With all the apps and websites available to “streamline” grading, it can be easy for students to become overwhelmed by the daily struggle to keep up with technology. Learning to balance your time can be tricky as is and can be complicated by sites intended to increase efficiency.

Some sites, such as Showbie or Google Classroom, require teachers to set a due date and time for each assignment, a stress inducer for many students. “I think the time constraints are exceptionally challenging and stressful…sometimes, I wanted to get help with my work and hadn’t finished it 100%, and didn’t want to turn in an incomplete assignment. When I got home and corrected my work, and then turned it in, the site would mark it late,” said sophomore Lucia Yanuzzi.

HOL can often be hard to manage as well. Along with the assignments tab on an individual class’s page, teachers can also post full assignment sheets elsewhere or message students on the website. This can often cause students to feel confused as to which section they should check.

Other sites, where students do homework online, are very sensitive to mistakes. The website connected the the 10th grade chemistry book, Mastering Chemistry, as well as VHL, which is used by Spanish students, are programs where students complete exercises on their computers or tablets that are graded automatically. This paperless method is eco-friendly and reduces the chances of an assignment being lost. However, many students feel these programs are far from perfect.

“VHL is my least favorite because if you make a small error, the site marks it wrong, and doesn’t tell you your mistake,” said sophomore Josie Pou.

While having a site grade student work can mean less work for teachers and a grade upon completion for students, receiving advice from a teacher on how to fix a mistake is crucial in understanding the topic, and further advancing one’s education.

Not all students feel so negatively. “I think Showbie and Google Classroom are easy and effortless ways to submit work with very little user difficulty. They make handing things in simple and straightforward and provide due dates and reminders,” said sophomore Michael Mezzacappa.

Senior Julia Stevenson, a former AP Chemistry student, remembers that WebAssign, the program used for the class, “took some getting used to at first, and the deadlines were stressful, but was effective because it made sure that we did a lot of practice problems for each chapter and were prepared for tests.”