Costa students’ use of Sparknotes, an educational aid website, should be allowed, but limited to educational support only, rather than replacement.
Understanding complex literature does not come easy to all. Some students use tools such as Sparknotes to aid their comprehension. Sparknotes is a website that provides test prep, short summaries for novels, study guides for literature, and much more. According to sparknotes.com, their mission is to help students comprehend confusing schoolwork.
Sparknotes when used as a supplement to the assigned reading, can be a great study tool to help students understand what they previously read. As stated by sparknotes.com, the website is a source to help students learn, not to help students cheat. In fact, Sparknotes’ goal is to have students use their site to help them comprehend literature.
According to english teacher Jonathan Westerberg students should try not to use any other source outside of the text, but on the other hand he also knows sometimes the texts are challenging and doesn’t necessarily mind students using tools like sparknotes to help them better understand what they have read. Students need to be able to use sources like Sparknotes cautiously and only to supplement their understanding of assigned work.
Recently, some English teachers gave their student surveys, which asked questions such as if they read their summer reading or relied on other sources. They gave these surveys partially out of curiosity, and also to understand their students knowledge, or behaviors, coming into the school year.
English teacher Jonathan Westerberg claims to always be curious to know if his students actually did the summer reading or whether they found other sources outside of the book. He doesn’t like students going to any other source outside of the text, but on the other hand he also knows sometimes the texts are challenging and doesn’t necessarily mind students using tools like sparknotes to help them better understand what they have read.
Other teachers find the use of it to be very harmful and destructive to students learning. As a result to teachers do not liking Sparknotes, a good solution would be for them to familiarize themselves with the key content of Sparknotes. Teachers can then recognize whether a student is copying word for word what Sparknotes summarizes or if they are just using it as a supplement.
Regardless of Sparknotes’ goal students can easily take advantage of the information given to them by using the source as a replacement for work and reading. According to English teacher Mrs. Jenning, Sparknotes is not a good site at all. She tells her students at various points throughout the year not to use any outside research unless she makes it part of the assignment. She wants her students to become more comfortable in taking their own interpretation.
In order for students to explore their own ideas students should steer away from the analysis section of the website. Summary and Character lists should be the primary use of the Sparknotes, due to the fact that reading the analysis of novels takes away from a students ability to interpret aspects of literature.
In conclusion, Sparknotes being used by students is a beneficial site when it is taken with a grain of salt. Students taking advantage of the information will not gain the skills of interpreting difficult text and become accustom to simply reciting ideas of other people. If students follow the policy of limiting their use of Sparknotes, it will be to their advantage.
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