Where I live, it’s the end of the semester; post-secondary schools have just finished and the high-schools are just beginning final exams. Students are wired on caffeine, and going on little-to-no sleep. Those in their last year of a programme are moved to livid tears by the thought of not getting at least 95%.
I get phone calls and e-mails: “Miss, I think I need you.” Sometimes, my required response is obvious; this person cannot write a reasonable paper without supervision so, yes, they need me. Sometimes, it’s a matter of just talking them over a rough spot. A student may write a perfectly good paper but just needs to be reminded to check their verb tense or to remove contractions. Many of my students are of this ilk. All they need to do is run the paper through a grammar- or spell-checker, then go do something else for an hour so they can proofread the paper with fresh eyes.
The students who just have one or two problems - usually the same problem with each paper they write - are the ones who don’t really need me. They can do with computer support or, perhaps, a study partner to proofread for them.
The other students… they need a tutor. A computer programme may be able to help them with the punctuation or spelling, but it cannot help them with the actual writing. There are problems with unsupported theses, repetition, disorganisation, rambling and irrelevant material; the list can go on and on.
Look at your own writing and decide what you need. Have teachers and professors been scrawling “PLEASE SEE ME” on your papers all year? In that case, you need a human tutor who can guide you through the writing process. If your papers are returned looking very festive with all the red circles around the commas, you could run your paper through a computer programme (I, of course, recommend SentenceWorks) and see if you think that helps you fix the problems.
Your school will have some sort of tutoring or writing centre. It may just be a couple of volunteers who hang around an office for a couple of hours each week, or perhaps it’s an on-line chat, or it may be a full-time tutoring centre. Whatever it may be, if you feel you haven’t fulfilled the requirements of your assignment, please find a real, living-and-breathing person to help you do so. Save the computer for the celebratory post-exam gaming sessions. 
Tags: proofreading, study groups, tutoring