A web-based tool to check grammar, spelling, and vocabulary usage in a document
Community Review for Grammarly@edu
My Take
This is a wonderful idea! I would use this with my students in 5th grade, no problem but the cost seems to be a bit on the expensive side even for the @EDU (education) accounts. For example, it costs $1,500 for up to 50 users. That's $30 a student. For teachers, schools, and districts, this can seem costly. You can purchase more accounts for a bigger discount, however, I think that this tool could be very popular if the prices came down a bit.
I would also like to see a "further resources" link to the explanations pop up window for each error so that students who need more information about what the mistake is could be directed to a website that has more information about it.
I think that is worth explaining that to set up how to use it properly is important for this website. You definitely do not want students to go and load their paper, see their mistakes, and change them automatically, without learning about why it was considered an error.
It is a great teaching tool but time is necessary.
How I Use It
Remember all the times when you taught in upper elementary, middle school, or high school, and you had to grade all those lengthy papers? Whether it is from English class or history, teachers may need to read from 20-100 papers. Sometimes, as you are giving feedback, you ask yourself, did this student even reread and edit their paper before they turned it in? And we're not speaking in terms of content, but instead, the mechanics behind the paper is quite confusing! In this situation, any teacher wishes that there is a tool that students can use prior to turning in their paper to look over these silly mistakes. This is what Grammarly can offer!
It looks through a paper (copied and pasted OR uploaded) and will find all the questionable grammar, spelling, mechanics, and vocabulary usage errors. Not only will it find it, it will rate the paper by giving it a score and also it will explain every mistake that it highlighted for you. In fact, there's a "short" explanation and a "longer" explanation. This is a great tool for students to take ownership in their papers before they turn it into their teachers or professors.
The best way seems to be if your students have a email account (like Google Apps) where students can utilize Grammarly on their own.
It does cost a certain amount depending on how many accounts you will be purchasing. Obviously, the more you increase the volume, the more inexpensive it is. It is a yearly subscription.