Age group for which this tool is beneficial:
Elementary School
Middle School
High School & Beyond

To what category does this tool belong?
Low-tech tools (often battery powered, highly portable)

Skills strengthened with the help of this tool:
Academic

How does the tool work?
Typical devices are the size of a hand-held calculator with an alphabet keyboard. Students type the word they are trying to spell and the keyboard displays a range of possible choices. More advanced ones offer definitions of the words, and some speak the word with a voice synthesizer.

What is the benefit to the user?
These are useful when your child is away from a conventional computer spell checker. In addition, the advanced features like the definitions and voice synthesis offer more cues to help her choose the correct word from among the array of choices.

Other information to consider:
The devices are portable and an inexpensive alternative to carrying around a laptop just to check spelling. They're often more user-friendly to kids with spelling difficulties than computer spell-checkers.

The above content was researched and written by Frank Sopper.