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How to Integrate EnglishCentral in Moodle

The EnglishCentral Moodle module you can add video lessons from EnglishCentral directly into Moodle. To learn more about the the EnglishCentral Moodle Module, please visit our blog post here.   To try out EnglishCentral on Moodle, you can go to the test site.

This post details how your school’s IT staff can integrate the module into your Moodle site.   Once you are ready to install the EnglishCentral module in your Moodle site, please follow the steps below.

Installing the EnglishCentral Module

1. Download the module zipfile from here.
2. Unzip the file to your local computer.
3. Rename the folder that was created to “englishcentral”.
4. Upload the “englishcentral” folder to your [moodle site]/mod folder using FTP or CPanel.
   or
   Zip the folder up, visit your Moodle site’s “site administration -> plugins -> install plugins” page. Drag the zip file into the ZIP Package area. If the “mod” folder does not have the correct permissions you will see a warning message and will need to change the permissions, or use the FTP/CPanel method.
5. Visit your Admin/Notifications page so that the module gets installed.

*For both methods, at the end of the installation process, the configuration settings will be displayed.

Configuring the EnglishCentral Module

To configure the EnglishCentral Module, you must:

1. Get a PartnerID, Consumer Key, Consumer Secret and Encrypted Secret from EnglishCentral, by filling out the form at the end of this post.
2. You should receive an email reply back from EnglishCentral with the information necessary to add in the Activity Modules setting as follows:

Creating an EnglishCentral Activity

1. Once you have created a course in Moodle, now add activities that contain EnglishCentral videos:
   
2. Choose EnglishCentral activity and click on Add.
   
3. Define Activity Name, Description, Timing, Goals, etc.  Click on “Save Display”.
   
   

Adding Videos to the Activity

1. Use the video search bar to search for topics, keywords or key vocabulary.  Navigate and search for videos you want to use in the activity.
   
2. You’ll be given a list of videos. Click on the plus icon to add the video to the activity.
   
3. The video will be added to that activity and will be shown above the search bar.
   
4. To delete the video from the activity, just drag the video to the trash bin. Click on ok when prompted to confirm if you want to delete the video from the activity.
   

Getting Started

To get started, fill out this request form:

New Search Feature Now Available

We are pleased to announce an improved version of our search feature.

Here are some of the benefits:

1. Increased performance and speed. Our new search is powered by Amazon’s ElasticSearch and is 5 times faster than its previous version.

2. More accurate search results. Our new search yields more accurate search results. For example, inflections of search terms are now included in the video search results (ex: bikes and biking for the word bike.) Word search results also show the closest match plus all inflected forms of the word.

3. Favoriting words from search results. You can now add new words to My Words directly from word search results by favoriting them.

4. Add videos and courses directly from search results. Teachers can now build their class curriculum directly from the search results page by “adding to class” with one click. Before, teachers could only add videos and courses to class pages by clicking the “add to class” button on Browse, video detail page, or course detail page.

Search Roadmap

Here is our roadmap for further enhancements to our search feature.

1. Teacher Tools

The new search feature will be added to the Curriculum tab so teachers can add videos and courses directly from that page.

2. iOS and Android apps

We are also going to add search to our IOS and Android apps. Our plan is to provide the same enhanced features described above for the Web, implemented natively in both apps.

3. Others?

Please add your own suggestions and comments below, or contact us regarding how to improve Search functionality on EnglishCentral.

Happy Learning,
The EnglishCentral Team

What’s new on EnglishCentral for 2018

EnglishCentral is showcasing 3 new products and services for the 2018 School Year:

• Custom Course Creation.  We have worked with a number of universities to build custom web and mobile courses to map to their school’s existing curriculum.  This means schools can adopt EnglishCentral for their current classes, without changing their textbook or other materials.  Contact us for a Case Study by Prof. Michael Holsworth on how Kyoto Sangyo University implemented an EnglishCentral custom course with over 6,000 students in its general English program. 
• Special Purpose Content.   Many schools have asked us for career- specific,  or English for Special Purposes (ESP),  curriculum for their schools.   In response, EnglishCentral has partnered with a number of leading publishers to bring the best ESP content to the EnglishCentral platform,  including:
  • Courses for Aviation, Hospitality, Medical English, from Cambridge University, here;
  • A practical Business Communication Course, from Compass Media, here;
  • 40 courses based on the industry leading Career Path Series from Express Publishing, here.
• New Vocabulary Courses.   EnglishCentral has completed a major upgrade of its vocabulary learning platform, with new lists developed by Dr. Charles Browne, of Meiji Gakuin University.  These new lists are based on a 2-billion-word corpus from Cambridge University and include lists developed specifically for core vocabulary, Academic Vocabulary, TOEIC Vocabulary and Spoken English Vocabulary.   Learn More here.

