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  • PDFs and Accessibility: What you Need to Know

    Please note that this article has been updated as of November 2021 and can be found here.

    PDFs have reigned as a standard document format among schools, businesses, and really anyone sharing information in the digital world. There are many reasons they have remained popular, so many in fact that we probably take for granted why they are so effective. PDFs are a perfect snapshot of a paper document, and can be universally opened across devices and applications with a consistent experience. Other documents like Word docs or Google docs may not always look the same when opened on different machines. PDFs are also easy to share, can be secured and locked down to prevent changes to the content, and are easy to create without advanced software or technical knowledge.

    However, it’s important to remember that not all PDFs are created equal. In this article, we’ll look at two big questions you should ask yourself about the PDFs you’re using or creating, and we’ll discuss different Texthelp tools that can help you and your students make the most of PDFs as instructional content. 


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  • Language barriers: taking the stress out of mastering English

    Learning a new language is a big deal at any age. Mastery of their mother tongue is a child’s passport to understanding the world and interacting with others. Later on, grasping a second language – or a third, or fourth – can have an impact on employment and relationships that’s literally life-changing.

    With almost a billion native and non-native speakers combined, English is one of the world’s most widely spoken languages – and it’s certainly the most important in terms of international communication.


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  • Read&Write is Still Free for Teachers

    With over 4 million users, Read&Write for Google Chrome™ continues to be the top literacy support tool for Google Apps for Education users across the world. But did you know it’s completely free for teachers?


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  • Top 5 Tips for using a computer reader in exams

    It’s fast approaching exam season again here in the UK and with the ability to now use a computer reader to help struggling readers in exams, we thought we’d ask our Trainer, Richard, to give you his top 5 tips for preparing to use software to read exams for your pupils.


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  • 11 Ways to Increase Technology Usage on Campus

    Too often in the EdTech world we spend the majority of our time finding the right technology, getting funding approved, installing, etc., but much less time promoting technology to ensure that it is actually being used by students and staff. This “getting the word out” is especially difficult in the university setting, where students are more independent and scattered about on and off campus. In addition, much of the technology available for students is not a requirement but an optional support for those who know where and how to access it.

    To help, we’ve collected some tips from universities across the country who have had success getting students to use newly adopted software. Not only can this help to justify the cost of technology purchases, but also to increase the retention and achievement of the students who use those purchases. While these tips come from those in higher education, many can also benefit others, including K-12 schools and corporations who are looking to get the word out about technology. 


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  • Free Speech to Text in Google Docs

    Ever wish you could speak your thoughts into a document instead of writing or typing them? Doing so may be easier than you think. Speech-to-text technology has been around for decades in one form or another. It was made popular by technology companies such as IBM, the Department of Defense, and medical offices.

    In this post we’ll take a look at how speech to text technology is used in classrooms, and how you can access it for free in Google Docs. 


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