|
A Life Better Than I Deserve
Oct. 30, 2009
Review: My Access Writing Program
Recently I was provided a year's free My Access subscription for up to three students in order to review this product for the Homeschool Crew. I did not receive any monetary compensation in exchange for providing my honest review, and the opinions expressed represent my own and my family's experiences with this product. To read more about this product and many more exciting homeschooling products, please visit the Homeschool Crew web page.
Recently I was intrigued to receive access to an online writing evaluation service called My Access. When I taught in a university writing lab almost two decades ago, we did use computer software programs designed to self-correct both grammar and spelling in order to be a time-saver for the five or six of us graduate assistants who each put in a minimum of ten hours per week tutoring college students. It certainly was not a perfect solution, as we instructors would sometimes laugh and joke among ourselves at the suggested grammatical or spelling errors and suggested "corrections." Yet, the programs did call attention to a number of errors and in the end saved us some time.
So, when My Access Home Edition arrived, I wondered not only whether this program would be beneficial but how helpful it would really be. Here is where I put my children to the test! First to be in line for product testing, my 14 year old eighth grade daughter seemed to enjoy this program. She liked typing up her essays, despite the fact that she does not touch type yet! (In case you are wondering, I actually did buy her a touch typing program this summer, but we have just not begun it yet.)
She has really enjoyed both slowly typing her own essays and dictating to me and seems to like the prompts it gives her to correct or expand her subject more in certain areas. Mostly, she enjoys seeing her scores rise! Her very first essay attempt was overall in the borderline "below proficient"/"proficient" area. Not wanting to perform "below average," this result really motivated her. By following the suggested corrections, she was able to raise her score and improve her paper, according to my own estimation as well as this program's artificial intelligence estimation. After only six submissions over the past few weeks, one of her recent essay submissions saw her "language style" approaching the "advanced proficient" level with her second draft.
Now my second child, an eleven year old fifth grader, is a wonderful young man of few words. Really. Very few. Some of the other scout leaders have asked us on occasion whether he does not like them, as he really is not a talker and sometimes will not even reply to questions or greetings. It simply is not his strength. Interestingly, he actually likes this program because he wants to do all the associated learning activities. Go figure! He likes the little computer animated sections where he can see the definitions of the parts of an essay and identify them in order to earn points. I'm not sure he has used this feature enough for it to branch over to his actual writing skills yet . . . but I am hopeful that someday it will.
Since he also does not touch type, I have been allowing him to dictate his essays to me. The procedure I have been following with him is simply this: he narrates to me his paper while I type. After he has told his story, I ask him some clarifying questions. In short, I force him to name some adjectives and adverbs and even some transitional words and phrases to clarify and add color to his otherwise bland "Noun/Verb" sentences. I also sometimes have to ask him to fill in some part of the action which he has left out. I do this before he submits his first draft rather than after because I really do not want him to earn a super low score! His initial scores still remain mostly in the "Below Proficient" level. We have then revisited his essays and I have asked him more probing questions, forcing him to rewrite. So, although I am having to continue to work with my son very "hands on" (at least at this point), this program is helping him in a more indirect manner and he is enjoying it. He is also receiving outside evaluation of his abilities, which I think is beneficial. I think as he matures, he could use this program on his own.
My eight year old second grader does have an account yet I cannot seem to convince her to try writing an essay yet. I do not think that is terribly unusual. She is still getting her basic spelling, reading, and math skills down. I have attempted to show her topics and get her interested in one, yet she either seems intimidated or uninterested.
Now that I have told you about our experiences with this program, I want to share a link of demonstration videos of My Access writing program. You can view these videos to see the ways you can use this program, how to add students, and much more. Overall, I do think this program could prove beneficial for many families. Yet at least in our family it cannot be used as a stand-alone writing program, except perhaps for my eighth grader. I do like that my two very different students both like using this program, yet for very different reasons!
As with any artificial intelligence software program, it is not quite as effective as having a live teacher or tutor, yet could save time for busy homeschooling moms, especially for those whose children already touch type or for moms who feel unqualified to help their children with writing skills. Areas marked for improvement are very general and specific errors are not noted. I also want to point out that we did lose access to this website for a few days, as the site experienced difficulties. If this online program is your sole writing program and you are using their generated topics, this might make a mess of your lesson plans for the week.
Another item you may wish to know is that this program does award points for essays completed, as well as individual learning activities. The suggestion is made that the parent may wish to have a certain reward for a certain number of points attained, which the parent may also set by increments of 250 (250, 500, 750). However, a student can simply change a few words in his essay, resubmit it, and attain a large number of points very quickly! It would be somewhat difficult for a parent to initially realize that her student was doing this, so you will still want to maintain fairly close oversight of your children's use of this program.
Finally, I want my readers to understand that this program does not cover any literature, and only covers spelling and grammar in terms of noting where your children are in need of improvement or may be strong, so do not expect this to be a complete language arts program but instead a complement to one. If your budget allows for this expense, or writing is an area in which one or more of your upper elementary through high school aged children could use improvement, this is one option available to you. Access to this online program costs $99.95 for 3 students for one year, or $129.95 for 6 students for one year.
 You may also want to reference this "What's Included" product page to assist you in making your decision. Below I have summarized some main points:
-
You need a computer and an internet connection. Access to a printer is also helpful.
-
This program includes 90 pre-loaded writing topics for three different distinct age groups (8-10, 11-14, and 15-18), yet you may also add in topics.
-
Includes interactive lessons designed to guide students through the writing process: planning, organizing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
-
Graphic organizers and other printable resources to help students through the writing process.
-
Immediate essay scoring and individualized feedback through an artificial intelligence based software program.
- Revision plans focus students' revision activities on the following traits of writing: focus, content, development, organization, language use and grammar.
- Links to progress reports are emailed out weekly and may be viewed online and printed. Most recent essay submissions may also be accessed and printed. Email newsletters are also mailed out.
|
| • Post A Comment! • Send to a Friend!
|
Comments
|
