Shmoop (Cult of Pedagogy)

     I discovered Shmoop when I went digging way back into the Cult of Pedagogy blog by Jennifer Gonzalez. Jennifer Gonzalez described Shmoop as "...Cliff Notes with more zing." Shmoop offers original content on subjects from Shakespeare to calculus, as well as, test prep and career guidance. Shmoop is centered on humor content depth. Shmoop offers many videos on a variety of subjects. The videos are usually animated with audio, and are very engaging due to their quirkiness and humor. Here is an example of a Shmoop video:

     The videos are fun and interesting to watch, but that is not where the content depth comes in. Shmoop offers free learning guides that include many topics. They even have a DMV Guide that provides driving information based on the users state. The example that Jennifer Gonzalez used was the topic infectious diseases. When she search those key words, Shmoop pulled up related tabs on terms, latin roots, infectious diseases in the real world, study questions, quizzes, and related websites. 

     

     Also, it has an essay lab where students can brainstorm, write, and edit sections of their essay. It, also offers step-by-step help on writing an argumentative essay, literary analysis, and college application essays.   

     Finally, it offers free online flashcards for students to quiz themselves with. The flashcards are pre-maid. 

     The paid materials are teacher guides, test prep, online courses, and Shmoop for schools. Personally, Shmoop sounds pretty interesting to me.