Avallain-powered Kerboodle reaches 1 million users

Oxford University Press achieves historical benchmark with digital teaching and learning service.

Kerboodle works alongside course textbooks to create a truly blended learning solution. Packed with customisable learning content, assessment materials and reporting tools, Kerboodle allows educators to seamlessly integrate quality digital resources into their classroom.

Kerboodle is powered by Avallain Author, a flexible authoring tool, and supported by Avallain’s learning platform solutions.

Kerboodle provides:

  • Teacher notes, planning materials and on-screen lesson presentations. Instructors can set and monitor homework and track progress with in-depth reporting functionality.
  • A range of assessment materials including auto-marked tests, self-assessment checklists and a variety of support materials.
  • An extensive bank of learning resources including videos, animations, podcasts and worksheets as well as digital versions of the textbooks.
  • A wealth of support features including FAQs, video tutorials, walk-thorughs, free in-school training and workshops with digital consultants.

Avallain-supported immigrant language support receives prestigious Comenius EduMedia Seal

The comprehensive learning system “I want to learn German”, which supports immigrants in German language acquisition and social integration, has earned a prestigious European award.

“Ich will Deutsch lernen” is a free, publicly available online course offered by the German Adult Education Association (Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verband). The curriculum focuses on social integration, professional development, and German language and communication skills. Online tutors are available around the clock to help new users.

Avallain’s flexible authoring tool and customisable platform enabled the creation of more than 10,000 interactive content units based on real-life scenarios. The course is not just relevant for new immigrants already in Germany but also for refugees or those planning to immigrate. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research supported the development of the learning system.

The interactive digital learning system was awarded the Comenius EduMedia Seal in June 2015 by the German Society for Pedagogy and Information, which has been recognizing top European educational media for 20 years. A jury of international experts and scholars selects top multimedia projects based on the curriculum, pedagogy, and instructional design.

East Africa says “yes” to Digital Education

The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development approves Avallain powered digital learning

Learning in Kenyan schools is changing. Increasingly, students spend time in computer labs responding to questions in video or audio format, completing interactive tests, and solving crossword puzzles. This educational technology feels high-touch rather than remote – students smile after successfully memorizing concepts, listen with full attention to their teacher, or immerse themselves in educational videos.

Instilling this sense of communal learning is a-ACADEMY, an interactive digital learning tool built with the Avallain Author and officially approved by the Kenyan Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

a-ACADEMY’s digital lesson plan aligns with the Kenyan curriculum, features an intuitive and child-friendly user interface and integrates teacher guidelines. While the lesson plans are highly interactive, a-ACADEMY’s offline functionality allows its use even with very limited infrastructure.

a-ACADEMY succeeds in meeting local education needs while adhering to high international standards, according to Kenyan officials who reviewed the curriculum and issued official approval for the “Supplementary Digital Curriculum Support Material.”

“All doors are now open to establish digital education not only in Kenya but in all of East Africa,” said Martina Amoth, a-ACADEMY’s Education Manager.

Cornelsen presents Scook platform new generation at Didacta, featuring Avallain components

Cornelsen Publishers present the latest additions to its successful platform www.scook.de at the leading educational trade fair didacta in Hanover, Germany.

Using the flexibility offered by Avallain’s Author technology, Cornelsen worked intensively with UX specialists, visual designers, students and teachers to hone a perfect look and feel for the rich interactive content, on any device.

Marie von dem Berge, Head of Product Management in the New Business department at Cornelsen, says: “We are very happy with the result achieved by a complex team of experts at Cornelsen and from a range of suppliers. We really focus on the end users experience, therefore the flexibility offered by the authoring technology in this aspect was of the utmost importance in the selection process.”

Learning system architects will take note that Tin Can (aka the xAPI), a modern standard for recording learners progress, comes to full use in scook. In an exemplary integration of the LRS component of Avallain’s Unity platform, the otherwise Cornelsen-built Scook relies on just the parts of third party technology that add most value at the time, adding speed and flexibility to the entire process.

Ignatz Heinz, Managing Director of Avallain, comments “We are delighted to see our new approach to learning platform solutions come into use in this great product. Avallain Unity is no longer a monolithic platform, it is composed of standards-based components, allowing our customers to mix build and buy as best suits the current market needs.

Avallain and GeoGebra announce partnership in math education

The partnership will benefit publishers, teachers and learners in math education worldwide.

“Together, we can integrate technology into math education in pedagogically meaningful ways,” said Ursula Suter, Avallain president.

Avallain is an international company specializing in education technology and digital publishing based in Switzerland.

“Math education can be high-tech, applied, and fun at the same time,” Suter said. “We help publishers and end users create online math education tools that are easy to use.”

The partnership will begin just in time for the next global gathering of the GeoGebra user community July 15-17, 2015 in Linz, Austria.

GeoGebra is not only one of the world-leading dynamic mathematics software and education services organizations, it’s a community active in just about every country, creating, sharing and learning mathematics collaboratively.

Avallain’s software is used by many of the world’s best known international educational publishers, empowering hundreds of thousands of teachers and over 15 million students.

Award-winning reader designed with Avallain Author

An Avallain-supported English language teaching application has won the English-Speaking Union’s top award. Richmond Mazes: Crisis at Clifton is an interactive, graded digital reader focusing on real-life work scenarios.

Richmond International, an Oxford-based English Language Teaching publisher, published the digital edition using Avallain Author software.

“We are delighted that this application was recognized by the ESU’s President’s Award,” said Ignatz Heinz, Avallain MD. “This reader successfully combines innovative software design, scenario-based training principles, and proven English language teaching pedagogy. It maximizes the potential of our learning technology.”

Avallain is an international education technology enterprise with headquarters in Switzerland.

Crisis at Clifton is part of the Richmond Mazes series, available in digital and print formats. The reader is challenged to really comprehend what they have read by being asked to take decisions at the end of each section.

Luke Baxter, Digital Publisher at Richmond explains: “The stories are set in realistic business settings and follow a professional path of someone getting their first proper job to more senior management positions.”

The ESU especially commended the learning application for its use of audio clips, illustrations, and decision trees, which allow students to repeat activities as needed. The ESU is a registered, UK-based charity aiming to empower people of different languages and cultures using English as a common language.