Do you think information technology in education has been beneficial? Since the dawn of the 21st century, technology has crept its way into learning and teaching environments. As more technological advancements are made, then there is dire need for increased literacy levels on the use of this technology. Here are some of the roles played by information technology in education.   Information technology in education has improved communication. In regions that were once thought hard to reach such as places in sub-Saharan Africa are now accessible through eLearning. Tutors can lecture learners over long distances and scholars can achieve their academic papers through eLearning. Also, students that feel like studying from home can now do it.   Advancement of information technology in education has improved research. There are very many online libraries that assist teachers and students with comprehensive reading materials. Teachers and lecturers are also able to post their work online for their students to read.   With thorough research, students also get updated information. Every change made in the syllabus is always revised through the internet. Students can also check what units they are to cover in a semester through the internet.   Information technology in education has improved and has also brought about an easy access to different learning resources. They help to improve teaching skills and learning abilities of students. These learning resources include audio and visual education. Students are taught with projectors in classrooms or lectured through class speakers. Students and teachers can also easily download eBooks from the internet which can be read from anywhere through your phone or tablet.   Through eLearning, students can now study whenever they want. There are no fixed timetables so people from different time zones can now do the same courses in the same academic institute. Students can also take their examinations whenever they want with time provided to them.   For children with disabilities, information technology in education has brought gadgets to help them with learning. For instance, the hearing impaired use electronic devices called hearing aids. They can also use visual learning where sign language is used on electronic media to enhance communication. This has been a role of information technology in education.   Combined learning is also improved. Information technology in education has made it possible for learners to have study groups. Students can now create combined ideas, solve problems and learn more through group studies and academic forums online.   The incorporation of information technology in education has brought so many positive changes. More academic systems should embrace technology because it makes teaching more effective and aids in practical learning. Students should also embrace it because in the future, most of the jobs will be technologically based. With time, everyone will see the significance of information technology in education.   The post The role of Information Technology in Education appeared first on Fedena Blog.

    Foradian has been listed in Deloitte Technology Fast50 India once again. Keeping up with our growth story, we have once again achieved a place in the list of top 50 fastest growing technology companies in India. Deloitte recognises, honours, and encourages organizations with remarkable revenue growth rates in last three years. In the 11th edition of this award, Foradian is ranked 28th with a growth rate of 189%.   Deloitte Fast50 2015 recognised high growth rates, however there was a special mention for the consistent players. 31 winners of this year have been past winners with:   1 winner who has been ranked consistently since 2009 2 winners who have ranked 4 times each, consistently since 2012 2 other winners who have ranked 4 times each over the span of the program. Whilst 7 winners have ranked 3 times each consistently since 2013, 3 others have ranked 3 times each over the span of the program 16 winners have ranked 2 times each, most of them in 2014 and 2015   While high growth rates are a proof of great efforts and hard work, sustaining this growth with consistence is a sign of greater dedication and a thrive for better results.     The winners from the list comprises of 50 public and private companies from areas of media, technology and telecommunications, who have witnessed the highest rates of revenue growth in the last three years.   The Technology Fast 50 India was initiated in the year 2005 in line with similar programs in other countries like the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, established in countries like Africa, North America, Asia, Europe and Middle East. The Indian chapter of the award is currently in its 11th year and is considered to be one of the most acclaimed award and recognition by technology companies in the country.   Other names in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India 2015 Awards include F1 Info Solutions & Services, VMukti Solutions, GreyCampus Edutech, Zomato and Ozonetel Systems.   The post Foradian wins Deloitte Technology Fast50 India once again. appeared first on Fedena Blog.

