Focus on Grammar INTERACTIVE!

Transcription

1 Welcome to Focus on Grammar INTERACTIVE! LEARN ENGLISH ANYWHERE, ANYTIME! Pearson Longman ELT

2 Contents ABOUT FOCUS ON GRAMMAR INTERACTIVE... 3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS... 4 ABOUT YOUR ACCESS CODE... 4 Registration Online... 5 Logging into Focus on Grammar Interactive... 5 USING THE COURSE BUILDER... 6 CREATING A COURSE... 6 NAVIGATION TOOLS AND FEATURES HOME PAGE STUDY PLAN Student View Edit Study Plan Editing Course Settings GRADING SUBMISSIONS GRADEBOOK LEARNING MORE ABOUT FOCUS ON GRAMMAR INTERACTIVE TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR FOCUS ON GRAMMAR INTERACTIVE GLOSSARY FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Trademark Notices Microsoft and Windows are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Adobe is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Copyright Copyright 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Longman ELT. All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. 2

3 ABOUT FOCUS ON GRAMMAR INTERACTIVE The all-new Focus on Grammar Interactive online mirrors the syllabus of the best-selling textbook series, Focus on Grammar, now available in a newly revised third edition. Clear, contextualized, and interactive, this five-level online program provides a communicative review of English grammar that covers all language skills through a comprehensive, motivating, and fun practice of the grammar points and skills introduced in the Focus on Grammar Student Books. Students can use the program on their own (self-study) or they might use it as part of a class with a teacher (instructor-led). If you are part of a class with a teacher, you will notice that he or she will set assignments and be able to watch your progress with the program s easy-to-use tools. Program features Access anywhere, anytime Easy to use Ongoing student assessment Automated feedback Grammar in context Abundant contextualized exercises including grammar, reading, listening, dictation, and speaking activities provide students with extensive and meaningful lab practice. Target structures are presented in full reading and listening passages to help students discover the grammar. Dictation exercises provide students with controlled listening and writing practice. Speaking exercises give students the opportunity for further oral practice of the vocabulary, grammatical structures, and themes introduced in the unit. Additional exercises for remedial practice are provided for each grammar point so that students can work on improving weaker areas. Engaging games provide fun opportunities to review key structures. Additional support is provided by a wide range of easy-to-access resources, including grammar charts, grammar notes, glossaries, and appendices. Study plans Progress reports E-portfolios 3

4 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS To use Focus on Grammar Interactive, your computer must meet the System Requirements listed below. For PC-Compatible Computers: Operating System: Windows 2000, or XP Web Browser: Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher OR Firefox 2.0 or higher Plug-ins: Adobe Reader 7 or higher, Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher, and Java or higher For Macintosh Computers: Operating System: OS X or higher Web Browser: Safari 2.0 or higher OR Firefox 2.0 or higher Plug-ins: Adobe Reader 7 or higher, Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher, and Java or higher For All Computers: Hardware: Headphone or speakers, built-in or external; Microphone, built-in or external Internet Connection: DSL, Cable/Broadband, T1, or other high-speed connection Memory: 256 MB RAM or higher Monitor Resolution: 1024 x 768 or higher Note: If you are using Focus on Grammar Interactive in your school s computer lab, then the lab manager should ensure that all computers meet the System Requirements. ABOUT YOUR ACCESS CODE Focus on Grammar Interactive provides online access to instructor-only content. You register with an instructor access code that identifies you as an educator. You may use the code only one time. Your access code appears inside your Instructor Access Kit and looks like this: NANTW-FORRM-PAPER-BLASE-PENCH-WARMD Note: If the access code has already been used, you can contact your local sales representative and request a Focus on Grammar Interactive Instructor Access Kit, which contains a valid access code. You can also visit us online at Click on the Buy button and then follow the on-screen instructions. 4

5 Registration Online To access your Focus on Grammar Interactive course, you must complete an easy, onetime registration and enrollment process. (Before you begin, be sure your computer meets the System Requirements for this program.) 1. Go to 2. Click on Register. 3. Follow the instructions for entering your access code. You will create a Login Name and Password during this process. 4. After registration, you will see a Confirmation page with your Login Name and Password. Print this page. You will need your Login Name and Password to log in and begin working. (You will also receive your Login Name and Password in a confirmation .) You are now ready to log in to your Focus on Grammar Interactive course anytime, anywhere. Logging into Focus on Grammar Interactive You can log in to Focus on Grammar Interactive anytime after you register. Use the Login Name and Password you created during registration. Go to and click on the Log-in button. Enter the Login Name and Password you created during registration. Begin exploring your Focus on Grammar Interactive course. Login screen 5

