Breaking the spell

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I think I recall that, when Microsoft first added a spell checker to MS Word, there was outcry that it would give unfair advantage to students who could afford Word, as against those who could not, or maybe could not even afford a computer. Fears were also expressed that people would forget how to spell, that children might never learn how to spell, and, of course, claims about the inaccuracies and “lack of intelligence” of spell-checkers.

Never mind that Word was not the first word-processing software to include a spell-check.

Nowadays, we take the use of spell-checkers for granted. Continue reading

Testing, testing, 1…

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The websites make great claims for online plagiarism detectors, for auto-cite reference generators, for automatic essay graders, and spelling and grammar checkers.  Of course they do.  But just how reliable are these services?

In earlier posts, I have critiqued and often – usually – criticised such services as Pearson Essay Scorer, Xerox Ignite, WorksCited4U, EasyBib, Turnitin, WriteCheck, PaperAssistance, ScanMyEssay, and more. Continue reading