Technology to help spelling

Some parents dislike their children using a smartphone or a tablet. They think that their children are spoiling their eyes, or wasting their time inside the house rather than going doing outdoor play. While their concerns are valid, I do believe that technology can play a part in our children's education. Technology, in moderation, and especially guided by an adult can be very useful in helping our children learn.

Voice Changer

There are two apps I found quite useful in helping my son spell. One of them is called Voice Changer.  What you can do with it is to ask your child to spell the word and record it using the app. Once it has been saved, your child can press the icons to modify his voice. Your child can make himself sound like a mouse, a ghost, with helium and so on. It is definitely lots of fun to experiment with all the different voices! The constant listening to the audio recording of the word being spelt in a fun way really helps him to remember the word. You can use any app that changes voices - there are quite a few to choose from.


Spelling Test

Another app that I find useful is Spelling Test. Unlike many other apps who give fixed words, you can customise the words you want to test your child. You record yourself reading the words aloud and then you can input the answers. When you want to quiz your child, just go into the app and get your child to do the quiz. Your child can hear your voice and spell the words using the keyboard. Trying to search for words on the keyboard adds an additional layer of complexity to the spelling task. This helps your child to remember as research shows that doing cognitively complex task helps in memorisation.

If you have any other apps you find useful, please share them.

p.s. I use the iPhone. I am not sure if these apps are available on other platforms. But I am sure you can find something similar.


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