Instructional Software Evaluations

I recommend that people who want to gain familiarity with and understanding of a new language use Duolingo. If I were to recommend an improvement to the developer, it would be to enhance the grammatical explanations. Immediate feedback is offered, by way of showing the correct answer, but I sometimes find myself unsure of why an answer is correct and would like to read a grammatical explanation.

I think one of the most effective aspects of Duolingo's instruction is this simple gamification: keeping count of how many days in a row the user completes an instructional unit. Keeping this count has been very effective (shockingly so) at keeping me motivated to return to the software daily. This sort of inducement to daily practice is something I think would benefit my Latin students; I'd be interested in creating something along these lines.

When the learner is ready to scan a line of a text, they are presented with a choice of lines from four Latin poets, the AP Latin syllabus, a random Latin line, a random Greek line, a line from any Latin author, or "more authors," which makes visible the full array of texts the app draws from. The screen then displays a line of poetry (the author, work, and line number are provided for reference), and the learner engages with it by dragging one of six symbols that indicates the metrical phenomena present. There are no instructions to do this, and it is potentially confusing. Though the learner can mark foot boundaries and other effects such as elisions, caesurae, and diaereses, the part that is "graded" is whether the syllable lengths have been correctly identified. Learners can also type D (for a dactylic foot) or S (for a spondaic one) in a scansion textbox for the first four feet of the line.

The design is pleasing — simple, with large text and enough space to apply symbols comfortably. On a white background, the primary text color is black, with secondary symbols in blue and three shades of red. The submit button is prominent, and there is a reset button.

After submitting the scansion for a line, the results show whether the input is correct or incorrect, shows the (unmarked) line and its citation, and whether it has any elisions. The feedback does not, however, indicate where the elisions fall, which may present a challenge for inexperienced users.

Also presented in the feedback are details: how the user's rating changed because of the answer, the notation the user submitted, the correct notation, and the line rating. The set-up of the program is very motivating — the immediate feedback, adaptive technology, and ratings tracking all promote repeating the exercise and improving scansion skills.

The initial learning curve should not take long thanks to an intuitive setup. The learner has control of whether they scan Latin or Greek hexameter lines, the text they work from, how long they spend per line, and how many lines they scan.

A static part of every page is an obscure list of metrical terms with drop-down descriptions, and a link to report problems. Making the terminology more prominent may benefit learners. Additional features and other Latin-teaching tools developed by the creator are also available through intuitive links. The AP Latin readers claim that Ben Johnson (the creator) has single-handedly improved the scansion rates of AP Latin students with this phenomenal web app.

Picture This is a mobile plant identification app that uses AI technology to identify flowers, leaves, trees, herbs, and other plant life including fungi and bryophytes. This is very helpful to gardeners who want to identify what's growing in their yards. Even with the free version there are many facts provided: common names, botanical name, whether the plant appears to be healthy, growth type, lifespan, planting season, characteristics such as height, spread, and leaf color, and information about flowers and fruits. Multiple images of a plant in various stages and locations help the user determine accuracy. A description offers details a gardener would want to know, such as whether a particular vine would damage a built structure. Full scientific classification is provided, along with care information: temperature range, hardiness zones, and sun, soil, water, fertilizing, and pruning requirements. The plant identification concludes with cultural information: historical garden use, symbolism, interesting facts, the story of the plant's name(s), and the appearance of the plant in poetry.

Users can save plants to a personal "garden" for reference, add personal notes and photos, and set up care reminders in the app.

This app is an excellent tool for plant-interested people. The ability to maintain a "garden" of plants is convenient. Though it is not always accurate, it offers a good starting place for further research. As it collects more data, I imagine it will become only more reliable.

I have used this app off and on for a while. I will often use Google Lens instead because I can do that directly from my phone's camera without opening any apps manually.

If I were to see this app improved, it would be to extend its functionality to include bug identification, but it is in no way deficient because of its specialization in plants.