StudySync: A Comprehensive Review of McGraw-Hill Education's Digital Literacy Solution

StudySync, a core literacy solution by McGraw-Hill Education, has become a prominent tool in grades 6-12. Designed to cultivate reading, writing, listening, and critical thinking skills, it aims to prepare students for the demands of college and future careers. This article delves into a comprehensive review of StudySync, exploring its features, benefits, drawbacks, and overall effectiveness as an educational resource.

Overview of StudySync

Created in 2009 and partnering with McGraw-Hill Education since 2013, StudySync offers an "anywhere, anytime, any device experience" for English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD). It provides a digital environment supplemented with print support. The program utilizes robust, thoughtfully crafted units designed to build a variety of skills. These units are highly customizable, allowing educators to tailor them to specific classroom needs, or they can be deployed as-is, following the provided pacing guide, teacher discussion notes, assignments, and quizzes.

Core Features and Functionality

StudySync boasts a range of features designed to engage students and support educators:

Extensive Content Library: The program includes hundreds of core texts, dynamic videos, and multimedia resources intended to inspire and advance literacy skills. The StudySync library contains approximately 1,600 readings at various levels, ranging from below grade six (e.g., Aesop’s Fables, an excerpt from Black Beauty) through adult (e.g., an excerpt from The Hobbit, selected letters from Abigail Adams to John Adams).
Thematic Units: Each grade level features four thematic units and a core curriculum guide, along with scope and sequence guides and grade-level overviews. Each unit begins with a short video, often accompanied by stirring music and essential questions.
Interactive Tools: Students can listen to texts read aloud at varying speeds and annotate texts directly within the platform. "Think" questions can be assigned, answered, and submitted for grading, promoting active reading and critical analysis.
Skills Development: Skills instruction is delivered in a "Define"/"Model"/"Your Turn" format. Brief videos are followed by readings with notes and guidance, culminating in readings with prompts that allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the topic.
Teacher Resources: StudySync provides broad and deep resources, offering support for novice teachers and allowing experienced educators to personalize individual lessons or complete units. These resources include lesson plans, Common Core standards alignment, webinars, and training links. Ten-day SyncStart units are available to familiarize teachers and students with the platform.
Accessibility: The program adapts to multiple platforms, and materials can be downloaded for offline work, ensuring accessibility regardless of internet connectivity.
Integration: Integration with GoogleDocs allows users to write or collaborate on a document before using "preview" and "submit" to transfer the document to StudySync for peer review or grading.
Multimedia Engagement: Short StudySyncTV and SkillsTV videos (with optional captioning) feature a diverse range of energetic students explaining concepts, defining literary terms, and modeling successful group work and discussion. Podcasts and short assignments called "Blasts" are also included to sustain student interest.

Educator Ease of Use and Visual Appeal

StudySync's production values are high, employing shades of browns and gray, with muted orange and blue for emphasis. The layout is clean, with high-quality photos. Teachers can easily view assignments from a student perspective and track student progress. Handouts and assignments are provided at varying levels to cater to diverse learning needs.

Student Ease of Use and Visual Appeal

The student view is designed to be clean and uncluttered. Unit introductions have a movie trailer feel, aiming to capture student interest from the outset. The program's adaptability to multiple platforms and the availability of downloadable materials for offline work contribute to its student-friendly design.

Strengths of StudySync

Comprehensive Curriculum: StudySync offers a well-structured and comprehensive curriculum that covers a wide range of ELA and ELD skills.
Customization Options: The program's highly customizable units allow teachers to adapt the content to their specific classroom needs and student abilities.
Engaging Multimedia: The inclusion of videos, podcasts, and interactive tools helps to engage students and make learning more dynamic.
Extensive Teacher Resources: StudySync provides a wealth of resources for teachers, including lesson plans, pacing guides, and professional development materials.
Accessibility: The program's adaptability to multiple platforms and the availability of offline materials make it accessible to students in various learning environments.
Focus on Critical Thinking: By incorporating "Think" questions and discussion prompts, StudySync encourages students to develop their critical thinking skills.

Potential Drawbacks of StudySync

Potential for Repetition: Some educators have noted that StudySync can sometimes feel repetitive, which may lead to student disengagement.
Cookie-Cutter Approach: The structured nature of the program may not always allow for deeper thinking and creativity, potentially leading to a "cookie-cutter" experience for students.
Teacher Dependence: The success of StudySync often depends on the teacher's ability to supplement the program with additional activities and resources to make it more engaging.
Cost: Pricing differs depending on subscription/product bundles and length of purchase.

StudySync in Practice: A Case Study

In March 2017, the School Board of VUSD adopted StudySync as its core ELA curriculum. This implementation provides valuable insights into the program's strengths and weaknesses in a real-world setting.

Antoinette Perez, an English honors/AP teacher, noted that StudySync "meets standards, it teaches about different styles of writing, it’s exposing students to various genres, and each thematic unit follows and focuses on different skills that [eventually] add on to one another." However, other educators, like Jessica Castaneda, have expressed concerns about the program's potential for repetition and its limited capacity for fostering deeper thinking.

Castaneda suggested alternative activities like Socratic seminars, One Pagers, and skits that could enhance student engagement and critical thinking skills. The key takeaway from this case study is that while StudySync provides a solid foundation, it may require supplemental activities and creative teaching approaches to fully realize its potential.

Addressing the Drawbacks

To mitigate the potential drawbacks of StudySync, educators can consider the following strategies:

Supplement with Engaging Activities: Incorporate activities such as Socratic seminars, debates, creative writing assignments, and hands-on projects to complement the StudySync curriculum.
Encourage Student Choice: Allow students to choose from a variety of texts and assignments to foster a sense of ownership and engagement.
Promote Collaboration: Facilitate group work and discussions to encourage students to share their ideas and learn from one another.
Provide Opportunities for Deeper Thinking: Pose open-ended questions that require students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information.
Connect to Real-World Contexts: Relate the content of StudySync to real-world issues and events to make learning more relevant and meaningful.

Accessibility Considerations

Instructional materials should be reviewed to match grade-level standards, affirm student identity, and support diverse learners and educators’ needs. However, these materials have not been checked for accessibility.

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