Before moving your language center online, there’s a few questions you need to ask yourself. Many traditional language and training centers are making the decision to take their business to the next level by adding eLearning options that allow them to teach online and establish a new relationship with their students. From our experience as software manufacturers with more than 40 years of experience in traditional classroom and distance training industry, we believe that this is a very important move. Before taking such an important step it is necessary to ask yourself a few questions in order to design a firm digital foundation on which to transform your model with guaranteed success.
Before moving your language center online
Questions about new objectives, what software to use, what cost / benefit it will have, who can advise you…
5 essential questions about changing to an online model
There are many possible questions, but we wanted to summarize the most important aspects in five essential questions to ask before moving from the traditional model to a blended or online model.
Question 1: What do you expect from this transformation? (Setting goals)
It is essential that you are clear about the objective you are pursuing with the changes that you are going to implement in your language center from the outset. Among our clients’ most common objectives are:
- Expanding the available service to your students (more hours, more courses, more languages …).
- Meeting the demands of your students (digital native students who expect an online bonus associated with their courses).
- Increasing the number of registered students.
- Approaching new methodologies such as the flipped classroom.
- Teaching online classes at your convenience.
- Implementing free schedules with videoconference classes.
- Saving time / resources in creating materials and correcting tasks.
- Centralization of student, course, class and teacher management.
- Global communications with your student body, even as a scheduled event.
- Efficient information collection: performance statistics and attendance in personalized reports.
Many of your goals may be listed above, or you may have others, but what is significant is that you are able to create a clear list of what you want and where your language center is going. To develop this relationship, it is very useful to ask yourself questions such as “what do I want to achieve in five years? What are the improvements that my center currently needs? What competitive advantages does our competition have? The answers can give you very clear clues about the direction your next steps should take.
Question 2: What software do I need to convert my language center into an online academy?
For an effective online education, you need an educational platform that allows you to manage student enrollment, courses, classes, to collect information, integrate gamification, and download reports … At the same time it should provide your students with access to the lessons (your web portal). These lessons are interactive online content. You will find all these functionalities on the Dexway web platform, and also hundreds of materials to share with your students from day one (English, Spanish and French pills, tests, interactive eBooks …), as well as the possibility of creating your own content with a very easy to use creation tool.
If your objectives also include teaching your classes online, you will need a videoconferencing tool. The Dexway educational platform integrates a virtual classroom with videoconferencing and a virtual whiteboard developed specifically to teach language classes.
When choosing an LMS or educational platform, you will find many alternatives. A general rule for deciding which one is correct for your language center would be to compare your objectives with the characteristics of the platform.
Question 3: How much does the chosen software cost?
Getting started in blended learning has a cost, so you have to look for flexible and scalable alternatives that allow you to go from a simpler solution to more complex ones. The Dexway learning suite offers a basic web platform and content to share interactive materials with your students from day one, it also has videoconferencing, so you can start using it when you need it and don’t pay for it until then.
In addition, Dexway clients have access to Dexway’s course catalog, compatible with the Dexway LMS, to go from blended learning to 100% online training with courses such as Dexway Certificate, or offer specific courses to companies, by professional sector.
Question 4: What is the learning curve for your teaching staff?
Implementation takes place over a short time, so it does not make sense to choose complicated, technical options when what we want is for our teachers to have autonomy to manage their groups (check their performance, download their reports and create their online classes …) as quickly as possible. Dexway’s learning suite is comprehensive, powerful software, yet it is easy to use. All its tools have been designed for use by teachers and tutors, from the LMS to the authoring tool.
Question 5: What experience does the technology company have in e-learning?
The experience and know-how that are built up over years are synonymous with the quality guarantee for your training center. Dexway is the all-in-one learning suite to get started in blended learning from CAE, Computer Aided Elearning, a leading EdTech nd LearnTech company since 1981. Since then it has accompanied hundreds of institutions, centers and companies that have decided to get started in blended learning, flipped classrooms, language laboratories or online training.
Specialization and experience are two advantages that your center can benefit from if you choose an LMS that is suitable for your needs – especially one that has a proven track record in quality and innovation for years.
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