An online paraphrasing tool (a reword generator) is a tool that allows you to find better ways to reword or paraphrase your content. Students can use paraphrasing tools to help them enhance the quality of their writing and be able to communicate textual content in clear and meaningful ways.
However, paraphrasing tools, as helpful as they are, should always be used responsibly and in academically appropriate ways. When students paraphrase someone else’s work they need to clearly include in-text and full references to original sources otherwise it is plagiarism.
Paraphrasing, as Quillbot defines it, “is about describing something without quoting it exactly the way it originally was, and instead giving a more general description of the language presented”.
When used in an ethical and responsible way, paraphrasing tools can tremendously enhance students writing. There are several paraphrasing and reword generator tools online (e.g., paraphraser.io; rewritertools.com; paraphrasing-tool.com; and prepostseo.com), however, the one I personally like and found very helpful is Quillbot. Below is a quick overview of this paraphrasing tool.
What is Quillbot?
Quillbot is an online paraphrasing and summarizing tool. Quillbot helps users improve their writing by providing them with the tools to restructure and rephrase their text in the most appropriate ways possible. Students can use it to rewrite words, rephrase sentences and restructure paragraphs.
The way Quillbot paraphraser works is simple and easy: paste your text in the input box and click on Paraphrase. The paraphrased text is shown on the right box. Quillbot uses different colour highlights to mark the added changes and edits.
For instance, the orange colour indicates changed words, the yellow colour for structural changes, and the blue colour marks unchanged words. Quillbolt offers 7 paraphrasing modes : standard, formal, simple, creative, expand, and shorten. Each mode has unique features, however, only the first two modes are free.
The great thing about Quillbot paraphraser is that it is much more than just a paraphrasing tool, it also helps you fix “awkward paragraphs, improving weak topic sentences, and getting instant feedback and new ideas you can use to change up the structure, style, vocabulary, and tone of your work.”
Quillbot paraphraser includes an integrated thesaurus that helps students find synonyms for individual words. You also have full control over the number of synonyms you want to add to your text using the Synonym tool. Simply click on any word to check the available synonyms.
Besides the paraphrasing tool, Quillbot also offers a Grammar checker that helps students prune their writing for grammatical mistakes and syntactic errors. It ‘functions as a sentence checker, a spell check, and a punctuation checker’.
Examples of errors the grammar checker can identify include: word misuse, comma splices, singular vs. plural nouns, consecutive nouns, possessive plural nouns, unnecessary prepositions, among others.
What is Quillbot Summarizer?
Quillbot Summarizer is another excellent tool that works with the paraphraser service to enable students to generate summaries of text. Whether it is a research paper, a news article, a blog post or a long email, with a single click Summarizer provides you with a quick and concise overview of the content saving you time to use on other meaningful tasks.
You can use Quillbot Summarizer in two modes: the Key Sentences mode which condenses key ideas in a text into bullet points list with the option to adjust the number of bullets using the summary length slider, and a Paragraph mode which summarizes the content of a text into a solid paragraph.
Here is how it works: open Quillbolt Summarizer, paste, write about your topic, or upload a document from your local drive. Select the mode you want to use (Key Sentences or Paragraph) then click on Summarize.
Quillbot Citation Generator
QuillBot offers a citation generator which allows you to easily generate APA, MLA, and Chicago style full and in-text citations. The way it works is simple: open the Citation Generator tool, choose a citation source (only books and websites are supported), enter the URL or search a book and select a citation style and click on compose.
You can copy your generated citations to your clipboard or export them to Word. Quillbot is also integrated with Microsoft Word, Google Chrome, and Google Docs.
How to use Quillbot in education
Quillbot can be a powerful tool for students and teachers when it comes to enhancing the quality of their writing. This tool can be used to improve vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar, and more, making it a valuable resource in an educational setting. Here’s how it can be incorporated into the classroom.
For Students:
- Improve Your Writing: Quillbot can be used as a tool to help students understand different ways of structuring sentences, using vocabulary, and creating coherent paragraphs. By inputting their original text and comparing it with the generated paraphrase, students can see different ways to express the same idea, potentially broadening their understanding of language and improving their own writing skills.
- Thesaurus Functionality: When writing essays or research papers, students often struggle to find the right words to express their ideas. Quillbot’s thesaurus function can provide students with a wide range of synonyms to choose from, helping to expand their vocabulary and avoid repetitive language.
- Summary Creation: Quillbot’s Summarizer tool is ideal for students needing to condense large amounts of information, such as when reviewing for exams or creating notes for study. By inputting lengthy passages, students can generate a summary that encapsulates the main points, allowing them to understand and retain information more efficiently.
- Citation Generator: Academic integrity is of paramount importance in education. Quillbot’s citation generator assists students in creating accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago style citations, teaching them the importance of giving credit to original sources and preventing potential instances of plagiarism.
For Teachers:
- Teaching Paraphrasing: Quillbot can be used as a teaching tool to show students how to properly paraphrase text. Teachers can input text and show the class how the tool restructures and rephrases it, providing a clear, visual demonstration of what paraphrasing involves.
- Providing Feedback: Teachers can use Quillbot to offer constructive feedback to students. By inputting student’s work into Quillbot, teachers can present alternative ways to phrase sentences or structure paragraphs, aiding students in improving their writing abilities.
- Creating Lesson Summaries: Teachers can use Quillbot’s Summarizer tool to condense lesson content into concise summaries. These can be provided to students for review, helping them to consolidate their understanding of the material.
- Preventing Plagiarism: Teachers can use Quillbot’s citation generator to teach students about the importance of citing sources correctly. This tool can be used in a classroom setting to demonstrate how to properly format citations, educating students about academic integrity.
InOverall, Quillbot can be a beneficial tool in an educational setting, providing students and teachers with a variety of resources to enhance their writing skills, understand the principles of paraphrasing, and uphold academic integrity. As with all tools, it is essential that it is used responsibly, with users mindful of the necessity to credit original sources to avoid plagiarism.
How much does Quillbot cost?
Quillbolt offers two plans : free and premium. The free plan offers only 125 paraphraser word limit, 2 writing modes, 3 synonyms options, 1200 summarize word limit, 2 sentence processed at once, and Google Chrome and Doc extensions.
To unlock the full potential of Quillbot paraphrasing tool, the premium plan is your option. There is a monthly subscription for $4.95, a semi-annual for $24.95, and an annual for $39.95.
More sources:
- QuillBot’s Guide to Paraphrasing
- QuillBot helps students succeed by enhancing their writing and research abilities