Last month we covered the whats, whys and hows of a database software for an Institution, now let’s try and find out what sort of a database management software will actually boost your institution. Institutions come in many sizes and scales depending on the type of institution they are. From coaching institutes to a big group of institutions, every organization needs the perfect database software.   Factors influencing the choice of Database software Now, the type of database software adopted by institutions mainly depends on the following factors: Whether the data will be accessed and edited by one or multiple people simultaneously. The number of people and the volume of data you need to share with others, simultaneously. The amount of data to be stored and processed by the database software. The complexity of the data e.g. whether data is images, text, sound, videos, or various other formats. For a large institution where records of thousands of students and teachers need to be managed (or also shared), a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) using the multi-file option is the only viable choice. But before we decide as to which database software is a good fit for educational institutions or your enterprise, let’s ask the most important question every organization/institution forgets to ask before searching for one.   What are my requirements of a Database Software?     The right database software for your institution isn’t going to find it’s way to you by itself and neither is spending needless amounts of money on the wrong database softwares just to eliminate options. The right way to go about choosing a solution for your database management is to ask the right questions. Here are a few questions every institute should be asking before opting for a database software.   What kind of data do we want to store and why we do we want to store it? How important is the relationship with each data set we are trying to store? Is the data being stored dynamic or static? What data do we want organized and how we are going to access it? How much and how do we protect data? Who is going to be accessing this data? Database softwares are more than a handful in the market, but choosing the right one is a very hard decision to make and often many enterprises end up investing in the wrong database management software. Most times when a CRM or an ERP is the right solution instead of a single file database, enterprises tend to choose the cheaper way out to cut costs which in turn affects their processes and efficiency. Don’t make the same mistakes as they do. Bottom Line, in the 21st century there are ample database softwares and database management softwares, start by getting a full understanding of your needs and put together the best system that works for your institution. The post 6 Major Requirements of a Database Software by an Institution appeared first on Fedena Blog.

  The recent years have seen rapid increase in the number of social media platforms. At first, the concern for most teachers was that the social media platforms were nothing but distractions to the education system. According to them, the sites caused the students not to focus on their studies or even get exposed to vices. That line of thinking, however, has changed swiftly, and teachers are focusing on the positive instead of the negative impact of social media. Many teachers are incorporating Social Media Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and many others in their line of work. Consequently, they are enjoying the positive impact of social media.   Some Positive Impacts   First and foremost, the impact of social media becomes real when it gets to class preparation. Every teacher must prepare adequately for their lesson before they present it to a classroom. The groundwork usually involves carrying out enough research on the topic or subject at hand. Traditionally, the teacher had to sift through hard paperback books and journals to get the notes ready. However, thanks to Wikipedia, educational forums and other similar social media platforms the teacher can easily get recent, and accurate information for their lesson.   After the teachers have the notes ready, they need to deliver them to the students. Aiding delivery of lecture notes and lessons is another area in which the positive impact of social media becomes visible. Teachers could use podcasts, webinars, tutorials and educational videos from various social media platforms to deliver their lessons to the students. The social sites make it possible and practical for the teacher to teach a class conveniently even if it is doing so remotely.   A third positive impact of social media sites is that they conveniently help the teacher and students’ interaction. For instance, the lecturer can upload lectures and assignments on a relevant platform and the students on their part, could download the notes or do the assignments and send them back to the teacher for review and evaluation. Besides, if the student has a pressing question he or she could raise it up using the same platform.   Many teachers and scholars tend to write and get their literature works published, in books, journals or even newsletters. Traditionally, getting such works published was not a walk in the park. The platforms that were available were few and costly. If one decided to get a book published, more than 60 percent of the proceeds from the book sales went to the publisher. Due to the impact of social media, however, that has changed. A teacher can now start his or her blog almost at no cost at all and get his or her work published. The published work could form part of the teacher’s contribution to the school library.   Last but not least impact of social media on teachers becomes visible when it is time for admitting students into the school. Most learning institutions delegate the role of reviewing the student’s application essays to the board constituting of teachers. The prospecting students send the application essays using online portals on those particular school’s websites. In case, the application process requires that the students sit an exam, the same social platform provides the means of doing so.   In conclusion, it is safe to state that the impact of social media on teachers, is indeed huge and something that every teacher needs to consider taking up. The post Impact of Social Media on Teachers appeared first on Fedena Blog.

