Tools for Creativity and Innovation - VocabGrabber

Part 1: Getting started. Click here: VocabGrab_1

 

Part 2: What it can do? Click here: VocabGrab_2

Part 3: I want more. Click here: VocabGrab_3

What your text should look like after your text is "grabbed."

VocabGrabber would be a great tool for the novice to medicine who is trying to make headway through a highly intellectual article. Well, not even a novice but even someone who has been in medicine for years but is reading an article that has nothing to do with their field of expertise. I would use this when I have medical students or residents critique an article. This innovative tool allows you to copy and paste electronically available text directly onto its website and it will define all the words in your text for you. There’s no need to go and find your handy (and possibly cumbersome) dictionary because it’s now at your fingertips, literally. Medical, biological, and anatomical terms are also easily defined. Vocabgrabber will also generate synonyms and antonyms for each word. This makes for more connection between what is being read and what is already known. And if all else fails, it will at least highlight the most relevant words so you can get an idea of what might be going on without suffering through every word of a long article.

This would also be an excellent tool for someone who is writing an article for submission to a publication. The author can critique their writing and see if they are using words in the proper context and if they are using the same word over and over again. With the generation of synonyms, other words can be inserted into the text to prevent redundancy.


The advantages of this tool include knowing the definitions of the words you’re reading and making a connection between the new word learned and other words that are in you’re vocabulary. In younger learners, this would be a fantastic resource for improving reading, writing, and communication skills. With a subscription to the program, students can also hear the words pronounced correctly. Basic VocabGrabber is FREE! But the more sophisticated you want to get with VocabGrabber and its parental unit Visual Thesaurus, the more likely you’re going to have to spend some money. Otherwise, there are very few disadvantages to VocabGrabber that I can think of. Any thoughts on your end?