Interesting and Awesome Genius Stuff #1

In past weeks I have discussed what Genius is, how it works, and what I think about it. I’ve talked about the structure of the website, and its potential for education. Now, however, I want to move on- to what is actually happening on the website. This part of the blog will probably be half music blog, and half Genius spotlight. This week I’d like start with a few specific examples of the way that Genius can be used for education.

Properties and Reactions of Haloalkanes

One of the biggest parts of being a student is studying- assimilating material and preparing for tests. Study guides are one of the most helpful forms of studying. They’re more concise than a textbook or notes, and provide a convenient form of review for students. While study guides don’t fall within Genius’ main focuses, the annotation format provides another dimension of explanation. The addition of diagrams, additional explanations, and sources makes the explanations clearer, and a reader can pursue a second opinion or additional explanation immediately, instead of doing other research to find another source.

Practice Test 1, Section 6 (Writing)

Another of the main types of studying is test prep. Because high school students are essentially required to take exams like the SAT, there is a huge market for study materials. An annotated version of SAT test questions provides an easy way for a student to solve questions, and then check the answers and explanations in realtime, without having to flip pages or wade through distracting test prep sites. While this version is thus far unfinished, parts of its construction are designed to encourage good test taking habits. For example, the normal SAT instructions have been omitted. Because the instructions never change, it is better to memorize the types of questions and know the rules, so that you don’t waste time reading them during the test.

As always, view the annotated version of this post here.