Products
Product: StudySync
5/1/2011 By:
www.studysync.com Retail price: Starts at $175 per teacher for 12-month
access; volume discounts available for several buildings within a district.
By Carol S. Holzberg
StudySync’s electronic course
room is a standards-based
online learning curriculum that
targets classic and modern literary
texts in various modes
through the use of digital media.
Quality and Effectiveness: StudySync’s researchbased,
teacher-tested lessons
correlate to the Common Core
standards and align with the position statement
by the National Council of Teachers of
English (NCTE ) on the Definition of 21st
Century Literacies. The approximately 325
titles in the StudySync Library give middle and
high school teachers a variety of novels, stories,
poems, plays, and other literary works for
students. Flexible program features enable
teachers to deliver assignments as entire lessons
or as resources that supplement existing
curriculum. Many lessons begin with an entertaining movielike
trailer to stir interest.
Guided-writing prompts
encourage students to jot
down ideas in the form of
notes or bulleted lists they
can review when they write
the first draft of their 250-
word essay. Built-in management
options allow
teachers to create ongoing
assessments and feedback.
Ease of Use: Students
can check their messages,
explore assignments, review
work already done, and
read peer comments on
their essays. They can also
give 140-character opinions on news events of the day or
browse lessons of interest in the StudySync Library, whose
content is organized by subject or concept.
When teachers log in, they can add students or groups of
students to their classes, manage class settings, create
assignments, and view assignments delivered to students.
Additionally, they can see all the assignments that were
given to an individual
student, the start and
end dates for each
assignment, whether
assignments have been
completed, and the
student’s average
score.
Creative Use of
Technology: StudySync’s strength lies in making
standards-based content accessible in many ways, thus letting
students decide how they engage with the material. In
addition to reading the electronic text on their own, they
can often choose to listen to the text aloud. Dramatic readings
by professional actors, where available, also support
and reinforce delivery of content. A Sync-Binder stores the
student’s work portfolio.
Suitability for Use in a School Environment:
StudySync integrates a variety of tools and features that
build writing skills and model critical thinking, collaboration,
and peer review (communication). The Web-based nature
of the content provides opportunities to extend learning
outside the classroom. Weekly Blasts can be sent directly
to a student’s cell phone.
Top
Features
¦ The Sync-TV
movies are
entertaining.
¦ Flexible features
and activities.
¦ StudySync can
help students
stay organized
and teachers
assess.
Overall Rating
In part, StudySync is a work in progress. Only 30 of its
more than 300 library titles have Sync-TV presentations.
On the other hand, Sync-TV includes helpful summaries
of important classic and contemporary literary works.
StudySync also provides several pathways to important
content through its combination of types of assignments.