Happy Halloween. I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday.
After a long week, I opted to spend the evening catching up on my technology fun and exploration. First activity, catch up on blog reading. It was in Larry Ferlazzo’s blog that I explored Shmoop.
Shmoop is currently in the beta stage, but I see lots of wonderful opportunities in literature and US history. Experts from some of the top colleges, like Stanford and Berkeley, write on various topics and books so you know you are reading acurate information. This is not just another wikipedia.
Shmoop has some quick guides so students can jump to the section they desire. They also have the ability to take notes and keep them all organized on the site. These are the same notes or quotes they may want to use in an outline. Shmoop realizes this and added an outline feature to the site as well. Once a student creates the outline with quotes and other information, they can save it to the computer and begin working in Word to complete the writing assingment. The study guides, notes, and writing outline are saved on the internet site keeping it organized. Shmoop provides links to other websites, movies, pictures, and additional resources to answer questions.
One change I’d like to see is adding a screen reader. There is a lot of text on the pages and this can be overwhelming and discouraging. I hope they can incorporate a screen reader. Even though Shmoop is remains in the beta stage, I see many possiblities for students.
Give it a try. If you have a question regarding this site, please post your comment on my Q & A page.
This is way cool. I can’t wait to explore this tool, looks very promising! Happy Halloween.