SparkNotes
is an
Internet-based youth-oriented education product. It has expanded
greatly since Sam Yagan, Max Krohn, and Chris Coyne started the
company in 1999. In December 2002,
SparkNotes,
with millions of registered users (as of Jan 2005 around 10 million)
became the most popular stand-alone education site on the Internet.
SparkNotes
and CliffNotes are
STUDY GUIDES.
Originally a collection of free
online study guides for books
and associated message board services, current owner Barnes & Noble
now markets printed versions of the guides in the United States in a
format similar to that of CliffsNotes, which Barnes & Noble no longer
sells.
The
website also offers several pay-per-use premium services related to
SAT tests
that enjoyed great popularity in their non-pay-per-use days. They
recently expanded to SAT books,
having a SAT prep book titled The New SAT and PSAT. They also have
several SAT Powertactics books and SAT Sparkcharts. Also, SparkNotes
offers such extras as Sparktests and message boards including forums
where you log in and talk amongst many others who are on the same
subject as you.
Like
CliffsNotes,
SparkNotes
is banned in many schools because of a perceived cheating problem,
wherein some students circumvent lengthy reading assignments by
reading the SparkNotes instead. As a result of the popularity of
SparkNotes, some teachers have begun incorporating
SparkNotes
materials directly into their lesson plans. |
