Grammarly (Pros and Cons)

 

Last dig into the notebook...

Grammarly has caused several class discussions.  Often I stop and read a passage from a students writing and ask the class if it sounds like a student or Grammarly.  Although I'm sure I'm missing writing that is done by Grammarly, some is too obvious.

The number one discussion that keeps being repeated is to use Grammarly for the writing basics (CUPS - capitalization, Usage, Punctuation, and Spelling).  Realize that sometimes Grammarly isn't correct.  I have one student who frequently points this out.  In one writing, it changed due to die and loon to lion.  He was correct on both accounts before Grammarly made corrections.

I remind students that I will have the final eyes on the paper.  It is important to make sure the corrections are accurate instead of merely changing words.

Grammarly should be to improve writing, especially sentence structure.  The final writing must have student voice, sound like student.  

I like the use of Grammarly, but I think it will take constant redirection with students to teach them how to use it as a writing tool instead of a plagiarism tool.