Actively Learn is really good at some things, but is hindered by copyright laws.

My Take

When I first found Actively Learn, I was very excited about it. The ability to drop questions into a text is huge. The fact that many texts already have common core aligned questions for use is also a big deal. I found that in my role as an English teacher, it worked really well for teaching short stories. They have a decent selection, and short stories don't require very much time. That said, there are two major issues that keep me from using it as the only way my students read. First, the texts that are usable with the site are fairly limited. You can submit other texts for addition, but only things that are already in the public domain. I get that copyright laws exist, but it can be awkward to adjust your entire course to be taught around only free texts - for one thing, it severely limits your ability to do anything modern with your students. This isn't their fault; books cost money, and I get that. Unfortunately, it does hinder the site's capabilities. The second problem is that computer screens are not particularly conducive to long-term reading. My students have mentioned that even with the 20-20-20 rule (every 20 minutes of looking at a screen look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds), they prefer reading from books because their eyes feel much fresher when they get done. Again, not really something that can be fixed.