6 USING THE COURSE BUILDER If you wish to monitor your students progress in Focus on Grammar Interactive, you must create a course. The Course Builder allows you to accomplish this task. There are two ways you can get to the Course Builder: If this is your first time logging into Focus on Grammar Interactive, click on the Create a Course button. See the Creating a Course section on the next page for more information. If you have already created a course and would like to create another course, click on the My Courses link at the top of the page. CREATING A COURSE To create a course in Focus on Grammar Interactive, 1. Click on the button. 2. Choose your course type: a. Use the default course for your level (Recommended) b. Copy or link to a course from your course list c. Copy or link to a course from the public course list Note: If this is your first time using Focus on Grammar Interactive and you have not been told otherwise, you will want to choose the first option: Use the default course for your level (Recommended). Click on the button next to this option and then click on Continue. If you choose not to create a course, your students will still be able to use Focus on Grammar Interactive on their own. However, you will not be able to see their grades. If you would like more information on course types, click on the link next to Need More Information on Course Types? Click here. Choose Your Course Type 6

7 About Course Types There are two types of courses in Focus on Grammar Interactive. A Master Course is a course that has been created from the Focus on Grammar Interactive default course. The creator of the master course can customize the study plan by hiding or reordering content and setting course properties. A Master Course can be copied. Once a course is copied, the copy becomes a new master course. Such a course maintains all of the customizations of the course that was copied. A Linked Course is a course that links to a master course. A linked course maintains all of the course settings and customizations of the master course, but the instructor who uses a linked course cannot customize it. A linked course is useful for instructors teaching multiple course sections, as they can create a master course to control all of their course customizations in one place. They can then create linked courses created from the master course for their other classes. Linked courses are also useful for a school's Program Coordinator. He or she can create a master course and allow other instructors to link to it in order to maintain consistency among all classes. 3. To select a product, click the radio button at the left and then click on Continue at the bottom of the page. Note: Focus on Grammar Interactive has four levels to meet the needs of your students. Choose Your Product 4. Name your course: Enter the details of your course, including the name of the course and the name or number of the section. Set the start and end dates of the course, and choose your time zone. Click on Continue at the bottom of the page. Note: When students log in for the first time, they can search for your course by your last name, the course name, or the school name, so be sure to name your course appropriately. Many instructors 7

8 will use their own name in the course, like: English 100 Holmes. They also use the time the class meets as the section name, like MW 10 a.m. Students access to your course will be dictated by the Course Start and End Dates. It can be a good idea to extend the End Date by a few weeks to give students additional time in a course. The course will become unavailable to students at 12:01 a.m. on the Course End Date. Click on Continue at the bottom of the page. Name Your Course 5. Set student access properties: Set the properties for your new course here. You can decide if you want to make the course available to students immediately (most instructors do) and if you want to require a course password (most instructors don t). Click on Continue at the bottom of the page. Note: Some instructors will choose not to make the course available to students so they can customize it completely before students are able to log in. This is a good idea if you plan to do a lot of customization on your course. Once the course is ready, instructors should visit Course Settings and make their course available to students. Requiring a Course Password provides an extra level of security. Some instructors use this to make sure only their students register for their Focus on Grammar Interactive course. 8

9 Set Student Access Properties 6. Course Copy Properties: On this page, you can decide if other instructors will have access to your course. Often instructors will want to allow other instructors to copy their course when they create their own. This usually occurs between instructors at the same school, but since Focus on Grammar Interactive is on the Internet, any instructor using Focus on Grammar Interactive can copy a course. Making Course Public will allow other instructors using Focus on Grammar Interactive to copy your course. If you choose No then you do not need to answer the remaining questions, and only you will be able to copy the course in the future. Course Copy Availability determines if other professors can copy the course or only link to it. Require Password to Copy adds an extra level of security. Only instructors who have the password can copy the course. Click on Continue at the bottom of the page. 9

