EasyTutor Case Study: EasyTutor: The Dolphin Pen enhances Pershore High School

Pershore High School has been at the forefront of education in Worcestershire for 12 to 18 year olds during the last 25 years. Over this period Pershore High has evolved beyond all recognition and they were delighted to be awarded Technology College status in 2002. Last year the additional hard work by all of the staff and pupils was formally recognised when Pershore High School became a designated Training School.

With about 10% of the population affected by Dyslexia in some manner, Pershore High School vowed to take its responsibilities to these students very seriously. To this end, EasyTutor was seen as part of the solution and was made available to students for use in school and significantly for use at home as well through the Dolphin Pen (a USB pen drive with EasyTutor pre-installed on it.)

EasyTutor offers support to Dyslexic and print impaired computer users through the use of its speech output. Thanks to EasyTutor the students can have on screen text read aloud and highlighted in a synchronised manner, offering students the opportunity to check their text with absolute ease, whilst also developing the key links between the written and spoken word.

Jan Stoney, Pershore's Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCo) commented;

"The most common difficulties our dyslexic students were encountering are spelling difficulties, access to text, developing their personal self-esteem and overcoming other people's views of their needs."

By making EasyTutor available to their students on the portable Dolphin Pen, Jan and her team have offered them the opportunity to be able to benefit from the software at home as well as in school. As one of her 16 year old students explains;

"This suits me because I can access it easily and it is usually with me, so it's on all PC's I use."

The benefits of having universal access to EasyTutor, within the school and home environments have resulted in not only academic improvements but also significant personal esteem developments of the dyslexic students at Pershore High School.

"Thanks to EasyTutor I find it easier to let people read my work rather than getting embarrassed and not asking for help."

"It makes me a lot more confident in being dyslexic and not so concerned about my spelling or grammar all the time."

The realistic and life-like voices used within EasyTutor have resulted in students developing keener interest in reading and writing as a whole. Alongside the speech option is the ability to have the onscreen word, sentence or paragraph highlighted as it is spoken, allowing for the key link between the written and spoken word to be developed further.

"The fact that someone else reads to me allows me to understand it better. I also like the change of background colour and tint because it makes the words stand out better."

By utilising the power of EasyTutor's built-in Homophones and picture dictionary it has enabled the students to improve their identification and use of similar sounding words. EasyTutor identifies and then provides the meanings of the similar sounding words in text and additionally in picture format, enabling the students to develop their individual spelling and grammar skills whilst also enhancing their overall confidence in their own abilities.

"EasyTutor helps me type faster and the spell checker is better than the one already on the computer. I think I'm more confident with my spelling because I've learnt how to spell more words using it. When I did an English essay I got better marks because my spelling was all right."

EasyTutor has been used to improve coursework grades throughout a wide range of diverse subjects ranging from Geography to Business Studies and Religious Studies to Child Development. This improvement in grades has allowed the students to start to believe that their aspirations of the future, which range from attending University to studying at a dedicated Equestrian College, will soon become a reality.

"I have achieved higher grades and it makes me feel I can achieve more, so I feel less stressed" says a 14 year old student studying 9 GCSEs.

Jan has already started planning on how she will next use EasyTutor. Jan is planning to not only help her students but also their families as a whole;

"One dyslexic student's family now all use it because it has been so beneficial in helping them develop their skills, I now plan to introduce the software to other parents during the introduction to the dyslexic workshops."

EasyTutor has helped the dyslexic students at Pershore High School re-discover a level of confidence which had been missing due to Dyslexia. It can be summed up by a 14 year old pupil who has benefited from the faculty staff telling him that his work is;

"That much better spelt, right and organised."

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Pershore High School: A Technology College & Training School

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