The EnglishCentral Team

New Courses for K-12 Market on EnglishCentral

EnglishCentral has partnered with Seed Learning, an industry leader in language learning products and services, to develop a new suite of products for the Young Learner (K-12) Market. These courses were developed specifically to cater the needs of those who are just starting to learn the language and include variations in topics such as phonics, reading and comprehension, world history, presentation skills and a lot more. They cover CEFR Levels A1 to B2.

Test drive these new courses here:

Top Kids Top Kids is a six-level course for young English language learners. This engaging and instructive course incorporates a systematic double-strand approach to introduce vocabulary and grammar within thematic units graded over six levels. The double-strand approach in building vocabulary and grammar skills of learners is key to the course. English language learners need to acquire vocabulary in order to comprehend English and participate in classroom discussions, and as well, it is key to reading comprehension. In addition, grammar is central to the teaching and learning of languages as it is the foundation of a language.

Top Kids prepares young learners to be able to understand and communicate well in English on a variety of subjects. Top Kids 1 Top Kids 2 Top Kids 3 Top Kids 4 Top Kids 5 Top Kids 6

Top Phonics Top Phonics is an easy-to-use five-level phonics series developed for young learners of English. Starting in Top Phonics 1, students will learn to recognize and say the letters of the English alphabet. By the end of Top Phonics 5, students will be able to read and write common English words and phrases. The five levels of Top Phonics provide a guided, step-by-step presentation of single-letter sounds and vowel and consonant combinations. Top Phonics allows learners to develop their English skills in an engaging, systematic, and effective manner.

Top Phonics 1 Top Phonics 2 Top Phonics 3 Top Phonics 4 Top Phonics 5

Easy Fun Facts Easy Fun Facts is a three-level series designed for elementary students of English who are being taught comprehension skills in the reading-to-learn stage. Easy Fun Facts exclusively focuses on nonfiction texts to equip students for future study of academic material in English. The series also utilizes a four-strand approach that sets a foundation for students to practice receptive and productive skills alongside focused language study and fluency practice.

Easy Fun Facts 1 Easy Fun Facts 2 Easy Fun Facts 3

Fun Facts Fun Facts is a three-level series designed for elementary students of English who are seeking to develop their comprehension skills in the reading-to-learn stage. Fun Facts exclusively focuses on nonfiction texts to prepare students for future study of academic material in English. The series also utilizes a four-strand approach that sets a foundation for students to practice receptive and productive skills alongside focused language study and fluency practice.

Fun Facts 1 Fun Facts 2 Fun Facts 3

Easy Fun Reading Easy Fun Reading is a three-level series designed for emergent students of English who are beginning to move from the learning-to-read stage into the reading-to-learn stage. Easy Fun Reading is designed to set a foundation in reading in order to prepare students for future study of academic material in English. The series also utilizes a four-strand approach that provides the framework for students to practice receptive and productive skills alongside focused language study and fluency practice.

Easy Fun Reading 1 Easy Fun Reading 2 Easy Fun Reading 3

Fun Reading Fun Reading is a three-level series designed for elementary students of English who are moving from the learning-to-read stage into the reading-to-learn stage. Fun Reading incorporates short and simple fiction and non-fiction texts to support students in developing fundamental readings skills required for future study of academic material in English. Strict vocabulary control of all passages and activities allows students to gradually accumulate new vocabulary while practicing learned items from previous units.

Fun Reading 1 Fun Reading 2 Fun Reading 3

Speaking for Speeches Speaking for Speeches: Skills for Presentations is an interactive, accessible three-level series specifically designed to develop the public speaking skills of English language learners at the high-beginning to intermediate level. Students will build the essential confidence they need as a speaker through creating their own interesting and fun presentations. This series will prepare students for any kind of speaking from casual descriptions of personal experiences to more formal, research-based presentations. Central to each lesson is an original presentation organized, written, and delivered by a student presenter. With its modern approach, the series helps students acquire practical speech communication skills in a positive, structured environment that they can use throughout their lives.

