TextThing  (Last updated 22/11/2007 )

Contact

Topologika Software Ltd
Dolphin House
2-5 Manchester Street
Brighton
East Sussex
BN2 1TF
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)1273 863 606

Website: http://www.topologika.co.uk/

Program evaluation

Simon says:

This is great value for money. Possibly the ultimate DART (Directed Activities Related to Text.) You can use the many texts which come with the program or you may use your own texts related to on-going work.

What's neat is the range of activities which are generated for one text - so that the focus can be at word-level, sentence-level or text level - and includes spelling and punctuation activities. Neat.

Very useful is the ability to choose the user interface so that older adult students using the program are presented with screens which are more suitable for them.

Previously when trying to get students to engage with a text I used the free Discloze from Mike Matson and MAPE. My students got a tremendous amount out of having to use many different literacy skills and strategies to rebuild the text. But Text Thing scores in the range of different activities it offers and ease of use. A developing tray-like activity is only one of many. A wonderful piece of literacy-enhancing software.

The students I used it with seemed to like it. The text can be at a level that is appropriate to them and the activity can likewise be chosen to suit their interest / way of working and/or to suit the teacher's individual plans for them.

Installation of the program was easy - but it is worth noting that it does need a screen resolution of 800 x 600.

This is powerful software at a very sensible price. And now, TextThing Plus is available. See the Topologika site for more.

Highly recommended.

Program Details

Topologika say:

textThing focuses pupils' attention on key Literacy skills based on text that's relevant to them. Loading a piece via the Clipboard, or from disc, can instantly generate nine challenging activities:

• Letter-by-letter - recreate the text a letter at a time ('disclosure')
• Word-by-word - re-build it word by word ('prediction')
• Scrambled words - make each word from its jumbled letters
• Odd-one-out - find the correct sentence among several nonsense sentences
• Spelling - graduated spelling tests based on the loaded text
• Sequencing - sort the sentences until the sequence makes sense
• Punctuate - put back the missing punctuation marks and capital letters
• Fill the blanks - enter the missing words ('cloze')
• Crosswords and Word Searches

But that isn't all. textThing can print paper versions of most of the activities. It provides full control over difficulty levels to allow fine differentiation between pupils. Options saved for a particular individual can load a particular text and concentrate on specific letter groups to focus on activities important to them. A unique 'OneFile' feature bundles options and related text into a single file, for archiving or loading on another machine, e.g. distance learners can be e-mailed pre-set activities by their tutor.

This new, must-have resource comes with two interfaces, one colourful and 'fun' for primary, the other more 'grown-up' for secondary and for Adult Basic Education.

Price: From £17.01 for a home user licence to £139.80 for a full site licence.