A student software can help pupils to manage their homework without much hassle, mostly when there are deadlines to maintain and lot of additional resources to refer to. There are various types of software for student to help students of 21st century with learning and education. We bring to you, 4 such software for student that’s sure shot assistance to manage homework easily. Software for student to deal with homework are: HwPic Homework Tutor: This software for student allows them to take pictures of homework or task with problem to understand and send it to their teachers and get a feedback within minutes, along with explanation. Available in both Android and iOS, this student software is the right option to manage homework assignment for subjects like maths, chemistry and physics.         WolframAlpha: Very suitable for students of high school, WolframAlpha is one software for student dealing with higher school maths like differential equations and vector calculus. All step-by-step descriptions are available in WolframAlpha which can be downloaded from both Android and iOS.         inClass: inClass is one student software that allows students to mark assignments and tasks in a monthly calendar and receive notifications accordingly. Also available are backup feature that helps data transfer to computer and a note taking device that can be separated with a class name.         Google Apps: When you talk about student software to manage homework, how can you miss the offerings by Google- Google Docs to help students communicate with each other anytime, anywhere with the chat option and also the live document that allows group involvement in a project or assignment. Google Calendar, on the other hand, let students to schedule any assignment and get notified accordingly; whereas, Google Scholar offers good volume of searches on literature and online journals.   The Assignment plugin in Fedena is surely another great software for student option that eases the process of distributing and managing homework and assignments. Teachers can distribute task to students through spreadsheets, docs and images. Students, on the other hand, can upload the finished homework or can even type directly on the text field in Fedena. Use these smart software for student to manage homework and not miss any assignment or task. The post 4 Software for Student to Manage Homework appeared first on Fedena Blog.

    The smart school classroom - Video clips streaming through YouTube, students making presentations with teachers referring to three-dimensional (3-D) images to get across a complex concept. This is no sci-fi novel, but it is the mode of education said to be steadily replacing traditional, chalkboard classrooms in our resource-rich country. One of the most well-known schools in India adopted the shift from being a traditional school to a smart school with a lot of exhilaration. Only to discover that the electricity bills were shooting through the roof. We decided to take a balanced look at what the facts had to say about adopting to the Smart school…   The Smart School System   A similar classroom monologue which, more often than not, triggers a collective yawn among students and the apprehension of a weekly test to fret over, traditional schools have plenty of drawbacks which the smart schools tend to overcome, but due to the lack of infrastructure in India it is becoming increasingly difficult for schools to adapt to being a smart school. Some of the contents of a smart school constitute a library of digital content, an Intranet connecting all the classrooms, state-of-the-art infrastructure for interactive resources for teachers. The teacher decides if the mode of instruction is going to be audio or visual or both. The students with their ideas and questions, set their own track for learning. From primary classes to the senior secondary, teachers can assess students even before the class has ended. Also, with libraries getting IT-enabled, smart cards helping in keeping track of books issued giving the school insights on reading trends among teachers and students alike.   And it doesn’t stop just there. When carried home, the smart school system works as a virtual school, where parents, teachers and students communicate with each other. Using mobiles, tabs, social networking sites and email tools. Teachers can even upload assignments for students, and make important information available for parents to view. Students can use online forums hosted by the school to find community and discuss various activities and clubs they want to be part off. The impact of Smart schools on education is huge and cannot be disregarded.   Smart School Compatibility with the Indian School Infrastructure & Resources   The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) revolution is acknowledged as the next big thing in India’s primary and secondary education sector. Education technology companies — headed by millennials — are flooding the market with teaching-learning equipment such as interactive display boards, laptops, Learning management software (LMS), school management software (SMS or School ERP), teaching and assessment software, science, maths and language laboratories and countless other products and services. The market for Edtech in India  is estimated at $135 billion by 2020.   But, 52.75 percent of schools in the country do not have electricity, 12 percent of them are single-teacher schools and 42.75 percent do not provide libraries/book banks of any sort.   The 18.7 percent of India’s schools which have introduced computers to their students (Elementary Education in India 2010-11, published by the Delhi-based National University of Educational Planning and Administration), are private schools. With that being said, the biggest hurdle for any smart school in the country is the under utilization of technology and tech resources. The government is now focusing on bridging this divide - between private and government schools - through initiatives such as the Right To Education Act, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.      Verdict on the Smart School   It is clear that smart schools can deliver what they promise. But only if they are supported by a range of very expensive resources and infrastructure. From software to the labs that are equipped to be the learning hubs of the future and adopting schools must be prepared for the ever skyrocketing electricity bills, that is sourced mostly from mainstream power grids. So for now, the cost to nature remains unaccounted for. All though they do seem like a necessity, sustaining smart schools is a huge challenge India will face in the coming years.   The post Is the Smart School concept feasible in the Indian society? appeared first on Fedena Blog.

