draftbuilder vs cowriter

Depends what the actual problem is. I haven’t seen Draftbuilder but have seen enough I think I could comment.

These are two very different types of programs with different purposes. Cowriter is an alternative to typing each word. It predicts the next word by first letter(s), grammar, usage. There is correction for phonetically spelled incorrect words. It would be generally a good alternative to handwriting and regular keyboarding, when the later are difficult. Also would be good for kids with not so good spelling, etc.

Draftbuilder takes apart the process of writing. Assists in actually coming up with ideas, putting together in cohesive format.

You could no doubt ask to see if Don Johnston has a demo of either. Their demos are pretty much walk-thrus of the programs and don’t really allow you to use the program.
www.donjohnston.com

—des

Most of the time they’ve come up in discussions I’ve seen, it’s been discussing the benefits of using them together — they complement each other well. Co:writer handles the logistics of getting the words into the computer from the fingers; Draft Builder helps provide the structure to organize the thoughts so that the words end up making sense.

My son is in the 5th grade and has had co writer, it slows his writing process down. But it did nothing to enable him to put thoughts on paper. We use write out loud to download information from the internet to let him listen. We are getting Draft builder this year for him to help him with his essays. We have been struggling all year.

Wanda

Cowriter is definitely slow! I used to use it for pretty much all my typing as I have poor coordination. The only saving thing is that it is pretty well 100% accurate.

It does NOT put the ideas in any semblance of order. I’m not sure if it actively interferes with that. Maybe the process of writing thru Cowriter could be like having an intermediary agent in there or something and that could slow things down more. I didn’t find that to be the case, but I’m not saying it never could be.

At the time I used it, Speech to text was at the discrete “talk- one- word- at- time” level. I have heard some people find speaking and organization of text really conflicting though.

—des

Please be advised that nothing will work unless your child is invested in it.

Have you considered your SLP and or SPED teacher working on the process of writing using programs such as Project Read, any of Regina Richards work, and just a word processor with a good spell checker? How are the keyboarding skills too, work on increasing speed is important.

CoWriter will slow you down, it is really best for folks who need keystrokes to be eliminated.

Sometimes just a talking word processor will help if your child needs to go back and whisper read etc…, others hate it.

Draft Builder and Inspiration are wonderful tools, but I find if students are not using them as part of their classroom instruction, in class along with peers, very few will use these tools at home on their own.

We always try to lighten the load for these students and increase the use of technology but sometimes just low tech techniques work just as well.

>Richards work, and just a word processor with a good spell checker? How are the keyboarding skills too, work on increasing speed is important.

This will work with some kids.

>CoWriter will slow you down, it is really best for folks who need keystrokes to be eliminated.

There are some advantages of CoWriter. It IS slow, I will buy that. But it is accurate, and that degree of accuracy can be useful. If you are like me and made about 40-60% errors, ie everytime you typed half the words would be wrong, it is a big advantage to be so accurate (gosh I am having some attack and going back to my pre-typing days). So slower can be better! Also if the kid is dyslexic or has very poor spelling, it will pick only correct spelling. It also has a new feature that picks phonic spelling. Also for dysgraphic kids sometimes the keystroke thing is a big deal. The stress of typing can be just about as bad. (there are kids for whom this is not the case).

>Sometimes just a talking word processor will help if your child needs to go back and whisper read etc…, others hate it.

>Draft Builder and Inspiration are wonderful tools, but I find if students are not using them as part of their classroom instruction, in class along with peers, very few will use these tools at home on their own.

Unless the parent really works with them I’d imagine so.

>We always try to lighten the load for these students and increase the use of technology but sometimes just low tech techniques work just as well.[/quote]

I think you need to match the technology to the kid, and what their needs are. I don’t think any of these things, CoWriter, Draftbuilder, etc. are so high tech.

—des