Urban Planet Mobile To Release Its Ground-Breaking Web-Based English Writing Assessment Tool For English As Second Language Students

DURHAM, N.C., July 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading digital education company Urban Planet Mobile, in partnership with Measurement Incorporated, will release its groundbreaking web-based English writing assessment tool, Writing Planet.  The new tool offers schools a more affordable, efficient and technologically state-of-the-art writing tool specifically designed to help English as Second Language (ESL) students become more proficient in their English writing capabilities in a very short period of time.

The new technologically advanced writing tool utilizes the Project Essay Grade™ (PEG™) artificial intelligence system developed by Measurement Incorporated.  This system enables Writing Planet to provide instant analysis of a student's writing capabilities.  The analysis is based on the guidelines used by TOEFL and IELTS to evaluate students. It is the only writing assessment program trained to recognize and address errors common to non-native English writers.

"Writing Planet offers instant feedback on writing mechanics allowing students to develop writing fluency quickly and give teachers and students instant, accurate and comprehensive feedback about the student's performance, which gives teachers more time to work with individual students on areas of need and allows students to become better and more confident writers," said Will Gordon, Marketing Director for Urban Planet Mobile.  "The uniqueness of this program has sparked immediate demand in more than a dozen countries around the globe before Writing Planet hits the market.  This indicates how important, desired and valued Writing Planet is in both emerging and established economies around the world."

Writing Planet's capability to accurately assess a student's essay was achieved by grading thousands of actual student essays by professional educators specially trained in IELTS and TOEFL.  By analyzing the scores assigned by these expert human evaluators, Urban Planet Mobile and Measurement Incorporated were able to produce a mathematical model that can predict how an expert human evaluator would score a particular student essay.  Since its predictive models are based on decisions made by expert human evaluators, Writing Planet can consistently deliver assessment that is as valid and reliable as that of the most trusted writing teacher.

Writing Planet assesses each student in the following six categories.  The range for each category is zero-to-five:

DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS

• Development centers on the presentation of additional supportive details and information pertinent to the topic.  It is enhanced by specificity of word choice and a clear organizational structure.

ORGANIZATION

• Organization is characterized by an overall plan (coherence) and internal weaving together of ideas (cohesion).  Organization is enhanced when a student pauses to develop ideas and is strengthened by the use of varied sentence structures and transitional techniques.

STYLE

• Style includes the student's ownership of the topic and connection with the reader.  Style is enhanced through strong word choice and varied sentence constructions that contribute to the writer's unique voice.

WORD CHOICE

• Word Choice is enhanced through appropriate use of advanced vocabulary and precision in word application.

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

• Sentence structure is enhanced through sentence complexity and variety, and through skilled weaving together of different sentence formats to promote a smooth flow of ideas.

CONVENTIONS

• Conventions include grammar, usage, pronoun reference, consistency in number and person, and mechanics (spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and paragraphing).

Writing Planet's assessment guidelines were developed by international ESL writing experts and benchmarked against globally recognized examinations including IELTS, TOEFL and SAT.  Writing proficiency scores are based on a series of determined attributes or qualities, and a rating scale for each dimension of the established guidelines. In other words, it is an algorithm, a mathematical formula that takes seemingly qualitative information and turns it into quantitative data.

Urban Planet Mobile is a leading innovator of educational products created for mobile, tablet and computer. With products ranging from basic word and phrase lessons to TOEFL & SAT preparation, to a new online writing tool with assessment and tutorials, Urban Planet Mobile specializes in forward-thinking educational tools for cross-platform use.  Additional information about the company and our products can be obtained at www.urbanplanetmobile.com and www.writingplanet.net or by calling (919) 237-2755.

SOURCE Urban Planet Mobile