Web+Evaluation+JD


 * [|A+ Research and Writing]


 * Being a former English student and a probable future English educator, it is quite apparent that essays make up a large portion of the English learning experience. Therefore I feel it is necessary to supply students with a website that can guide them in the right direction when it comes to organizing their paper. This site does exactly that by providing a step by step instruction on how to gather materials, organize, and write an essay. I also like that this site provides links for other search references that could aid the student in their writing. However I feel that this could be the one negative aspect of the site as well because it may distract some students from the true objective of the site. For this to be used in a classroom, I would more than like project it to the entire class to show them that this would be a possible resource they could use for an upcoming essay. From that point on the students would be able to access the site outside of class too.


 * .[|Spark Notes]


 * Without a doubt this is the more controversial of the two sites that I have reviewed as a possible classroom tool. Just to get it out of the way, the negative of the site is the possible abuse by students who would choose to skip over the course material and merely use this site. However, I feel that the positives of this site greatly outweigh the negatives. Literature increases in difficulty as grade levels increase and therefore outside aids are sometimes needs for the student to truly comprehend the material, this is where this site comes in. Because of its immense catalog of canonical texts, and the detail it can provide about each of them, this site is a tremendous study aid for any student. Classroom use would be over a projector to show the students, or on handouts with material printed from the site. This site also provides the students an aid outside of the classroom as well.

This is certainly a source that is known among a lot of the students when regarding various books in classes, and it is definitely a controversial area of discussion. A professor told me once that there is no substitution for reading, which he is certainly right about. To go along with your negative aspect, it is a distraction and there is no way to sum up all the details that can be covered in something that is extremely detailed and thought out. There is just too much to be missed. Rather, this is something that could be used in parallel with reading. Students could use this to stay focused on the main points of the story but still get the little details with daily readings. ~AL


 * Link to Rubric:[[file:drain_web_rubric.doc]]