on Read&Write is super easy to access and I love that the suite includes several tools on the toolbar providing a solution to many accessibility challenges.

Incentivized

Seems to be available when Internet is working.

Incentivized

Worked quick and easy, except sometimes with adobe

Incentivized

The support team at Texthelp is excellent. They're all super helpful and open to feedback and new ideas. Still, more importantly, they are ultimately fully committed to aligning with us and ensuring they help us provide the best education possible. Furthermore, they're open to new features and always communicate this incredibly well.

Incentivized

It was easy to learn to use

Incentivized

It took a solid 2 weeks for R&W to work on our students chromebooks even after reaching out to tech support. The toolbar was greyed out and not accessible to students. Took a long time before tech support helped us solve this problem.

Incentivized

We are still learning how to use Equatio. I am not a mathematician and therefore I am finding understanding it a bit more difficult. Once I understand how to use it I will be able to cascade it down. My hope is that it will be as useful as Read & Write

Incentivized

I highly appreciate the software for its awesome features for writing perfection. Here one can easily find the writing accurately in a short time. [The] translator function of [the] software is just awesome to use. And the features of the software [are] perfect to find grammatical mistakes, [the] pronunciation of the writing. Overall the software is just cool to me[.]

Incentivized

The pricing is reasonable. A lower tier with just screen reading and basic functions would be nice, but not a deal-breaker.

Incentivized

The product can be used on as many devices at once as needed

Incentivized

• We are early to deploying Read&Write but hope to see increased test scores
• We are early to deploying Read&Write but hope to see decreases in student behaviors triggered by challenging ELA assignments
• We are early to deploying Read&Write but hope to see improvements in student self perception as a result of increased ELA success

Incentivized

• This software offers excellent functionalities, including a spell and grammar checker and a translator. With the ability to correct and translate each word between 55 different languages.

Incentivized