Dictionary
Enabling students to quickly and easily look up the meaning of a word may boost their comprehension skills.
Windows: There is no definition support built into the Windows operating system at this time.
Mac:
· Mac computer: on programs that support the define tool (mostly Mac programs at this time), a series of keypresses will enable looking up the meaning of a word. These key presses can be configured in System preferences and TrackPad. Alternatively, you can highlight the word, right click and select define. In addition, there is a dictionary app that allows users to manually type in words but this is more onerous than the previous method.
· iDevices – there is also a define tool built into the iOS system. Simply long press any word and the option to define it will be available.
Chrome: There are several extensions (e) that allow students to look up words:
· Read&Write for Google (e) - highlighting the word and clicking on the word prediction icon in the toolbar gives a definition of the word.
· Google Dictionary (e) – highlighting the word and clicking on the word prediction icon gives a definition of the word.
· ATBar (e) – highlighting the word and clicking on the dictionary icon gives a definition of the word. The definition is not quite as accurate as other dictionaries.
Recommendation(s):
· Mac computer: use the built-in define tool using only one special key press.
· iDevice: use the built-in define tool by long pressing a word and selecting define.
· Windows computer: use the read&write or Google dictionary extension.
· ChromeBook: use the read&write or Google dictionary extension.