  Educational software has a lot to offer to learners. In our last article, we have already discussed how education softwares are beneficial to very young learners. Not just young learners, an educational software can create independent learners in students of all sections of an educational institution. Read, why should you use education softwares in your institution.   One of the best thing about the use of educational software is that they definitely make both teaching and learning a lot more interesting than the traditional methods. Say, if you make your students use education softwares for maths, you can surely see an increase in involvement in learning among the students, through fun learning of math concepts. An increased score in maths is the outcome!   When students learn using educational software in a computer or on an iPad, they actually make use of a lot of senses together. It stimulates a lot of thinking and promotes hand-eye coordination, a lot helpful to students to practice good handwriting.   Many educational software includes games and puzzles to help students learn. And these games encourage students solve problems on their own. Thus, a chance of self-confidence among the students increases as they start figuring out things on their own.   Creativity is another major factor promoted with the use of education softwares in schools. This is because, an educational software offer interactive learning which further helps students to explore more; instead of just reading through the pages of a book!   The learning capacity for each student varies to a good extent. And to keep a control on the learning experience of students, education softwares can be the best guide to teachers. An educational software lets each of the students to learn at their own pace, under their own control.  If they are allowed to learn at their own pace and time, students can push their limits to learn things, without feeling down for being unable to do so within set time limits.   Technology is here to stay and is expected to bring about huge changes, as it is doing currently. Educational software is surely one such technology that’s enhancing the learning experience of students.   The post Why Should you Use Education Softwares in your Institution? appeared first on Fedena Blog.

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  The evolution of technology has brought about with it, several benefits the world over. Apart from enhancing efficiency, it has turned the world into a global village and made access to information quite easy. The education sector has also not been left behind in tapping into the deep resource-well of technology. The use of information technology in education has become more than just an option. For effective learning, the education sector stakeholders have found ways of integrating the use of information technology in the everyday learning processes.   Access to learning material   The internet is full of a lot of learning material that the learner can access and use to supplement whatever is provided for in the classroom. There are e-books, revision guides and past examination papers that are available on the world wide web and students can take advantage of these to improve their knowledge base. Learning institutions provide computers and internet that the students can use to this end.   Continuous learning   In the modern world, you don’t have to be in the classroom to learn. Using information technology in education has made it possible for students to keep on learning, irrespective of where they are. Teachers and professors can send assignments to students and they can complete and submit them even without physically stepping into the classrooms and so learning never has to stop. Students can keep on learning even when they are at home. This has greatly enhanced efficiency in the education sector.   Sharing of knowledge   Through online discussion forums, students can share knowledge, engage in intellectual debates and generally learn from one another. Using information technology in education has basically made it possible for students from all over the world to come together and share experiences, the geographical distances notwithstanding. Information technology in education has also made students to develop an appreciation for cultural diversity and in turn, create a more tolerant and unified world.   Using audio and visual material as learning aids   The use of information technology in education has made it possible for tutors to teach students much more easily. By using audio and visual materials, students can develop a better understanding of the topics being taught. It is now much easier to perform demonstrations and put some practical aspect to the theory taught in class. Slow learners therefore have an opportunity to catch up with those who had grasped whatever was initially taught in class.   Distance learning   To adapt to a changing population with unique demands, learning institutions have employed the use of information technology in education to cater for this new demographic. Online courses have enabled most of the employed and young population to go back to class and get second degrees or additional certifications. It is possible to attend a college overseas without even getting out of your home country and at your own convenience.   Proper record keeping   It is possible to keep student records in a more systematic and secure manner using technology. Unlike in the past when records used to be kept manually and there were many cases of lost files, the incorporation of information technology in education has made it possible for safe and proper record keeping. Retrieving of information has therefore become much easier.   The post The Uses Of Information Technology in Education appeared first on Fedena Blog.

