Vantage Learning Launches MY Access! School Edition
-MultiMedia & Internet @ Schools
Vantage Learning has announced the release of MY Access! School Edition , the latest version of the company’s online instructional writing program. The upgraded MY Access! School Edition includes feature enhancements designed to make the program easier to navigate and use in a variety of instructional settings.
The upgraded version features a new capability that detects “text speak,” an increasingly popular form of shorthand writing found in text and instant messages. Teachers can now turn on TextSpeak, and flag common text and instant messaging jargon. MY Access! School Edition also gives educators an accurate picture of students’ progress with updated reporting, and offers additional ways to customize MY Access! to their students’ reading and writing levels.
The Web-based writing environment of MY Access! uses Vantage Learning’s IntelliMetric T technology to quickly score student essays, and provide immediate feedback that engages and motivates students, according to the announcement. Students write an essay based on a teacher’s assignment, and MY Access! analyzes over 350 semantic, syntactic, and discourse characteristics. It then scores students on focus and meaning; organization; content and development; language use; voice and style; mechanics and conventions; and their overall writing proficiency. MY Access! also provides tutor and editor feedback to assist students in their revision planning, as well as support for English Language Learners.
The latest School Edition version incorporates a number of new and enhanced features, including the following:
- The upgraded MY Editor can now identify and correct TextSpeak. The TextSpeak rule set identifies the most common and inappropriate use of informal, shorthand writing, explains why this style of writing is inappropriate in a formal setting, and suggests appropriate alternatives
- The expanded prompt library gives educators more than 700 writing topics from which to choose, as well as the ability to add and customize prompts in order to tailor topics to their own classroom and curriculum. A significant number of cross-curricular and non-fiction writing prompts have been added to the system.
- Enhanced reporting features drop-down menus that allow users to access different reports at once.
- A new dashboard greets users upon login, displays messages from students and teachers, and offers immediate account information. Teachers can view student and classroom progress right on their dashboard.
For students, the dashboard displays their progress across different categories, such as language use, mechanics, and organization.