Overview

Use Analytics to see how a student has put together a piece of writing:

• Go to the Analytics ribbon tab.
• On the right is a chart showing how text has been entered into the document.
• On the left the words in the document are colored according to how they were entered.

Drill down

Get more detail about how each word was input:

• Use the tabs on the right to see all the words input from a particular source.
• Click words in the Document on the left to view more information on the right.

More tools in the Analytics ribbon:

• Click Statistics to see date and structure information.
• Click Teacher Notes to add or view notes.
• Click Print to print the document and Analytics.

Create a fill the blanks activity using any text:

• In the Document ribbon, click the arrow next to the New Document icon, then choose New Cloze Document.
• Enter a title in the Title box.
• Type or paste text into the text box as a base for your Cloze activity.
• Remove words:
  • Highlight a word or phrase of up to three words and click Remove Selected.
    
    OR
    
    
  • Use Express Remove to remove words at a regular frequency, or words that share a letter pattern.
  • Choose to leave sentences at the start of the text intact to support with comprehension.
• Click Go to use the Cloze activity.

Edit a Cloze Document to provide different levels of support for students completing the activity:

• Change the Blanks options to change the size of the blanks that are displayed.
• Change the Suggestions options to show the removed word, to offer custom suggestions or to turn Suggestions off.
• Change the number of Suggestions to limit the number of words offered at a time.
• Choose to Dim Used Answers.
• Click Lock… to add a password to your Cloze Document.
• Click Print Worksheet… to print the Cloze Document with Suggestions displayed beneath it.

Display

Adjust the Display settings to change the appearance of DocsPlus features:

• Go to the Options ribbon and select Display.
• In Colors, change the appearance of the Document, Suggestions, and Smart Tabs.
• In Fonts, change the default font style and size.
• In Effects, change what happens when a cell is highlighted or selected.
• In Keyboard, change the layout of the on-screen keyboard.
• In Tools, change the size and appearance of the tools and which are offered.

Access

Adjust the Access settings to change how learners access DocsPlus:

• Go to the Options ribbon and select Access.
• In SuperKeys, choose whether to use SuperKeys and when it’s active.
• In Access Method, choose whether DocsPlus should use input from eye gaze, one or two switches, and how these access methods behave.

Speech

Adjust the speech settings to change the voice and when DocsPlus speaks:

• Go to the Options ribbon and select Speech.
• Check the Text checkboxes to change when DocsPlus speaks.
• Click ‘Highlight…’ to change how text is highlighted when it’s read out.
• Click the drop-down box to change the voice.
• Adjust the slider to change the speed of the voice.
• Check the Speak on right-click checkbox for DocsPlus to read Suggestions or text in Smart Tabs when right-clicked.

Predictor

Adjust the Predictor settings to change the level of support provided by the Predictor:

• Go to the Options ribbon and select Predictor.
• Adjust the slider to change the complexity of vocabulary offered.
• Click the drop-down boxes to change the number of and length of words offered.
• Check the checkboxes to change whether DocsPlus offers words in the Predictor before any letters are typed and whether words in open Smart Tabs are offered.
• Click the SoundsLike drop-down box to change the priority given to phonetic spellings of words.

Spell Check

Adjust the Spell Check settings to change the support provided by the Spell Check:

• Go to the Options ribbon and select Spell Check.
• Choose whether misspelled words are highlighted.
• Change whether Spell Check only applies to words in the Word Pool.
• Change the automatic capitalization settings.

Export

Save your user settings to use with other students:

1. Go to the Options ribbon and select Export.
2. Choose where you want to save the current settings.

Explorer

Change file settings to change where students can save their work:

• Go to the Options ribbon and select Explorer.
• Click ‘Home’ to change the default location for DocsPlus Explorer:
  • Type in the text box to give it a name.
  • Select a cloud storage option from the suggestions listed or
  • Select a local or network folder location.
  • Click ‘Browse…’ to navigate to your preferred default file location.
• Click ‘Desktop’ to decide whether to display Desktop files in the Explorer.
• Click ‘Documents’ to decide whether to display the current user’s Documents files in the Explorer.
• Click ‘Additional’ to add another file location to the Explorer:
  • Type in the text box to give the file location a name.
  • Select a cloud storage option from the suggestions listed or
  • Select a local or network folder location.
  • Click ‘Browse…’ to navigate to your preferred default file location.

Word Pool

Add words to the Word Pool to adjust their pronunciation or to add common misspellings:

• Go to the Options ribbon and select Word Pool.
• To change the pronunciation of a word:
  • Type the word in the text box and click ‘Add’.
  • In the ‘Pronounce selected word as:’ text box, type the word phonetically.
  • Click ‘Try’ to make sure you’re happy with the new pronunciation.
• To add common misspellings:
  • Type the correct spelling of the word in the text box and click ‘Add’.
  • In the ‘Common misspellings of’ text box, type any misspellings. Separate each with a space.