10 Set Student Access Properties 7. Course Verification Page: After you set the Course Properties, you will be given a chance to edit them. If you are satisfied with the information presented on this page, click on Continue at the bottom of the page. Note: If you are building a linked course, you will not be able to edit the Course Copy properties and the Study Plan properties, since these features will be controlled by the original course. Editing the properties in the original will change the properties in the linked course. 8. Congratulations Page: At the top of the page is your Course ID. This will be a combination of your last name, six numbers and a letter. Give this Course ID to your students so they can easily enroll in your course. From this page, you can enter your course, customize the Study Plan, or create another course. 10

11 Confirmation page NAVIGATION TOOLS AND FEATURES You can navigate through Focus on Grammar Interactive by using either home page links or the tabs at the top of the screen: HOME PAGE STUDY PLAN SUBMISSIONS GRADEBOOK HOME PAGE The Home Page shows links to the important features of your course. Key links on this page include: My Course on the top left provides links to the Course Settings, the Class Roster, and the Alerts report. Course Settings Click on the View button to edit the course settings. Class Roster Click on the displayed number for Students Enrolled. This link only shows up if one or more students are enrolled. Alerts The alerts report tells you if a student scores too low on an activity. You decide the score students should achieve in your settings. Click on the displayed number to see your alerts. 11

12 My Gradebook displays your class's average scores in study plan activities. Click on the View button to see the Gradebook Options. Submissions displays ungraded writing submissions. Click on the View button to see your students submissions. Other Resources, accessed through the links on the bottom right of the page, include the Longman Dictionary, Glossary, and Grammar Reference, and Teacher s Guide. My Courses on the top right of the page allows you to switch among your courses and also to create a new course. STUDY PLAN Teacher Home Page Click on the Study Plan tab to open the Study Plan Option page. Key links on this page: Student View Edit Study Plan Course Settings Student View Click on Student View to preview your course any time. Edit Study Plan Click on Edit Study Plan to reorder or hide content, or to add a note to your students. To customize the Study Plan, Click on the Study Plan tab to open the Study Plan Options page. Click on Edit Study Plan to re-order content, hide content, or add an instructor note. Click on the drop down menu under Set Order to change the order of the groups. Click on the name of a part group to view the units within that part. 12

13 Study Plan Options Note: Many instructors will choose to hide Part Tests or the End of Level Test. Simply click on Hide next to the test, then click Show when you want your students to take the test. Any changes made in Focus on Grammar Interactive will be immediately available to the students. Customizing Study Plan 13

14 Editing Course Settings View or change your course settings. Any changes will be immediately available to the students. From the Instructor Home Page, click on the word Settings in the top right corner or View in the My Course box on the top left. Click on the edit link at the top of each section to access and change your course settings. Some properties may not be editable if your course is a linked course. Edit Course Settings 14

15 GRADING SUBMISSIONS Focus on Grammar Interactive allows instructors to grade student essays, make edits within essays, or add comments to the end of essays. Step 1: Click on the Submissions tab on the top right of the page, or the View button on the Submissions box in the lower left of the page. The box on the lower left tells you how many ungraded submissions there are for your course. The Submissions page shows you all of the submissions for your Course. This list can be sorted by student name, by graded or by ungraded, by draft, or by topic. Use the drop down menus to sort the list. This list can also be sorted by clicking on Name, Date and Time, Draft, and Topic. Students Submission Step 2: Click on the student s name to open a submission. Make comments by clicking in the body of the text or at the end of the submission. Your comments will appear in blue and bold. You can then insert a Score, and decide if you will allow a second draft. Grading Submission 15

16 Step 3: Click on the Save and Submit button to send the grade and comments to the student. Save or Save and Return Later allow you to save your comments without sending them or the grade to the student, so that you can return to the student s writing submissions at a later time. GRADEBOOK Perhaps the most powerful Focus on Grammar Interactive feature for instructors is the Gradebook. The Gradebook allows you to monitor performance both of individual students and of your entire class. Access your course s Gradebook by clicking on the Gradebook tab on the top right corner of the Home Page, or by clicking on View in the Gradebook box. Unit Practice Details: This report shows your students' scores on all of the practice activities in this course. Unit Practice Result Part Test Results: This report shows your students' scores on each of the part tests in this course. Part Test Result Writing Progress: This report shows your students' scores on all of the writing activities in this course. 16