  There are numerous advantages to using scheduling software for your school. It’s a great way to produce block scheduling, list scheduling, and other scheduling types, no matter what size your school may be. With an automatic or interactive scheduler, it’s easy to put together a great structure for your school.   Using Scheduling Software to Save Time   Scheduling software is an excellent way to save time. Scheduling all students at once by grade level or individually, you can produce walk-in scheduling, where students will enroll after most scheduling for other students has already been completed. You won’t need to disrupt previously enrolled students this way.   Group Management and Enrollment   In addition, scheduling software allows groups to schedule together. For example, if one group of students are involved in multiple activities, it’s easy to create groups for them and associate your group with each activity instead of having to do this individually. You can also do the same for instructors.   Sub-subjects are another excellent feature of scheduling software. By looking at a hierarchical view of top-level themes with other subjects broken down, you can look at Algebra, Calculus, and Geometry all at the same time. It’s an easy way to get a top down view of all related subjects for each area.   Room Capacity and Time Periods   Room capacity is an important consideration for scheduling software. You’ll need to determine the maximum number of students and instructors that can fit into each room.Say, the defaults for most rooms are 15, and if you schedule more than one group or activity at the same time, the software will alert you by creating a conflict. The capacity of students for each room is limited for each building, so the software won’t let you create a situation where multiple students would be enrolled in a problem scenario.   Flexibility of time periods is also critical in selecting good scheduling software for school. For example, you can define the layout of your schedule by the length of each period, such as half or quarter hours, or even break down by minute-based intervals. This makes scheduling school periods much easier.   Student/Instructor Database Management   Large capacity is another important key to look for in scheduling software. You should be sure your program can accommodate more than 100,000 students in the database, as you’re likely to grow in numbers as your student enrollment goes up. Be sure the system is capable of handling large group of students and organize them adequately without experiencing slowdowns or software hiccups.   You can continue to manage scheduling software by entering student ID number or typing in the first letters of their last name. By doing so, you can gain access to email features for schedules, such as emailing each student their scheduling in grid or line format. You can send these out to individuals or groups, based on homeroom and teacher.   Reporting Features of Scheduling Software   Another important feature of managing scheduling software is to look at basic built-in reports. You’ll need a way to see all the students who have signed up for specific classes by grade or school, and of course have a master list that shows each course offered as well as level, weight, GPA factor, size, and length. It’s helpful to include textbook integration and fees as well. By selecting the option to print details on each student’s schedule, it makes it easier for students — and for you — to see exactly what needs to be done for successful classroom management.   These are just a few basic ways to use scheduling software within the classroom. In addition to easy database management, convenience, flexibility, and reporting, scheduling software offers numerous benefits such as email integration and online views for each student to access their schedule from the comfort of their home.   The post How to Manage Scheduling Software in a School? appeared first on Fedena Blog.

  In our previous journey into the world of Database softwares, we defined what they are and the requirements your institution would have of them. Now, let’s discuss the different types of Database softwares and how they would fit for different institutions/enterprises. Let’s start by first classifying the various database management softwares.   Classification of Database Software:   Operational Database External Database End User Database Distributed Database Data Warehouse Database Analytical Database Hypermedia Database   Operational Database software   Otherwise called as OLTP ( On Line Transaction Processing ) Database software, are used to manage dynamic data in real time. This database software allows you to add, delete and modify the data in your database. Businesses find many uses of such databases, for example, customer relationship management transactions and financial operations. Operational database allows you to gather, enter and retrieve large amounts of data- be it specific or general, for example, legal notices, financial data, personal employee information, call logs etc. They can also be part of the purchasing process for an e-commerce business.   External Database software   An External Database software manages information gathered for use by different individuals or organizations, either via subscription or freely. External databases are accessed online by users to read privately owned data. The Internet Movie Database is one of the examples of an external database.   End user Database software   An end user database software is simply a software which helps store data created by an end user. Examples of such software could include, word processors, spreadsheet managers etc. Any database software which allows the end user to create and manage data comes under this category.   Distributed Database software   A Distributed Database software is a software distributed at various geographical locations. This type of database system works under the control of one central database management system and the storage devices of the distributed database are connected to  different CPUs. A distributed database can reside on LAN, WAN, internet, network servers or extranets. The advantage of distributing the database is the significant improvement in performance of data rates and the advantage of not losing all your data even if one of the locations fails.   Data Warehouse Database software   Data Warehouse is a database software containing a collection of information extracted from various other databases and stored in one place. Data Warehouse can be used by end users or management personnel, primarily for reporting purposes and drawing insights. There are many benefits of using a Data Warehouse, such as retrieval of information from a Data Warehouse doesn’t affect the performance of the operational system. Automatic identification and resolving of inconsistent data, etc are some of the database software’s key advantages.   Analytical Database software   An analytical database software  is used to store data from other databases for data analysis. The data in the analytical database software is edited, filtered and used by analysts of an organization. Businesses worldwide use analytical database softwares for the analysis of employees’ and organization’s performance.   Hypermedia Database software   The purpose of hypermedia database software is to store multimedia web pages. In a hypermedia database, data is stored online and it can be accessed by multiple users at the same time. In addition to the above database types, there can be other types of databases as well. For example, businesses in specific industries will have customized database solutions, targeted at the particular requirements and needs of the business, like Fedena ERP for Schools.   The post Understanding types of Database software and their applications appeared first on Fedena Blog.

