Using Assistive Technology in Compo Writing

Students are expected to be increasingly independent in their academic tasks as they progress through the school levels. Writing is one such task that requires lots of practice to master. Not only are they expected to convey their thoughts through writing, but to also persuade and demonstrate their knowledge of the topic.

For a child with dyslexia, poor working memory, word retrieval and spelling problems and difficulties in organising their thoughts can make the challenging task even more arduous. Thankfully, with advancements in technology, there are many tools that can help students to get started on the writing process, making it less daunting. Popplet is one such tool that allows students to quickly capture, organise and sort ideas visually. This reduces the working memory load for students and allows them to focus on other aspects of writing such as grammar, spelling and organisation of their writing.

For instance, in the case of preparation for composition for the Primary School Leaving Examination. The topic could be “An Unexpected Friendship” with three pictures provided (a bus stop, a dog and a grandmother). By using different colours, students can easily identify groups of thoughts at a glance.

With the incorporation of using Five Ws and One H (5W1H), students can then ask questions that relate the picture to the topic. Following this, add details which answer their own question. It is also helpful to print out the mind map to serve as a checklist when they are done writing to ensure that they have all the details they wanted in the story had been included. As a bonus, it would be fantastic if students could also have a moral to the story to add depth to the narrative.

Written by Kong Yun Rui, Associate Lecturer