17 Writing Result Section Details: This report shows a student's performance on each section. You can also see the student's time on task, the date the student worked on the section, and a graph of the student's progress. Student Detail Results 17

18 LEARNING MORE ABOUT FOCUS ON GRAMMAR INTERACTIVE For the latest information and directions on using Focus on Grammar Interactive, visit and click on the About link. There you will find the latest Flash animations and Adobe PDF files to help you take advantage of all of the features of Focus on Grammar Interactive. TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR FOCUS ON GRAMMAR INTERACTIVE Pearson Longman ELT Technical Support is committed to providing you the best technical support possible. For technical support, please or visit us online at Note: To receive s with helpful information from us, please add to your program s address book or your spam filtering software s approved sender list. GLOSSARY Key terms used in Focus on Grammar Interactive: Course The group of students and an instructor using Focus on Grammar Interactive. All students in a course begin with the same Study Plan. Gradebook The collection of all assessed work completed by the student(s) in Focus on Grammar Interactive. Home Page The main page that opens for both students and instructors when they log into the course. The home page contains course information and links to the Study Plan, Gradebook, Submissions, and other resources. Topics The sequence of units that makes up a part of the Study Plan. Study Plan The complete list of units that are covered in Focus on Grammar Interactive based on the instructor- selected Pearson writing text. Also available is a list of the units that a student has completed and the student s to-do-list. Submission A completed and submitted Writing Exercise. Go to Student View allows the teacher to get a sense of what the students see as well as a full preview of a course. 18

19 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1. My access code is not working. What should I do? Access codes are six "words" long and will look something like this: LSWMWL-ATOLL-UMBELL-SIDED-TOPAZ-VEXES You do NOT need to enter the dashes as you redeem your access code. Each access code can only be redeemed once when you register for Focus on Grammar Interactive. The access code is only needed to register. It is not needed to log in. You will set up a Login Name and Password when you register to be used when you want to log in to the Focus on Grammar Interactive. Check to make sure your access code has not been redeemed already. If you are sure your access code has not been redeemed and you are still having problems, please us at EPSupport@pearsoned.com. 2. I forgot my Login Name or Password. How can I get this information sent to me? If you registered correctly, your Login Name or Password should have been e- mailed to you. Check your for a message from product.support@pearsoned.com. If you know your address and/or your Login Name, you can request that your username and password be sent to you. To do this, simply click on Forgot Your Login Name / Password link on the log in page. If you continue to have problems, please contact us at EPSupport@pearsoned.com. 3. The Course ID my instructor gave me is not working. What should I do? Most instructors will ask you to join a course. This allows them to view your work. To join, you will need a Course ID, which your instructor will give to you. The Course ID looks something like this: holmesl931023w. Check with your instructor to make sure you have the correct Course ID and if he or she has made the course available to students. The Course ID is case sensitive so be sure to enter each character exactly as it appears. Be sure to enter the number zero 0 or the letter "O" correctly. These are often confused. In general, a zero 0 will be surrounded by other numbers and the letter O will be surrounded by other letters. Try doing a search for your instructor by his or her last name. Enter your instructor's last name in the search box and click on "search." Be sure to spell your instructor's name correctly. If none of the above steps have solved your problem, it is possible you have registered under the wrong product within Focus on Grammar Interactive, and therefore do not have access to your instructor's course. Confirm with your instructor which Focus on Grammar Interactive product you should be using. There are four course levels for Focus on Grammar Interactive. If you continue to have problems, please contact us at EPSupport@pearsoned.com. 19

20 4. The whole page does not fit on my screen. Some of the material is cut off. What should I do? Longman online products are designed to work effectively with screen resolution set at 1027 by 768. Change your computer's display settings to resolve the problem. To do this, click on Start Control Panel double click on Display Settings. Change screen resolution to 1027 by 768 pixels. Make sure your web browser window is "maximized" and takes up your entire computer screen. There are many ways to do this, but often there will be minimize, maximize, and close icons on the top right of your browser window. Click on the maximize icon. 5. Why didn't I get a confirmation after I registered? If you did not receive a confirmation after you registered, first be sure that you check your Junk/Spam folders to make sure the was not filtered. Second, please go to the Account Summary page at: and login to ensure that you entered your address correctly when you registered. If you continue to have problems, please EPSupport@pearsoned.com. 20