Interactive dictionary app visually wows and enhances vocabulary
Community Review for Wordflex Touch Dictionary
My Take
Wordflex Touch Dictionary is an iPad app that will impress you and your students visually, but it is more than just a pretty face. Users type in a word for which they are seeking a definition, but the results give them much more. In a web-like format, the sought-out word appears, along with pronunciation guide (with audio pronunciations), syntax, definitions categorized by parts of speech, derivatives, and commonly used phrases. Users tap individual parts of the web to learn more about those components. For instance, the word parade can be used as both a verb and noun, so if a user seeks the noun definition, he or she can tap on the definition "procession" to find out more about that definition. From there, the interactive web will take a user on and on. The Wordflex format is very similar to the presentation platform Prezi. The app is visually appealing, user-friendly, and almost limitless in its capacities to inform and educate any sort of user. The only restrictive qualities of this app are that it is not appropriate for students under nine years of age, and the cost is relatively high (almost $12).
How I Use It
This app could assist students in a variety of ways both in and out of the classroom. I would advise my students to keep this app open next to them as they read so that they can search definitions of words they don't recognize. Teachers of all disciplines could have students utilize this app to seek definitions for vocabulary terms or could use it to enrich their vocabulary studies. The app also doubles as a thesaurus, so students could use this app as they write, to enrich their word choice. Wordflex is more effective than the basic Microsoft Word synonyms function because it shows users how to use it in common phrases and gives users a better sense of which synonyms would be most appropriate in which contexts.