A result of feedback by students, the new program is one way for We Can Code IT to demonstrate a commitment to helping students find lucrative jobs in IT related fields. The demand for computer programmers and web developers is immense and growing. There will be 1 million IT jobs in the U.S. by 2020. Junior level developers are in demand and earn an average starting salary of $50,000 in Northeast Ohio. If a student actively seeks work and cannot find a job in IT, they are not obligated to pay We Can Code IT.

Our innovative new financial program helps you change your life and enter IT as a web dev or programmer without steep upfront costs.

Estimating Relative Effort: A Scrum Team Exercise Thanks to Tomasz de Jastrzebiec Wykowski for this idea. Estimating relative effort can be more complex than it looks. In this exercise, you...

We Can Code IT changed my life for the better. In some ways, this program has taught me just as much about life as it has Computer Programming.

WCCI provides a part-time coding bootcamp.It is a very convenient option for those that work everyday during the week. Other schools offer part-time, but you still have to attend classes during the week. From experience going to school full-time , working two jobs with a child during the week was really stressful. Now I can go to work, then come home and study for a few hours. Part-time bootcamp can be challenging and overwhelming, but we have Monday through Friday to practice, read, and regroup. It allows us to tackle and maintain the course load . . .

Dee was a Computer Science major in college, but got her real world education at We Can Code IT. Read her story!

Today, I am half way through my cohort and have the confidence and skills to already interview for jobs and internships. Yes, in three months I am ready to go out there and show these companies what I've got! Sure, I don't know everything, but the instructors at We Can Code IT are teaching me exactly what I need to know to be a valuable asset right now. I've shadowed four Software Engineers in the past month and everything they did was right in line with my training. It's just perfect . . .

Students evaluating your course have lots of questions - is this course right for them, will they learn what they want to learn, and whether it’s a good investment among them. One of the fastest and easiest ways to ease their concerns is using social proof - confirmation that other people (just like them!) have made - and stood behind - the same decision.   Reading student testimonials is comforting for potential purchasers, and provides valuable insight into the answers to some pressing questions. Reading student testimonials is comforting, and provides valuable insight for your online course…Click To Tweet We asked our product team if they could help us out with an easy way to add great looking testimonials to course descriptions, and they’ve delivered! With a few lines of code, you now have the ability to turn your favourite student feedback into reassuring social proof for your course landing pages. 3 Ways to Encourage & Get Testimonials Ask! Adding a quick survey to the end of your courses can help you gather important insight from students that will help guide your course updates going forward. Was it too hot, too cold, or just right? At the same time, if you’re doing the right stuff, you’ll be hearing this through your feedback surveys. Don’t let that data go to waste - turn those comments into shared testimonials! Scour Twitter. Students who complete your course are prompted to tweet about it, and you might find you’ve already got some course love out there. It’s as close as a quick search. If you’re just starting out or your course is new, that’s OK! There are still great ways to add testimonials - think about feedback from in person sessions you’ve done, consulting work, or even glance at your LinkedIn reviews. A solid review about how you’re a great person to work with (even if the review was written about another experience with you) is a good place to start, until you have some course-specific comments to work with.   Ready to get styling? Visit our Knowledge base article with the step-by-step for achieving custom testimonial styles for your own landing page. The post Using Testimonials as Social Proof appeared first on Thinkific.

