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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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 Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:26 am Post subject: Using EnglishCentral |
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I've had a few threads on Dave's about EnglishCentral and have appreciated the feedback over the last year or so. http://www.englishcentral.com
Some might know, I'm into technology and now working closer with the EnglishCentral team. Hoping to get some more feedback. Do you use it? Thoughts, concerns? I'll keep it open ended....
I'll also share that there will be Korean language support very soon (maybe by the end of the week) and we'll be focusing more on Korea (as opposed to the launch which concentrated on Japan). A blog is just around the corner too and hope those using EnglishCentral will guest post about their experiences.
Thanks in advance,
DD
http://eflclassroom.com |
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lifeinkorea
Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 2:50 pm Post subject: |
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1) I registered. Then I found out I only registered as a student. I went to the help section, but it only listed FAQ answers. I see no way to independently change from student to teacher.
2) Before I could do the above I had to refresh the page a half dozen times because it throws up a dark gradient window over the whole page disabling all the links.
3) I see it says I have a trial period before I have to pay. I haven't been able to test drive the thing, and by the looks it's not worth paying for.
Well designed site, but not so good on delivery. Maybe they will improve things if more people use it and let them know the shortcomings. |
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winterfall
Joined: 21 May 2009
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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More restrictive tools for teachers would be very helpful. And a option for teachers to create 30 or so temporary IDs for a specific class and just give these Ids to the students, rather than have students make it on their own.
Because Korean students are very single minded. Get bogged down easily and have a terrible, terrible problem with trying to do things beyond their level and they stuck in that low skill = low motivation cycle. |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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Great comments/thoughts.
It isn't easy to balance a lot of things but right now we will be consolidating a lot of stuff - so all this kind of feedback is important. I'm busy doing a lot of user surveys.
So keep it coming, be harsh, be brutal. I realize the technology is amazing, even revolutionary but if it doesn't address certain other things - it won't reach its potential.
Lifeinkorea - please register again. Yes, you are right, no way to switch registration types midstream. The teach part should have more prominence at registration. I also hope you aren't/weren't using IE6, might have been the cause of a dark screen appearing.
Note - the free features are very extensive. Watch - speak. track students. The new activity building tools will be much better for teachers.
Winterfall - I'll investigate the multiple accounts feature. There are a few things that make this problematic though. Yes, I agree. Nothing will stop a student from making their own account but within the class account, the teacher should be able to restrict student activity/video watching.
DD
http://eflclassroom.com |
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winterfall
Joined: 21 May 2009
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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| ddeubel wrote: |
Winterfall - I'll investigate the multiple accounts feature. There are a few things that make this problematic though. Yes, I agree. Nothing will stop a student from making their own account but within the class account, the teacher should be able to restrict student activity/video watching.
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I haven't tried the new system yet, I registered about a year or so ago. The interface is definitely a lot cleaner now. From what I remember about the old one, you couldn't restrict individual student activity, you can adjust what videos the class can watch and the progression it goes by. But there was no micro control for mixed level classes on video restrictions or setting the point goals. Students under and over the curve had to be registered in different classes. Guess they kind of fixed it now with the different groupings. But that seems more like a band-aid quick fix then, a permanent solution. It'd be nice to be able to split a class into different sections, each with their own video choices and point goals.
From the way it is now, take for example: Your using English central with 10 classes. About 300 students. Roughly 3 level gaps in each class, some of them have 4-5 noticeable level differences. And your stuck trying to manage 7+ groupings spread out over a couple grades. |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 11:48 am Post subject: |
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An update.
EnglishCentral now has Korean language support which teachers/students can turn off/on both for the site interface (click at the top of the page ENGLISH and select hanguel) and in the video player (hit auto translate to turn off or just blurr all translation by hitting the sym bol at the end of each line.
Also a blog for news updates and posts about EnglishCentral.
I think that the Korean language support might even help waygooks learn Korean, could be handy.
David |
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