Speaking for Speeches 1 Speaking for Speeches 2 Speaking for Speeches 3

The courses are available and localized into Japanese, Turkish, Korean, Spanish and Portuguese and include the following features:

• Videos with Interactive Captioning. Over 320 interactive video lessons, with bilingual transcripts and in-context definitions;
• Vocabulary Training.  Vocabulary learning based on a set of topic and course specific words and phrases, including quizzes;
• Speaking Practice.  Interactive speaking practice allowing for productive use of such vocabulary in context.
• GoLive! An option for live 1:1 tutoring, each with a lesson plan (see sample)

For a full view of the Seed Learning Materials, see this catalog.

Medical English from Cambridge University Press

Good Practice Good Practice is an online course – based on the leading medical English text from Cambridge University Press –  for doctors and medical students who need to communicate with patients in English. Good Practice focuses on the language and communication skills that doctors need to make consultations more effective, through a focus on five elements of good communication: verbal communication active listening voice management non-verbal communication cultural awareness

Go to course

The course teaches learners how to handle a range of situations sensitively and covers such topics as: patient history breaking bad news examining a patient describing treatment options different types of patients, from children to the elderly With reference to numerous medical communication experts, and through exposure to authentic clinical scenarios, the course demonstrates the impact of good communication on the doctor-patient relationship and enables students to become confident and effective practitioners in English. Features of the course include: Videos with Interactive Captioning. Over 40 interactive video lessons, with bilingual transcripts and in-context definitions; Vocabulary Training.  Vocabulary learning based on a set of 300 key medical-related words and phrases, including fill in the blank activities and quizzes; Speaking Practice.  Interactive speaking practice allowing for productive use of such vocabulary in context. GoLive! An option for live 1:1 tutoring, each with a lesson plan (see sample) Developed by authors Marie McCullagh and Ros Wright for English users of CEFR level B2-C1, Good Practice has won the BESIG David Riley Award for Innovation in Business English in 2008 and was also shortlisted for the 2008 British Council Innovation Awards.

Turn your School’s Existing Curriculum into an EnglishCentral Custom Course

EnglishCentral can adapt your existing curriculum to blend with the EnglishCentral platform, giving your students speaking and vocabulary practice from their mobile devices as well as from the web. This means you can adopt EnglishCentral for your current classes, without changing your textbook or other materials.

To do this, we create custom courses for you from our library of over 14,000 videos lessons.  Each lesson is enabled with close activities, vocabulary quizzes, and interactive speaking practice using our IntelliSpeechTM speech assessment system.   These custom courses map to the level and scope and sequence of your current curriculum.  Courses also have custom wordlists students can study in our quiz app on web or on mobile.

Contact us for a Case Study on how Kyoto Sangyo adopted EnglishCentral custom curriculum for web and mobile, mapped to existing curriculum.   This Cash Study covers how EnglishCentral was implemented as part of a general English program at Kyoto Sangyo University. Currently, over 6000 students are using EnglishCentral as part of the English Communication program offered to first and second year students from a variety of faculties. Topics discussed  include:  the reasoning behind the selection of EnglishCentral, initial piloting process, content selection and textbook pairing, student preparation, teacher training, and finally successes and challenges of the overall process.

Communicating In Business English

Business Communication EnglishCentral has released a new version of Communicating in Business English, based on the popular title from Compass Media. The new version includes localizations for Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.

Go to course

Topics in the course include: making and receiving business telephone calls, giving presentations, participating in meetings, socializing with business contacts, negotiating deals and more. Features of the course include: Videos with Interactive Captioning. Over 70 interactive video lessons, with bilingual transcripts and in-context definitions; Vocabulary Training.  Vocabulary learning based on a set of  300 key business words and phrases, including fill in the blank activities and quizzes; Speaking Practice.  Interactive speaking practice allowing for productive use of such vocabulary in context. GoLive! An option for live 1:1 tutoring, each with a lesson plan (see sample) Try this new course out here.