Dropbox has made our lives just a little bit easier with their latest announcement last month: the File Request Feature. What is the File Request feature? Dropbox’s newest File Request feature allows you to easily receive large files and assignments from anyone. As an instructor, you can collect files from your students and all content received will be well-organized and stored in one place. As a student, it is super easy to use and there’s no limit to the size of the file uploaded. Easily collect student assignments for free using Dropbox's newest feature!Click To Tweet What should you use it? Having an assignment submission feature makes everyone’s lives easier. It’s a simple one-click stop - and best of all, it’s free! The File Request feature is simple to use and configure for everyone. Students don’t require a Dropbox account to submit documents, and for you, all the files you receive are organized in one easy-to-find folder. There is no limit to the size or type of file students upload. That means you can request anything from Word Docs and JPEGs, to large videos or Illustrator files, depending on what makes sense for your course. Everything goes! The best part about File Requests is that a student can submit an unlimited number of files. Although they can’t make changes to past submissions, instructors get to keep a copy of every change they make and will receive an email alerting them of every new submission. This also means that instructors can clearly see a timestamp of when each document was submitted. If you set a deadline for students, you’ll know that they met it! There is an additional privacy benefit as students will not be able to see other students’ assignments. Once they’ve submitted a file, the only person who can view it is the instructor. An assignment submission feature makes everyone’s lives easier.Click To Tweet How do you get started? If you are not already a Dropbox user, first register for a free account. Once that’s done, click on "File Requests" in the left hand menu of your dashboard to get started. First, click on the "Create File Request" button. This will take you to a pop up that asks you to name your folder (usually with a name specific to an assignment or file you are asking to be submitted. Also, indicate where you want the submitted files to be stored. So what do you do with the file request link? You can include the link in your course in a text content type and ask students to submit documents there. For example, hyperlink "Assignment #1 is due on Wednesday, September 15th!" to your file request page. And that’s it, you’re done! Dropbox will now give you your file request link and you can share it with your students. To view all your submissions, click on "File Requests" again in the left hand menu and click into the folder you just created. Want to see what the submission process is like for students?   The post Collecting Assignments: Made easy appeared first on Thinkific.

With the recent explosion in mobile devices, it’s no surprise that more and more students are wanting to access online courses on their phone. This past decade, mobile devices have been spreading like wildfire. According to the Pew Internet Project, 64% of American adults own a smartphone and 42% own a tablet computer. Many of these users are also "smartphone-dependent," meaning that they rely strictly on their phones for Internet access. Although these statistics reveal the alarming prevalence mobile devices have in society, it’s no denying the fact that they have become a mainstream reality. The mobile web has surpassed computers as the most commonly used device to access the Internet. Consequently, the onus now falls on web developers to create mobile responsive websites for the mounting number of users who choose to access the web on their devices. Google punishes non-mobile responsive sites.Click To Tweet As education becomes more and more distant, it is apparent that the future of not only online learning, but the Internet, lies in the hands of mobile optimization. Mobile friendly sites result in improved SEO, net sales, student experience, and most importantly, a competitive advantage when compared with market rivals. Still not convinced? Even search engine giant, Google, has given it a seal of approval, applying "mobile friendly" labels to search results and punishing non-mobile responsive websites by pushing them further down the site listings. The future of only online learning lies in the hands of mobile optimization.Click To Tweet We at Thinkific have embraced mobile optimization right from the get-go, with sleek landing pages that adapt to all devices, including: computer, mobile, and tablet viewing. To see whether or not we’ve been doing a good job of it, we decided to take Google’s Mobile Friendly Test. (Spoiler alert: we passed!) Here are our results: Hooray! We passed Google’s mobile-friendly test! Where do you stand?Click To Tweet Take advantage of the mobile responsiveness we have developed and create designs that wow students on every device. If you’re ever curious as to what your website looks like to a mobile visitor, try dragging the corner of your browser to view it in various screen sizes. This will give you an idea of how your course landing page can be viewed on a phone, tablet, or desktop, and you make changes accordingly. Here’s our Training Library Course on a desktop and a phone.        Let us know how your course stands in the world of mobile optimization. You can take Google’s Mobile Friendly Test, here. The post How eLearning is now mLearning appeared first on Thinkific.