Browse for a picture

Search through pictures saved on your computer:

1. Go to the Document ribbon and click    .
2. Choose Browse… from the menu.
3. Navigate the file explorer to find the picture you want to use.

Take a photo

Use a webcam to take a photo:

1. Go to the Document ribbon and click    .
2. Choose Photo… from the menu.
3. Click    to take a photo.

Other options

Resize pictures and add a caption or hyperlink:

• Click and drag the corner handles to resize a picture.
• Right-click a picture and choose from the menu to add a caption or a hyperlink.

Create a Wordbar

Create grids to support a student’s writing using subject specific vocabulary:

• In the Smart Tab ribbon, click New.
• Choose whether to sort vocabulary into topic tabs or alphabetical tabs or create a writing frame.
• Type or paste text into the text box to make your Wordbar. Choose how many common words you want to filter out with the drop-down box. Click OK to create your Wordbar.
• Add brackets around words to group them in a cell.
• Click Go to use your Wordbar.
• In the Smart Tab ribbon, click Save to save your Wordbar.

Edit a Wordbar

Edit a Wordbar to provide different levels of writing support for students:

• In the Smart Tab ribbon, click Edit to open Edit View.
• Add or delete vocabulary offered in a grid by typing in the ‘Words’ text box.
• Click the ‘Order’ drop-down box to change the order cells appear in the grid.
• Change the Cells setting from ‘Standard’ to ‘Maximize Height’ or ‘1^st Cell Across Top’ to change the appearance of cells in the grid.
• Click the Columns drop-down box to change the number of columns on a grid.
• Choose from the color palette to change the color of a grid.
• Select a cell to change its appearance or to add other text to the Document when the cell is selected.
• Click Add to create a new grid.
• Click Add Text to create multiple grids.
• Click and drag grids in the sidebar to reorder them.

Record Voice Notes

Record writing ideas as Voice Notes:

• Click  to open the speech recorder. Click  to start recording and click it again to stop recording.
• Click Done when you’ve finished.
• Up to six Voice Notes can be recorded.

Play Voice Notes

Play Voice Notes at any time while writing;

• Each Voice Note appears as a colored speech bubble to the left of the document.
• Click a Voice Note to hear it.
• Right-click a Voice Note to re-record or delete it.

Create a WorkSpace

Use a WorkSpace to help students plan and develop ideas before writing:

• In the Smart Tab ribbon, click New.
• Select the WorkSpace tab and choose a template.
• There are different ways to add a cell to your WorkSpace:
  • Drag from  in the left toolbar on to the WorkSpace.
  • Double-click the background of the WorkSpace where you want a cell to appear.
  • Drag from the round handles highlighting a previously placed cell to create a new cell linked to the first.
  • Drag  on to the WorkSpace to add a Voice Note. Double-click the Voice Note to make a recording.
• Double-click a cell to add text.
• Link two cells by dragging from the round handle on one cell to another cell.
• Click  to add a new page to the WorkSpace:
  • Move between the tabs to create or access more content.
  • Double-click a tab to rename it.
• Click  to send your mind map to the Document to support writing in different ways:
  • Choose to send your mind map to the Document as a diagram or text.
  • Choose to send your Voice Notes to the Document.
  • Select Create Wordbar to turn your WorkSpace into a Wordbar.
• In the Smart Tab ribbon, click Save to save your WorkSpace.

Edit a WorkSpace

Edit a WorkSpace to organize ideas more clearly:

• Drag the square handles to re-size a cell.
• In the left toolbar:
  • Go to  with a cell selected and then choose a new shape for the cell.
• In the top toolbar:
  • Click  with a cell selected to add a picture to the cell.
    • Choose from images saved on your device or take a photo with your webcam.
  • Click  with a cell selected to change the color of the cell.
• Select multiple cells to change their appearance or to move them at the same time. To do this, click them while holding Ctrl.

Open a document

Open a document in the DocReader for support accessing text:

• Open your file explorer and navigate to the document you want to open. The file must be a PDF or DOCX file type.

Use the DocReader

Navigate the document in the DocReader and use speech to hear the text:

• Highlight a section of text and click to hear it.
• Click where you want the DocReader to start reading and then click .
• Click  to stop the speech.
• Listen to one word at a time by using the previous and next arrows  .
• Use the arrows in the top-right of the screen  or scroll to move between pages.
• Click  to open your page view options.
• Toggle on Dual View to view both the DocReader and the Document at the same time. Toggle it off to return to the full-page view.
• Zoom in or out on the page with  .
• If using an editable PDF, click the editable text boxes to type. Click  to access the Predictor.
• Click  in the Smart Tab ribbon to save changes to an editable PDF.