There are people that are going to say that teachers do not need online tools and services to teach their students because they should be able to do it on their own, but the premise is faulty since we do not expect driving instructors to teach without a car or swimming instructors to teach without water. Here are some tools that a teacher can use to help his or her students improve their writing. The list is in no particular order as it has a nice spread of various services and tools that may be used.
You can complain about the quality of the website, because it is terrible, but you cannot complain about the quality of the information within. There is a lot of text on this website and some students may find it a little much, but the quality of the content is fantastic. A teacher could do worse than using the navigation tool and stealing a little content to apply to his or her lessons.
2 - After the deadline
Instead of students handing in essays after simply running the text through the word processor spelling and grammar checker, the teacher could encourage the students to run their text through this tool too. In an ideal world, the student would be able to check the text his or her self in order to catch all the mistakes, but that assumes that a student is fully versed in all the rules of written English. With this tool, they may catch a few extra errors that their current level of English didn't allow them to catch. Obviously, the students are the ones that have to judge if the suggestions given are relevant to their work (i.e. if they are actually errors), but if they do make mistakes then this is where the teacher may come in with correction notes after the essay is submitted.
3 - Grammar Girl
Trying to appeal to students by using a blog as a tool may seem a little too hip for a teacher, but Grammar Girl is well known enough to see that it is harmless learning that may help a student engage. The teacher could encourage the students to look over the Grammar Girl blog post archive and learn from some of its articles.
4 - Paper Rater
This is a handy tool because it allows the user to determine the level at which the paper will be checked. The user can select his or her own study level and have the text checked at that level. The suggested changes will therefore be more relevant to the student using the tool.
5 - Hemingway App
You have to download the desktop version, and it does look like a basic tool, but give it a chance because it has charms that others lack. You are going to appreciate what a piece of software thinks of your work. Sure, it is not a human and cannot judge fairly, but it gives you an insight into how other programs such as Google may view you work.
(*) Amy Cowen is an experienced writer. That is how she has gained a lot of knowledge on inspiring, proofreading and editing her writing. Feel free to follow her on Google+ or Facebook.
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