For the past couple months, Zapier has been our most highly requested platform integration, and we’re excited to announce it’s up and ready for your use! What is Zapier? For those of you who aren’t too familiar with the software, Zapier is a tool that lets you automate actions between different web applications. You can now, for instance, get a text message every time a new student enrolls in your course or set up an automatic email to be sent out when a student completes your course. You can automate actions on over 500+ different web apps based on actions that occur in your Thinkific courses. The possibilities are endless! Thanks to @Zapier you can automate your work and link your Thinkific courses to 500+ applicationsClick To Tweet How does it work? An integration between two apps is called a Zap, and a Zap is made up of a ‘Trigger’ and an ‘Action’. Whenever the trigger happens in one app, Zapier will automatically perform the action in another app. Why use Zapier Using Zapier can save you time, keep you organized, and help you better manage your students. Below are a couple of different zaps you can set up for your Thinkific course. Set-up auto tweets to be sent out when a student completes a course Trigger: Enrollment Completed Action: Send a tweet with Twitter Send new orders to a Google Spreadsheet automatically when a new user buys a course Trigger: New Order Action: Add the transaction to a new spreadsheet row in Google Sheets Set calendar reminders to follow up with students 1 week after a they start a course Trigger: New Full Enrollment Action: Book calendar reminder in Google Calendar Automatically add a student to your lead nurturing mailing list when they sign up for your free trial Trigger: New Free Trial Enrollment Action: Add email to your lead nurture Constant Contact mailing list It’s all possible, plus so much more! For more information on how to integrate Zapier, check out our support page here How are you using Zapier?! Leave us a comment and let us know how you are using this integration to make your life easier!!   The post Save time with our new Zapier Integration appeared first on Thinkific.

Selling courses to EU residents and concerned about VAT compliance? If so, read on! Earlier this year, new rules came into force in the European Union (EU), obliging anyone selling a digital product to a buyer based in an EU member state to charge the Union’s Value Added Tax (VAT) at the rate of the buyer’s country. With 28 states charging 75 different tax rates between them, this is no small feat. Not only do you have to figure out the correct tax to charge, you then need to store two pieces of evidence showing where your customer is located for the next 10 years. But never fear! We’ve integrated with Quaderno. Thinkific’s latest integration with @quadernoapp allows you to forget about the hassles of VATClick To Tweet Quaderno recognizes your customer’s location and automatically generates a beautiful invoice with the correct tax; making billing your customers in the EU a breeze. It’s transparent, easy to use, and pleasing to the eye. Quaderno allows you to forget about the hassles of VAT compliance, so you can focus on providing great online courses. And even better, Thinkific customers get 50% off the Quaderno subscription price during the first three months! Sounds good? All you need to get started is: A Thinkific site, integrated with your Stripe account. A Quaderno account. These two-minute instructions to help you complete the setup. And that’s it…you’ll now be able to sell your courses worldwide, and rest easy knowing that VAT compliance is completely taken care of! The post Simplify VAT with Quaderno appeared first on Thinkific.

We’re excited to announce our latest feature release - course reviews! Students are now able to review and rate your courses from their student dashboard, or even from within the course player itself. Introducing course reviews for Thinkific...We see 5 stars in your future!Click To Tweet What are some of the benefits of course reviews? Having reviews enabled for your courses will allow you to: Easily gather student feedback - reviews will help you to find out from your students what you’re doing well, so you can do more of the same! Likewise, if there’s anything that could be improved upon, reviews are a great way to figure this out to make improvements to your courses. Build trust with potential students - as many as 80% of us look to reviews when buying online, and potential students for your courses will be no different. Reviews act as social proof that your products are genuine and trustworthy because others have purchased them before and had a positive experience. Use good reviews as a selling point - a high star rating is an instant and universally understood selling point for a product. You can set reviews to appear publicly on your course landing page, to help seal the deal with new purchasers. Sounds great! How do I start gathering course reviews? It’s as simple as enabling reviews from the Reviews page of your admin dashboard. Students will then be able to submit a review by selecting ‘Rate this course’ from their student dashboard or the course player. You will be able to choose whether to ‘Approve’ submitted reviews to have them appear on your course landing page, or to keep them as private feedback. If you’re looking for further information on managing course reviews, check this article on our knowledge base. Happy reviewing! The post New feature: Course Reviews appeared first on Thinkific.