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A student’s life pretty much revolves around writing, whether it’s essays or narratives. We can all claim to know how to write, but not everyone can meet the accepted writing standards, or even coherently – that is why at times it is considered to be a skill that requires mastery. In connection to this, software developers came up with some tools which can be used to enhance an individual’s writing abilities. This piece will cover 15 of the most helpful online tools which students can use to improve their art.
- Google Docs
This free spreadsheet, form application and web based word processor that is offered by Google allows the user to create and edit documents, while at the same time collaborating with others in real time. - ReadWriteThink
From the name, you can tell that this is not exactly one tool. It can help enhance all the three skills. The tool is perfect for high schoolers. With these interactive online writing tools, students can be helped with a number of writing tasks including: writing business letters on templates, comic creation, and practicing storyboarding skills. - 3D Writer
This simple, single minded tool can be downloaded and installed on your PC. The tool operates just like a word processing program but it is more of a “lean and mean” version. It is very helpful when it comes to creating hypertext fiction. - Button Talk
This is the MAC version of 3D Writer. What this application does best is focus on story writing. You can use the tool to explore dozens of links to use for hyperlinking. It is simple to use and can be used at a variety of education levels. - Poetry Forge
With this particular tool, poetry writing is simplified even for the students who claim to hate it. Poetry Forge comes with a number of online tools that will help you to come up with original poetry. - Word counter
Students can make the most of this tool when writing to help them count the number of times a word has been used in a document. The tool is ideal for students who have a tendency of overusing certain words. - Citation machine
This interactive web tool is designed to help students quickly and more appropriately cite their sources. - Language tool
A very effective tool that can be used to check and spot mistakes that may go unnoticed by your word processor. It detects spelling, syntax and grammar errors. - Cliché finder
At times it is hard to avoid clichés. However, if they are used in a witty way and sparingly, they can come in handy. The cliché finder helps the writer to detect all the clichés found in a document. - BibMe
Most (if not all) scholarly papers need a bibliography. Students are required to make citations of the source information that they are to include in their paper. This tool provides students with four formats: MLA, APA, Chicago or Turabian for citation. - StayFocusd
The tool helps students to maintain a clear head as they attempt to work on their assignment. Focusing for students can be hard, but StayFocusd helps by limiting the amount of time you can spend on time-wasting websites. - Readability-Score.com
Checking the readability of a school paper can be used to determine whether the paper fits the appropriate level of education. You certainly don’t want to be a grade 12 student with a writing level of a grade 2! - MindMup
A good number of students know how to research and come up with great concepts, but fail to execute them. MindMup is a very useful tool that helps students organize their ideas. - Grammarly
Grammarly is an online tool that is used to check for and highlight grammar mistakes for correction. - Paper Rater
Students can use the tool to check grammar, spell-check and check for plagiarism.
If the maths interest you, check out this infographic on math facts. And if you need to do some technical writing, check out these technical tools 83 experts use.
This article was contributed by guest author Amber Woods.