Community reviews for StudySync

My classroom has been changed for the better because of StudySync! This is my classroom textbook. I love how students are able to review peers work, while being anonymous. I am able to grade assignments within the program, and give annotated feedback on their written work. So valuable to have all of the students work online in one place. Students love the "Blast" assignments, which are short "tweet like" responses to high interest non-fiction reading prompts. My students love the videos included in the premium lessons, and they will watch them over & over to gain further understanding of a topic.

StudySync is a well-designed ELA/Social Studies resource that allows students to read (and listen to) curated fiction and non-fiction texts, write written responses, and respond to their peers in a protected environment. For social studies, it also has "StudySync Blasts," which are current event articles to which students can respond with brief-Twitter-like comments.

Studysync offers a collaborative, engaging, social media environment that allows teachers and students to analyze and discuss chosen readings in safe, and structured environment. Teachers can choose readings (excerpts or full text) by lexile levels, Common Core alignment, publication date, theme, or other filter options such as genre or subject. Assessment tools appear to be built in to system, but I was not able to experience those. Teacher created assignments both in reading and writing are listed within the system for all students to access. Students can also interact with others in their class (and with other students around the world) collaborating on language arts class work and in peer review. Lessons can help students build background knowledge, utilize critical thinking skills, collaborate and experience different viewpoints in literature review, in a planned environment. Studysync offers a large library of texts and text selections, but teachers can also add their own selections. Students were able to see this program but not actively participate in this trial. Generally, they felt it would help with their learning and they would be more likely to try harder and participate due to the social networking nature of the system. A 60 day free trial is offered, and it is my suggestion that you try it. Beyond that $195.00 will get you a 12 month subscription for up to 30 students.