I came across spelling city when looking for inspiration for my design artefact. The whole site is based around helping people learn how to spell. What I noticed about this website however was that it allowed the user to input there own spellings, so this could work in either a classroom or home environment.
Spelling City gives the user three options: 'Test me, Teach me and Play me'. Test me is a simple spelling test, the user inputs the words which they are required to be tested on and a spelling test is created where the words are verbally said and the user has to type the correct answer. The 'Teach me' section provides the user with examples of how the word is used. Firstly by spelling the word followed by an example of where the word would be used. This is a good method to help the children learn where to use the spellings and not just know how to spell them. The final option is 'Play me' the user can select a game where they can learn the words whilst also play a game.
The website has support for the teachers and parents by providing tutorials on how to work Spell City. Not only is online support provided but the designers have also incorporated printable worksheets for users to print off and practice hand writing skills.
Overall I think that this site is a very strong source that would be beneficial for teaching students spellings. In my opinion is would be a stronger source for spelling exercises at home as the general User Interface is not very appealing to the younger target audience to whom I am looking to help. Even though games are apart of the site the home page does not represent this.
Even though I did mention that the aim of this test was to have more learning appeal rather then the fun factor I still think the general layout/interface needs some element that will interest the child.
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