3 Comments

• Alice Leung said on Jan 12 2012 at 5:01 PM

  I think this is a very simple to use tool that many teachers can pick up easily and use. I like how WordFiller makes it easier for teachers to create their own IWB resources. While you can make the same cloze passage activities with software such as Smart Notebook, WordFiller makes it a little easier as you don't have to muck around with locking objects, changing colours of objects, etc. The integration with Kinect will also make it engaging. This sort of activities will help students who are kinesthetic learners.
  
  Some things I would suggest though is to think what sets WordFiller apart from a non-technology version. Besides the self-checking tool, at the moment it is very similar to cut-and-paste activities or attaching magnets to the words on paper having students put the words on a magnetic whiteboard. Perhaps put something there that cannot be easily done without technology such as allowing students to enter their names and recording how many tries they took to get a particular answer correct so the teacher can adjust learning instruction accordingly. (This will take a lot of coding though)
  
  Also consider having the option to give immediate feedback to students. So instead of clicking "Check", it'd be good if the line turned green and a sound plays as soon as the correct word is placed in the space.
  
  Finally, can the program have a .jar version as well? Most teacher computers and laptops cannot install .exe files without getting special admin access rights. This is a small thing but it's often something that prevents teachers from trying out new tools because they can't install it easily.
  
  Overall though, this is a really good tool. It offers a quicker and easier way of doing these kinds of cloze passage activities.

• Lucas said on Jan 12 2012 at 5:11 PM

  Hey Amy,
  
  Thanks for your comment!
  
  I'm working on getting this live before incorporating it into some other math based software I've written. This would include class management and record keeping.
  
  Immediate feedback Is an awesome Idea, I'll try and sneak it into this version.
  
  At the moment the Kinect software has to be installed, there's no other way. I will be publishing a version without the Kinect integration that will unpack itself and will require no instillation other than the generic .net framework
  
  Thanks for your comment, really appreciate it.
  
  Lucas.

• Ed Donahue said on Jan 14 2012 at 11:56 AM

  Nifty!!!